Still Life in Motion 

134 X 45 X 220 cm

conveyor belt, varied still life

2026

Still Life in Motion is a contemporary vanitas that keeps moving while you stand still. A reminder that transience remains inevitable and that everything passes — images, trends, time, consumption, and ourselves included.

Transience, but also exuberance, continuously roll in and pass by like a slowly shuffling imaginary landscape filled with both historical and contemporary symbolism. The still life thus becomes more than a frozen moment. In a time when many seem to lose the ability to deal with time, uncertainty, and vulnerability, we continue to celebrate exuberantly, sometimes with our heads in the sand, as if nothing were truly finite and time might somehow pass us by.

On an endlessly rotating conveyor belt, a sequence of carefully composed still lifes unfolds. They are inspired by the 17th-century vanitas tradition of the Low Countries, in which everyday objects become carriers of symbolism and meaning. Recognizable motifs — such as an hourglass or a beetle — refer to time, decay, and the inescapable transience of existence.

Amid this classical visual language, unexpected contemporary objects appear: deflated balloons, IKEA spare parts, Pinocchio’s nose, a battery clamp. They disrupt the historical compositions while simultaneously reinforcing their message. Festive, banal, and functional objects confront us with the same truth: everything is temporary, including what we celebrate today or consider valuable.

The movement of the conveyor belt gives the work an alienating, almost surreal dimension. The still lifes disappear upside down from view, only to re-emerge shortly afterward. This endless cycle of appearing and disappearing makes transience tangible — not as a single moment, but as an ongoing repetition that slowly settles into our consciousness. 

© Schscht