MacGyver is an American TV series from the late 1980s. It follows Angus MacGyver, a secret agent who solves dangerous situations without using violence. In one episode, MacGyver is locked inside a metal container with only a candle, sugar, an ammunition box, and a metal tube. As the air runs out, he makes a smoke bomb from sugar and rust. Using the candle as a fuse and the tube to guide the smoke, he directs it toward an air sensor. The sensor automatically triggers the fire emergency lock. The door swings open, and MacGyver walks out.

The series MacGyver is a source of inspiration for artist Zoro Feigl. Experimenting with everyday interventions plays a central role in his practice. His work exudes a certain carefreeness, while simultaneously being cleverly constructed.

In the basement of Villa, Zoro’s work Phosphenes is on view. The term in the title refers to the points of light you see when you close your eyes after looking at a bright source. In the middle of the room stands a circular sculpture with shiny fabric that wouldn’t look out of place in a carnival shop. The fabric moves through a mechanism inside the sculpture. Light shining on this moving, sparkling fabric projects something like a starry sky onto the basement ceiling. Bright dots dance across the space, taking over the room.

In his work, Zoro Feigl captures natural phenomena and everyday occurrences in installations. He draws inspiration from, for example, the movement of a flock of starlings, the patterns of ripples in sand, or the light spots that dance on your retina after looking at a bright light. These are processes beyond our control. No matter how much we think we can master nature, no one can dictate how a flock of birds moves through the air. Zoro tries to capture that elusive movement and make it visible in his installations. For a moment, he gains control over the uncontrollable. But once his work literally starts moving, it escapes him again: the shiny sequins take their own path. His installations seem to develop a will of their own.

Watching

The viewer understands what is happening when looking at Phosphenes. You see the fabric move. You see the shimmering silver sequins reflected on the ceiling. And yet you are enchanted. Watching is important in Zoro’s work. He wants his works to be understood through the eyes and the body. “Watching is enough. I feel that a lot of art comes with a lot of talking, but a good work doesn’t need much explanation. Of course, a theory or text can add something, but an artwork should stand on its own even if the viewer hasn’t read the book.”[1]

Practical Beginnings

Zoro often starts his work from something practical and factual.
“Many of my works are banal things that I enlarge and then try to make my own.” [2] For example, how liquid flows somewhere due to gravity. From this starting point, he created several rotating paintings with liquid paint. They are hanging conveyor belts on the wall, where paint-like liquid drips and is continuously rotated again. A moving painting where the paint never sets or stays in the same place. He then plays with the idea of infinity. His artworks have no end or narrative and only stop when he pulls the plug. And yet they are also about time—time that seems absent, but keeps ticking.

Air and Water

On the first floor of Villa, another work by Zoro is placed by the window. This sculpture starts from a simple, practical fact: the movement of air and water. It is a subtle, rectangular piece containing two thin, flexible plastic sheets clamped together. Between the sheets are air and water. As the sheets move against each other, the air moves too, creating different forms with the water. Light from outside shines through the piece, and watching the sculpture evokes an almost meditative experience. You understand what’s happening and yet want to keep watching. This work needs little explanation because it comes directly from the world. And at the same time, the question arises: how does it work? “It’s remarkable that people ask, because when they see a waterfall, no one wonders how it works.”

Which everyday observations does Zoro find relevant to enlarge? What does he pay attention to? For him, a situation must be exciting. He first asks himself the ‘why’ question. “Why does water fall in a waterfall? There is a difference between asking how things work and asking why. Of course, you can explain that we know gravity, and therefore water falls in a waterfall. But if you think about what gravity really is, you don’t really know why it works that way. And that’s what I’m constantly trying to find out. The ultimate question within such an observation is more about why than just how.”[3]

Although Zoro wants to find a solution for every observation he makes, he doesn’t fully align with MacGyver and the idea of invention. He is more of an observer. Zoro sees something, takes it from the world, and, in a way, places it on a pedestal.

[1] https://www.mistermotley.nl/de-wereld-op-een-sokkel-zetten-gesprek-met-zoro-feigl/

[2] Idem

[3] Idem