A girl wading through the shallow waters of a forest lake with a stick, a group of people nestled with their beach gear on an abandoned sand excavation and an icy rocky shore where a researcher floats his boat on the water… These are the three alienating environments with which artist Paul Segers / UDC (Unlimited Dream Company) begins his video triptych The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away.

Each world into which the viewer steps breathes its own atmosphere, but all three are imbued with a mysterious, almost surreal charge. Several parallels can be discovered within the videos, the most striking of which is the appearance of Segers’ signature prop: the intriguing Object X.

Because the viewer experiences three separate videos, each with its own elusive context, a game of time and perception is created. At the same time, in his work Segers always manages to evoke an uneasy contrast between humans and their surroundings. Humans look out of place in their context, a feeling that may also be recognizable in our own world.