In 2016, during her walks in the park, Debby Huysmans finds this special, hidden place. After a bit of research, she gains access to the fascinating underworld: here time seems to stand still. The photographer takes on the role of speleologist and archeologist, and goes on to investigate the cave. In this darkness Debby Huysmans plays, through rays of light, with the characteristics of this meaningful place. A lot of contradictions become visible. The cave, normally natural and timeless, is artificially constructed. Original findings are shown alongside replicas, and valuable artifacts are on the verge of languishing. Time seems to work in a peculiar way in the space; the tension between the geological time scale, the history of the cave and the actual human experience of time can be felt. Contradictions such as real/unreal, valuable/worthless, positive/negative, visible/invisible, construction/deconstruction, perfection/imperfection, light/ dark, above/below… form the guideline through Debby Huysmans’ project Flotsam.
Flotsam, originally a nautical term, stands here for a collection of remains, the remaining pieces of a story. The artist hereby refers to the various fragments, objects and stories she brings together through her images and transforms into a new story. Even though Huysmans does not want to lead the viewer to a certain association and interpretation of the images, the Flotsam project shows the unstoppable urge of man to collect, preserve and organize in order to study our world and ultimately understand it better.