As seconds were eternal is an ongoing series of sculptures that follows the perspective in which mankind is still a hunter. The hunter, who is still ferociously on the lookout for prey, has now morphed into a collector. A collector of all kinds of wonderful things. Trinkets, objects, amulets and ornaments are all gathered and displayed beautifully by us, hunters.

The turtle has been an animal who was frequently hunted. Though they are often viewed as loving creatures, their meat was invaluable. In some eastern cultures Tortoises even were viewed as Gods and carried whole worlds on their back. Greek philosophy also told tales about the turtle as can be read in ‘’The tortoise and the Hare’’ by Aesopus.

Some of these tortoise shells are missing parts, have been altered, or put back together again in an almost Frankensteinian manner. Something happend in between the hunt and the final presentation.

Bas Oussoren presents humorous situations that reinterpret the banality of the everyday. In his works the spectator always appears late to the party; the story has already been told or the punchline already delivered. This way, Oussoren undermines the clear distinction between fiction and reality, dropping the spectator between the material residues of a fictional situation. The artist makes his own world with internal logics and humour as building blocks. But while the humour seems personal at first, it also requires our collective understanding in order to be funny.

For Oussoren, the crucial part of his work takes place in the conversion from object to art: the ability to reinterpret those things that are so obvious that we do not even care to look at them, but that are so wonderful they need no transformation at all.