🎙️ Episode 3: Art as a Catalyst for Change

A conversation with Tom Herck

When I started The World of Liesbet,

I imagined conversations that could bridge worlds

— between science and emotion, logic and intuition, structure and creativity.

Because real change, I’ve learned, often happens in the in-between.

After two episodes with researchers and data scientists,

I’m thrilled that Episode 3 takes us into a different kind of space

— the world of art.

And there was no better person to guide that journey than Tom Herck.

From observation to imagination

I’ve been following Tom’s work for more than fifteen years.

My husband has known him since childhood,

and I still remember attending one of Tom’s early exhibitions when we had just met.

That night, I was completely captivated — not only by the art,

but by the sense of depth and purpose behind it.

Since then, I’ve followed Tom’s journey with admiration,

watching him grow into one of Belgium’s most intriguing conceptual artists.

Tom’s work lives in the public space

— churches, canals, city squares —

places where people don’t expect to encounter art.

That, for him, is the point.

He believes art should be accessible,

not exclusive.

It should invite everyone

— regardless of background —

to feel, question, and connect.

Having grown up in a working-class neighborhood,

he’s deeply committed to making art that belongs to everyone.

His projects are monumental in scale and layered in meaning.

In Holy Cow, he suspended a real cow on a cross inside a church

— confronting viewers with both the loss of sacred spaces and the ethical contradictions of modern consumption.

In The Decline, a 10-meter-tall house of cards built from concrete plays with fragility and power —

a reflection on the unstable balance between ideology, leadership, and history.

And in his recent series Once We Ruled the World, shown at the Venice Biennale, human and dinosaur skeletons intertwine to explore hubris, evolution, and our place in the digital age.

Art as a catalyst for change

Tom believes that art can reach people in ways that logic and argument never could.

Facts speak to the mind, but art speaks to the heart

— and emotion, he says, is where all change begins.

He told me how, as a teenager, he once saw a TV program about an artist who did something bold, something big — and how that single moment of inspiration stayed with him.

It made him think, if they can do that, maybe I can too.

That spark of recognition is what he hopes to pass on through his own work

— because you never know what ripple effect a single piece of art might create.

Art, in Tom’s view, doesn’t instruct.

It invites.

It doesn’t tell people what to think, but offers them space to feel.

And that space is where reflection — and transformation — begin.

The courage to bring big ideas to life

Behind the scale of Tom’s work lies something quieter but equally powerful:

persistence.

His projects often take years to realize,

requiring immense trust and endurance.

He speaks openly about the challenges

— financial, logistical, emotional —

and about the strength it takes to keep going when the outcome is uncertain.

His monumental installation The Fisherman 

— a human skeleton fishing atop a dinosaur, shown at the Venice Biennale —

is a striking meditation on humanity, technology, and ego.

The water surrounding the piece,

reflecting both the sculpture and the viewer,

becomes a metaphor for our digital “black mirrors.”

It’s haunting, ironic, and deeply human — much like Tom himself.

When I asked where he finds the strength to keep going,

his answer was both simple and profound:

you build it over time.

You start small,

you try something,

it works,

and you try again.

Confidence grows step by step,

alongside competence.

And the fire that drives you — you protect it.

Change starts close to home

As we closed the conversation,

I asked Tom what advice he’d give to others

— those trying to create, to build, or to change something in the world.

He smiled and said he wouldn’t change much about his path.

He’s proud of where he is, and grateful for everyone who’s helped him along the way

— especially his mentor and friend Luc Heylands, who taught him to think like an entrepreneur as well as an artist.

But he also left us with something beautifully simple:

You don’t have to change the whole world at once.

Start with the people closest to you.

Take care of them.

That’s where real change begins.

🎧 Listen to Episode 3 on Spotify: [link]🌐

Learn more about Tom Herck: tomherck.com📸

Follow him on Instagram: @tom.herck🏛️

Visit Studio Catacombs in Sint-Truiden: Catacombs💫

Read more episodes at liesbetmpeeters.be

Because courage, imagination, and connection

— that’s where change begins.

– Liesbet