Considering the size and decentralized
nature of U.S. education, the sluggishness with which it has reacted to many demands for reform, and the modest political oomph behind such
mundane activities as crafting data systems, the gains are remarkable.
The protagonists
of these works, derived from pictures in magazines or scientific books, are captured while engaging in
activities whose exact
nature seems both
mundane and mysterious («they're just sitting there breathing,» Borremans told an interviewer), but the artist manages to freight these protagonists, and the air around them, with great emotional tension.