With his performances, TV programmes, publications, drawings, installations, tours, videos and educational projects, Maarten Bel expresses the desire to offer new perspectives on ideas and behaviour. He incorporates these into the visual aspect of his work in which he directly interacts with his audience. In all his diverse disciplines, Bel uses humour and absurdism to address major themes in a light-hearted way and give meaning to the daily grind, and offers people a different perspective in an innocent way.

Maarten Bel sees his artistry as a constant search for a balance between recognisability and alienation, between confirmation and disappointment, between well-being and disappointment. He maintains the balance by being flexible: his role always changes in accordance with the projects he works on and the audience he plays with. In his artworks, Bel is just as much an animal lover as an art forger, postman and artistic concierge.