Art

Academy exhibition 1997

Academy exhibition and graduation of my experimental post graduate year interior architecture at CHK Constantijn Huygens (art academy) in Kampen, 1997.

This year had an overall theme: nursing homes. I took the liberty to slightly bend the assignment; instead of designing solutions for the inhabitants of nursing homes, I designed furniture that needs care itself, because it has typical human illnesses and disabilities, both physical and mental.

I designed several pieces of furniture in which I translated my view on the main characteristics of a certain illness or disability. The ones I eventually produced are ‘Dementiestoel’ and ‘Dwarsleasietafel’. This furniture seems to have the ability to create some degree of awareness, because it forces the observer to take a fresh look at the implications of a specific illness or disability.

I presented this furniture and a large (A0) drawing of all the designs, in a space defined by a suspended curtain rail.

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Posted in Art, Design, Events on July 30th, 1997 | No Comments »

Dwarsleasietafel

Dwarsleasietafel (Dwarsleasie table) is a table with a completely paralysed body. The body is made of polyurethane, a flexible rubberlike material. The only way it is still able to stand up straight and carry its own bodyweight, is with the aid of an exoskeleton (made of steel).

dwarslezie2.jpg

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Dwarsleasietafel is now on sale: 1750 euro 300 euro.

Posted in Art, Design on July 29th, 1997 | No Comments »

Dementiestoel

Dementiestoel (Alzheimer Chair) is a visual representation of Alzheimer, translated into a chair. The chair misses a piece of vital information to function correctly, in this case a leg. It tries to cope (and initially deny) this loss, by fabricating alternate structures. Although the chair might think that his problem is now no longer visible to the outside world (and therefore fixed), it is clear to all healthy chairs that the new structure does not resemble the missing leg.

Dementiestoel is now on sale: 490 euro 100 euro.

Posted in Art, Design on July 28th, 1997 | No Comments »

Academy exhibition 1996

Academy exhibition and graduation of my study interior architecture and furniture design at CHK Constantijn Huygens (art academy) in Kampen, 1996. A line of furniture based on my interpretation of the lyrics to a song by Nina Simone:

Images

She does not know her beauty
She thinks her brown body has no glory
If she could dance naked under palm trees
And see her image in the river
She would know
Yes, she would know
But there are no palm trees in the street
No palm trees in the street
And dishwater gives back no images

(1964) Nina Simone, Waring Cuney

I roughly interpreted the lyrics like this: Beauty only becomes apparent if the context is right. I applied this principle to found objects and materials that have no immediately apparent aesthetics in their daily context, by using them in their most original form to construct furniture, thus changing only the context. The challenge was to emphasise the beauty already present in these objects and materials, without altering their specific characteristics.

I made a new floor for my exhibition to visually divide the space into smaller compartments to achieve a better presentation of the different furniture pieces. In the center of the exhibition was a small elevated platform with a speaker hanging right above it, continuously playing the song that inspired the work.

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Posted in Art, Design, Events on July 22nd, 1996 | 1 Comment »

Muurlampje

Muurlampje is a serie of 16 lights made of steel, felt, and 16 different transparent control symbols I found in a scrap yard.

muurlampje.jpg

Private collection.

Posted in Art, Design on May 14th, 1996 | No Comments »