Interviews
Read what the artists and designers have to say about their projects and their ways of working.
Interview: Looking on the Dark Side
Brigitte Hendrix (...and beyond), ‘Something Here Feels Horribly Wrong’
The colourful streets of Amsterdam are a laboratory for fashion designer Brigitte Hendrix, 27. Her collection ominously entitled ‘Something Here Feels Horribly Wrong’, which she designed as her final exam project at Amsterdam’s Rietveld Academie, has been exhibited several times and repeatedly praised in the media.
The colourful streets of Amsterdam are a laboratory for fashion designer Brigitte Hendrix, 27. Her collection ominously entitled ‘Something Here Feels Horribly Wrong’, which she designed as her final exam project at Amsterdam’s Rietveld Academie, has been exhibited several times and repeatedly praised in the media.
Interview: The Long Road from the Farm
Esther Polak & Ieva Auzina with RIXC, Riga Centre for New Media Culture, Milk
For two years, artist Esther Polak carried a compass to help her find her way around in Amsterdam. Since then, spatial awareness has been the core element in her work. “Was it easy to find?" she asks when I arrive at her studio in Amsterdam. Laughing, I admit having had trouble with the abstractly designed route map I got from her website. Polak, herself obsessed by the experience of space, can relate.
For two years, artist Esther Polak carried a compass to help her find her way around in Amsterdam. Since then, spatial awareness has been the core element in her work. “Was it easy to find?" she asks when I arrive at her studio in Amsterdam. Laughing, I admit having had trouble with the abstractly designed route map I got from her website. Polak, herself obsessed by the experience of space, can relate.
Interview: Fast Forward
Ivan Kasner, Petrifying
Starting off your design career with objects that can last tens of thousands of years: that was Ivan Kasner's daring choice for his graduation project, Petrifying. Its fossilised objects in it could raise numerous questions for future generations: when were these objects formed and when did they decay? What stories can they tell us? The people of the future will probably never know, and this was Kasner’s aim. Petrifying dispenses with all our notions of space and time.
Starting off your design career with objects that can last tens of thousands of years: that was Ivan Kasner's daring choice for his graduation project, Petrifying. Its fossilised objects in it could raise numerous questions for future generations: when were these objects formed and when did they decay? What stories can they tell us? The people of the future will probably never know, and this was Kasner’s aim. Petrifying dispenses with all our notions of space and time.
Interview: A Bench with a Heart
Ineke Hans, Herinneringsbank (Memory Bench)
During her master’s course in furniture design at London’s Royal College of Art, she was discovered by the store chain Habitat. She worked for them for three years, designing furniture and other products, meanwhile finding time to set up her own design range. By the time she got back to the Netherlands, Ineke Hans was no longer an unknown.
During her master’s course in furniture design at London’s Royal College of Art, she was discovered by the store chain Habitat. She worked for them for three years, designing furniture and other products, meanwhile finding time to set up her own design range. By the time she got back to the Netherlands, Ineke Hans was no longer an unknown.
Deep Focus
Rob Hornstra, Roots of the Rúntur
In spite of the many excellent photography museums in the Netherlands, there are precious few places for young talent to exhibit. Photographer Rob Hornstra says it’s high time someone started an intermediate-level gallery. His own recent book Roots of the Rúntur, depicting fishing communities in Iceland, certainly deserves to be exhibited.
In spite of the many excellent photography museums in the Netherlands, there are precious few places for young talent to exhibit. Photographer Rob Hornstra says it’s high time someone started an intermediate-level gallery. His own recent book Roots of the Rúntur, depicting fishing communities in Iceland, certainly deserves to be exhibited.
Interview: Making It as a Team
Jeroen Verhoeven/Demakersvan, Industrialized Wood
Imagine being fresh out of art school and selling your work to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a firm of architects in Los Angeles, a pharmaceutical company in Milan, and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. It happened last year to Demakersvan, a design team comprised of three 29-year-olds: Jeroen Verhoeven, Joep Verhoeven and Judith de Graauw.
Imagine being fresh out of art school and selling your work to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a firm of architects in Los Angeles, a pharmaceutical company in Milan, and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. It happened last year to Demakersvan, a design team comprised of three 29-year-olds: Jeroen Verhoeven, Joep Verhoeven and Judith de Graauw.
Interview: Bringing the World Home
Max Kisman and 229 others, Fleurons of Hope
Even in a time when it seems as if everything has already been invented, innovation remains possible. After all, every new era calls for new interpretations. In this one, more than anything else, that’s about raising design to a higher level through collaboration. Max Kisman – instructor, graphic designer, illustrator and animator – sees globalisation as a challenge.
Even in a time when it seems as if everything has already been invented, innovation remains possible. After all, every new era calls for new interpretations. In this one, more than anything else, that’s about raising design to a higher level through collaboration. Max Kisman – instructor, graphic designer, illustrator and animator – sees globalisation as a challenge.
Interview: Growth Rings
Friso Kramer, Boomstoel (Tree Chair)
Friso Kramer may be advancing in years, but when he talks about his work you quickly forget it. He speaks with great enthusiasm about the importance of good design, and brings in brochures and chairs to illustrate his points. And he’s devoted plenty of thought to his latest design, a chair he made by hand from a tree trunk.
Friso Kramer may be advancing in years, but when he talks about his work you quickly forget it. He speaks with great enthusiasm about the importance of good design, and brings in brochures and chairs to illustrate his points. And he’s devoted plenty of thought to his latest design, a chair he made by hand from a tree trunk.
Interview: The Smell of the Landscape
Birthe Leemeijer, L’Essence de Mastenbroek
Designing a perfume for Mastenbroek, a late-medieval Dutch polder in the province of Overijssel where many cattle farmers make their homes and the horizon is a long way off: it’s not an obvious idea. Artist Birthe Leemeijer, 33, not only came up with it, she managed to get the perfume into stores. L’Essence de Mastenbroek was hailed in the German press as the first Dutch fragrance line.
Designing a perfume for Mastenbroek, a late-medieval Dutch polder in the province of Overijssel where many cattle farmers make their homes and the horizon is a long way off: it’s not an obvious idea. Artist Birthe Leemeijer, 33, not only came up with it, she managed to get the perfume into stores. L’Essence de Mastenbroek was hailed in the German press as the first Dutch fragrance line.
Interview: Come Together
Hans Meiboom (Studiomeiboom), Table de Ville
In a multicultural society, how do you get everyone to gather around the same table? By making a really big one, Hans Meiboom decided. So far, his two-kilometre-long Table de Ville exists only on paper. But Meiboom can already picture the table, which people will be able to use for eating, for debating, or even as a catwalk.
In a multicultural society, how do you get everyone to gather around the same table? By making a really big one, Hans Meiboom decided. So far, his two-kilometre-long Table de Ville exists only on paper. But Meiboom can already picture the table, which people will be able to use for eating, for debating, or even as a catwalk.
Interview: An Uncomfortable Examination
Tina Roeder, Naked Couch
What is the relationship between anonymous objects and intimacy? This question was the starting point for Naked Couch, a doctor’s examining table held together only by belts. Tina Roeder, 30, not only tries to find links between the two concepts in her work, she also challenges viewers to use their eyes as they were meant to be used: for really looking – that is, for questioning the image perceived.
What is the relationship between anonymous objects and intimacy? This question was the starting point for Naked Couch, a doctor’s examining table held together only by belts. Tina Roeder, 30, not only tries to find links between the two concepts in her work, she also challenges viewers to use their eyes as they were meant to be used: for really looking – that is, for questioning the image perceived.
Interview: Linking Arms
Niels Shoe Meulman and Dennis Polak (Unruly), Coat of Arms
T-shirts with slogans are out. And new media – that’s over by now too. In fact, according to Niels Meulman, alias Shoe, trends are a thing of the past. Nowadays, really good craftsmanship is what it’s all about.
T-shirts with slogans are out. And new media – that’s over by now too. In fact, according to Niels Meulman, alias Shoe, trends are a thing of the past. Nowadays, really good craftsmanship is what it’s all about.