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Clay, 1991 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), For a year I worked with 5 tons of clay in a basement in the center of Amsterdam. It was the beginning of my investigation into the experience of working with clay and other earthly matter. |
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Sand 1, 1994/95 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) For two years I investigated the relationship between matter, space, light and movement by working with an increasing amount of sand in a basement in the center of Amsterdam. |
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Sand 2, 1994/95 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) For two years I investigated the relationship between matter, space, light and movement by working with an increasing amount of sand in a basement in the center of Amsterdam. |
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Skin off the earth, 1996 (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) This project was done in the exhibition space of the faculty of architecture of the Technical University Eindhoven. The skin made of wool soaked in a mixture of earth and glue, was formed on the sand, then 'peeled' off and hung on the six meter high wall. |
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Via Cava, 1998 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) Two huge concrete spaces on the top floor of one of the old warehouses in the harbor of Amsterdam called Pakhuis Afrika, 20 tons of clay, 60 bales of straw and 6 months of hard labour during the winter of 1997/98. Exploring the vast empty space by walking, meandering lines asserted themselves. Building on these lines layer upon layer of thick slop mixed with straw, these lines grew into walls. |
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Flowing Sand, 1998 (Zaanstad, the Netherlands) At the invitation of Art Center Zaanstad I worked for a month in Monumento Urbano, a building by Aldo Rossi in Zaandstad. By moving a heap of sand along the walls I explored its shape and boundaries. The passage of sand was marked by splashing mud against the lines it created with the wall. |
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Tracks in the Flats, 1998-2003 (Ameland and the Dollard, the Netherlands) As part of 'Kunstmaand Ameland 1998', in which projects were done around the island of Ameland by different artists, I worked for 6 weeks in the flats of the Waddenzee. In the 6 hours that the tide was out I made vast sculptures, which, when the tide turned, were swallowed up by the sea. To work in the hard sand off Ameland, a spade and dogged labour were required. In the Dollard, near Groningen, where I spent 2 months as an artist-in-residence at Gallery de Boer-Waalkens during the summer of 2000, the seabed consists of soft silt in which I eventually immersed my whole body to shape the material. During the next 2 years I returned regularly with filmmaker Carrie de Swaan for the making of 'Tracks in the Flats'. See: Film Sculpture |
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Silt, 2000 (Finsterwolde, the Netherlands) The silt of the flats of the Dollard was brought inside and poured down the wall of Gallery de Boer-Waalkens in Finsterwolde. |
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Real Estate, 2001 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) A ton of clay, 3 days and a 5 meter high wall in the exhibition space of the Nederlansche Bank (the Dutch central bank) . This piece was made as part of a group exhibition called 'Real Estate', with artists who work directly on the wall. |
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Marl Hole, 2009 (Stoke-on-Trent, England) A project organized by Neil Brownsword as part of the first British Ceramic Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent, England. During 5 days Neil Brownsword, Torbjørn Kvasbø, Pekka Paikkari and I explored the material of clay in its rawest state, at the location where it is dug out of the ground: Europe's biggest clay-quarry (marl hole), Ibstock Brick's Gorsty Quarry in Knutton, Stoke on Trent. The film by Johnny Magee documenting the process was shown at the Airspace Gallery in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, during the British Ceramic Biennial festival. Ibstock's workmen and their diggers made it possible to cope with the huge scale of the quarry. In this project physical interaction with the clay and mechanization came together. See the film on You tube which documents the work of all 4 artists. Read more: |
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Performance in the Airspace Gallery, 2009 (Stoke-on-Trent, England) During the opening weekend of the British Ceramic Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent, I worked for two hours in a clay floor, as a performance, in the gallery where the Marl Hole film was shown. The remaining piece became part of the exhibition. |
