ART & PERFORMANCES
Wall sculptures, 2023/24
During the years 2023 and 2024 Alexandra Engelfriet developed a series of wall sculptures. She first shaped clay and subsequently made a mold of the result using wool soaked in clay slip, mixed with glue made of boiled flour. Layers of crushed glass or micro glass beads were then applied to the surface as a luminencent skin. Her interest shifted from shaping large amount of matter to shaping light, manipulating the capacity of glass to reflect light.
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Intertwining, 2022 (Ringebu, Norway)
Every year Torbjørn Kvasbø, director of the Centre of Ceramic Art, invites an artist to realize a project in the ‘fjøset’, the old cow stable in the reconverted former farm in which the Centre is located. The ‘fjøset’ is left in its rough, unforgiving state.
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Every year Torbjørn Kvasbø, director of the Centre of Ceramic Art, invites an artist to realize a project in the ‘fjøset’, the old cow stable in the reconverted former farm in which the Centre is located. The ‘fjøset’ has kept its rough, unforgiving state. Each artist works with the same 10 tons of clay. Alexandra Engelfriet, invited artist in 2022, choose to turn the dry clay into a thick slurry and mix it with wool from local sheep. This method refers to an age-old practice of mixing clay with straw or another material to use for building. The particular breed of sheep that roams the high plateau above Ringebu during the summer months, feeding on the grasses, reindeer mosses and shrubs that grow there, develop exceptionally long-haired coats to withstand the cold climate in winter. In one movement, that takes one minute, the sheepshearer frees each sheep from its thick winter coat as soon as spring arrives.
Through an intimate process of physical interaction with the materials, the work evolved over the three weeks that Alexandra Engelfriet worked in the space. The resulting installation 'Intertwining' was exhibited from June 5 to September 12, 2022. After drying it has been preserved as a permanent work of art.
Filmmaker Brage Kvasbø made a film of the making process (see Motion).
Filmmaker Brage Kvasbø made a film of the making process (see Motion).
Every year Torbjørn Kvasbø, director of the Centre of Ceramic Art, invites an artist to realize a project in the ‘fjøset’, the old cow stable in the reconverted former farm in which the Centre is located. The ‘fjøset’ is left in its rough, unforgiving state.
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Every year Torbjørn Kvasbø, director of the Centre of Ceramic Art, invites an artist to realize a project in the ‘fjøset’, the old cow stable in the reconverted former farm in which the Centre is located. The ‘fjøset’ has kept its rough, unforgiving state. Each artist works with the same 10 tons of clay. Alexandra Engelfriet, invited artist in 2022, choose to turn the dry clay into a thick slurry and mix it with wool from local sheep. This method refers to an age-old practice of mixing clay with straw or another material to use for building. The particular breed of sheep that roams the high plateau above Ringebu during the summer months, feeding on the grasses, reindeer mosses and shrubs that grow there, develop exceptionally long-haired coats to withstand the cold climate in winter. In one movement, that takes one minute, the sheepshearer frees each sheep from its thick winter coat as soon as spring arrives.
Through an intimate process of physical interaction with the materials, the work evolved over the three weeks that Alexandra Engelfriet worked in the space. The resulting installation 'Intertwining' was exhibited from June 5 to September 12, 2022. After drying it has been preserved as a permanent work of art.
Filmmaker Brage Kvasbø made a film of the making process (see Motion).
Filmmaker Brage Kvasbø made a film of the making process (see Motion).
Rite de passage, 2022 (France)
"Alexandra Engelfriet is a Dutch artist/performer who works with clay and wool, sculpting pieces that evoke the elements and our connection to the natural world. Observing her I felt at times, she was drawing from within herself coils of emotion as she made her piece folding, spreading, pummeling, swirling, tearing and molding clay soaked wool. Alexandra’s gestures are dance- like, intense, forceful but also light and gentle.
I shadowed Alexandra’s movements framing and photographing her creative process. We moved in silence completely absorbed in the making of the piece. Improvisation is key to Alexandra’s process. And her concentration is trance -like.
A shell made of undulating dips and mounds was gradually covered by a skin of wool soaked in red clay and then sprinkled with pigment. The piece is called Untitled. I photographed Alexandra over three days in Jan/Feb. 2022." Alison Harris
Shedding Skin II, 2021 (France)
"A thick layer of soft, white clay on the floor of my studio was first shaped into a sculptural and undulating ‘landscape’. It was consequently covered with a ‘skin,’ consisting of a thin layer of wool drenched in slip, made from the same white clay, mixed with a glue made of boiled flour. The skin softened the shapes of the clay. When it was dry, I stripped the skin of the clay during a two-day performance. The clay shed its skin." With support of the Mondriaan Fund.
"A thick layer of soft, white clay on the floor of my studio was first shaped into a sculptural and undulating ‘landscape’. It was consequently covered with a ‘skin,’ consisting of a thin layer of wool drenched in slip, made from the same white clay, mixed with a glue made of boiled flour. The skin softened the shapes of the clay. When it was dry, I stripped the skin of the clay during a two-day performance. The clay shed its skin." With support of the Mondriaan Fund.
Shedding Skin, 2021 (France)
"A thick layer of soft, white clay on the floor of my studio was first shaped into a sculptural and undulating ‘landscape’. It was consequently covered with a ‘skin,’ consisting of a thin layer of wool drenched in red clay slip mixed with a glue made of boiled flour. The skin softened the shapes of the clay. After the skin was nearly dry, I stripped the skin of the clay during a two-day performance. The clay shed its skin." With support of the Mondriaan Fund and Ocres Chauvin.
"A thick layer of soft, white clay on the floor of my studio was first shaped into a sculptural and undulating ‘landscape’. It was consequently covered with a ‘skin,’ consisting of a thin layer of wool drenched in red clay slip mixed with a glue made of boiled flour. The skin softened the shapes of the clay. After the skin was nearly dry, I stripped the skin of the clay during a two-day performance. The clay shed its skin." With support of the Mondriaan Fund and Ocres Chauvin.
Immerse Impress Imprint, 2020 (Viervaart, Groede, the Netherlands)
"Site-specific raw clay installation in the project space of Viervaart, Groede, the Netherlands. Eight tons of rough clay, dug from a nearby field, were the basis for the project. During a six weeks working period, I have been immersed in the clay again and again and transformed it with my body, an improvised choreography. I regularly printed a temporary situation on linen. These prints will bear witness to an event that took place at a specific time in this shape-shifting process. The clay floor itself is seen and experienced in two ways, up close and from above. The work originated on the spot, from the energy of the place and the environment."
Photos: Iris Cornelis. With the support of the Mondriaan Fund.
White Clay, 12 tons, 2019 (Burgundy, France)
"The summer of 2019 I spent with 12 tons of local white clay in the rough space of my studio, an old barn next to my house in a village in Burgundy, France. Immersing in the deep mass of clay day after day, it kept changing shape. On some days the going was tough. The clay started to harden during the heat waves, kneading it soft again with my feet, knee or ankle deep was hard work. But the clay was deliciously soft and cool on other days, so sensitive to the touch it took over the minutest detail of my skin, becoming like skin itself. These images show different states of the clay during the process."
"The summer of 2019 I spent with 12 tons of local white clay in the rough space of my studio, an old barn next to my house in a village in Burgundy, France. Immersing in the deep mass of clay day after day, it kept changing shape. On some days the going was tough. The clay started to harden during the heat waves, kneading it soft again with my feet, knee or ankle deep was hard work. But the clay was deliciously soft and cool on other days, so sensitive to the touch it took over the minutest detail of my skin, becoming like skin itself. These images show different states of the clay during the process."
Regis Center of Arts , 2019 (Minneapolis, MN, USA)
"Site-specific raw clay installation with imprint, realized at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery of the Regis Center for Art in Minneapolis. It was part of the exhibition "The Form Will Find Its Way: Contemporary Ceramic Sculptural Abstraction", curated by Elizabeth Carpenter. My project was made possible with support from the Harlan Boss Foundation for the Arts and Continental Clay Company."
"Site-specific raw clay installation with imprint, realized at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery of the Regis Center for Art in Minneapolis. It was part of the exhibition "The Form Will Find Its Way: Contemporary Ceramic Sculptural Abstraction", curated by Elizabeth Carpenter. My project was made possible with support from the Harlan Boss Foundation for the Arts and Continental Clay Company."
Performance in Tbilisi (Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2018)
"Performance at the Contemporary Art Gallery of the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, Georgia. The 3 day performance was part of the exhibition "A Mad Tea Party" by Lia Bagrationi. Each day a different colour clay slip was used: Day 1 plain clay slip, Day 2 five kilos of black iron oxide was added to the slip, Day 3 five kilos of red iron oxide was added to the slip." The photos were taken by: Mari Ataneli and Otar Vepkhvadze.
"Performance at the Contemporary Art Gallery of the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, Georgia. The 3 day performance was part of the exhibition "A Mad Tea Party" by Lia Bagrationi. Each day a different colour clay slip was used: Day 1 plain clay slip, Day 2 five kilos of black iron oxide was added to the slip, Day 3 five kilos of red iron oxide was added to the slip." The photos were taken by: Mari Ataneli and Otar Vepkhvadze.
Skinned, 2018 (Museum Jorn, Silkeborg, Denmark)
"For the exhibition CLAY!, curated by Karen Friis Herbsleb, I realised the installation ‘Skinned’ in 4 adjoining rooms of Museum Jorn in Silkeborg, Denmark. First I laid a skin made of wool soaked in a mixture of clay slip, iron-oxide and glue over the 10 tons of clay, which were deposited on the floor of the first room. During my performance on the opening night, the partly hardened skin was stripped off the clay and carried to the third room, where it was put down on the floor and so became part of the installation. The now skinned clay was highly sensitised, as if it were living flesh, a sensation that was accentuated by the red iron-oxide with which the clay was flooded. During daily performances, beginning on the opening night and continuing the following week, I shaped the clay, using my whole body, which was followed by the making of an imprint on linen fabric of the traces my body left behind. These large imprints, 5 m x 3.20 m, were hung, superimposed over one another, in the space adjacent to the clay space. In the fourth space the film made by Jérémie Basset of the project ‘Under Ground’ (2016,) was screened."
Photos: Liedeke Kruk. With support of the Mondriaan Fund.
"For the exhibition CLAY!, curated by Karen Friis Herbsleb, I realised the installation ‘Skinned’ in 4 adjoining rooms of Museum Jorn in Silkeborg, Denmark. First I laid a skin made of wool soaked in a mixture of clay slip, iron-oxide and glue over the 10 tons of clay, which were deposited on the floor of the first room. During my performance on the opening night, the partly hardened skin was stripped off the clay and carried to the third room, where it was put down on the floor and so became part of the installation. The now skinned clay was highly sensitised, as if it were living flesh, a sensation that was accentuated by the red iron-oxide with which the clay was flooded. During daily performances, beginning on the opening night and continuing the following week, I shaped the clay, using my whole body, which was followed by the making of an imprint on linen fabric of the traces my body left behind. These large imprints, 5 m x 3.20 m, were hung, superimposed over one another, in the space adjacent to the clay space. In the fourth space the film made by Jérémie Basset of the project ‘Under Ground’ (2016,) was screened."
Photos: Liedeke Kruk. With support of the Mondriaan Fund.
Mixed Blood, 2017 (Starworks, Star, NC, USA)
"North Carolina is famous for its amazing clays. 20 tons of rough kaolin clay were dropped down a slope just outside the clay factory at STARworks. After shaping it, the white clay was flooded with red Okeewemee clay slip from the next village. A large kiln was then built around the sculpture, which was fired for 3 days and nights.
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During the firing the difference of temperature throughout the kiln brought many colours out of the red slip. All the different shades human skin can have, are included in the textured surfaces of the fired work. The building of the kiln around the work, and the firing, were a huge effort. Many people participated. Many thanks to: David Freeman, Andres Allik, David Stuempfle, Kathy Irwin, Hamish Jackson, Stillman Browning-Howe, Kyle, John, Eddy of Wet Dog Glass and his friends, who brought and smashed up loads of pallets for firing wood, the people of STARworks and many others who gave a hand with the firing and the opening of the kiln. An award of the Lighton International Artist Exchange Program has made this project possible."
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Photos: Kathy Irwin.
Oorsprong, 2017 (Finsterwolde, the Netherlands)
"2017 marked the 10 anniversary of the farmer and gallery owner's, Albert Waalkens, death. That April an occasion to remember the meaning of this remarkable 'Groninger', the farmer, who in the turbulent 1960s was figurehead and catalyst for the arts, land-art in particular, in Finsterwolde, Groningen and the Netherlands. In 2000 I spent two months as a resident at his gallery, after which Carrie de Swaan made the film 'Tracks in the flats' in the nearby Dollard. I, as well as Merijn Vrij and Marc van Vliet, have been invited to come back to this special place to realise a large scale land-art project. In the meadow at the back of Gallery Waalkens a large bowl-like shape was dug, 33 meters long, 23 meters wide and 2,60 high in the middle. On the slopes of this basin 50 cubic meters of rough clay, dug up from a nearby field, were deposited. During 4 days I worked and shaped this unyielding material, in collaboration with Julia Stehling. The amount and roughness of the clay made us very aware of our human frailness in relation to the powers of nature. On June 17th we did a performance during Art Manifestation ‘Rondom Waalkens’, organised by Stichting Bewogen Aarde. With support of the Mondriaan Fund." www.oldambtcultuur.nl/programma
"2017 marked the 10 anniversary of the farmer and gallery owner's, Albert Waalkens, death. That April an occasion to remember the meaning of this remarkable 'Groninger', the farmer, who in the turbulent 1960s was figurehead and catalyst for the arts, land-art in particular, in Finsterwolde, Groningen and the Netherlands. In 2000 I spent two months as a resident at his gallery, after which Carrie de Swaan made the film 'Tracks in the flats' in the nearby Dollard. I, as well as Merijn Vrij and Marc van Vliet, have been invited to come back to this special place to realise a large scale land-art project. In the meadow at the back of Gallery Waalkens a large bowl-like shape was dug, 33 meters long, 23 meters wide and 2,60 high in the middle. On the slopes of this basin 50 cubic meters of rough clay, dug up from a nearby field, were deposited. During 4 days I worked and shaped this unyielding material, in collaboration with Julia Stehling. The amount and roughness of the clay made us very aware of our human frailness in relation to the powers of nature. On June 17th we did a performance during Art Manifestation ‘Rondom Waalkens’, organised by Stichting Bewogen Aarde. With support of the Mondriaan Fund." www.oldambtcultuur.nl/programma
Under Ground, 2016 (Lustwarande, Tilburg, the Netherlands)
"Under Ground - 60 tons of clay, a digger, a body, was part of the exhibition Luster – Clay in Sculpture Today, in park De Oude Warande in Tilburg, organized by Fundament Foundation. The number of exhibitions on the use of clay and ceramics in contemporary art has been remarkable in recent years. Luster – Clay in Sculpture Today was in line with this renewed interest, but went further by challenging the artists to create new works for the public space of park De Oude Warande. Sixty tons of blue/gray, smooth Dutch river clay was delivered in the park straight from the bed of the river Waal. With a large shovel, the clay was laid on the slopes of a natural hollow on a beautiful location among the trees. With my new tool the digger I softened and prepared the thick layer of clay which I subsequently shaped with my body in the course of 4 days. The resulting land-art work remained in place during the 6 weeks of the exhibition."
Photographer Liedeke Kruk was commissioned by Lustwarande to follow the process of making. The film ‘Fortiter et Suaviter’ was made of the project by Jérémie Basset of Films du Lierre. Cofinanced by Stokroos foundation: www.stokroos.nl
For more images see: www.lustwarande.org/archief/kunstenaars/alexandra-engelfriet
Cave of Forgotten Dreams, 2016 (Alkmaar, the Netherlands)
"For the exhibition Cave of Forgotten Dreams, curated by Gerda Kruimer, I made an imprint on fabric of body imprints in clay. Dimensions: 6,50 m x 2,50 m. The invitation letter for participation in the exhibition stated: 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams is the title of a film by Werner Herzog about the caves of Chauvet Pont d’Arc in the Ardêche, France in which 32000 year old wall paintings have been found. Let the title of his film inspire you to make a work using charcoal as your basic material'."
"For the exhibition Cave of Forgotten Dreams, curated by Gerda Kruimer, I made an imprint on fabric of body imprints in clay. Dimensions: 6,50 m x 2,50 m. The invitation letter for participation in the exhibition stated: 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams is the title of a film by Werner Herzog about the caves of Chauvet Pont d’Arc in the Ardêche, France in which 32000 year old wall paintings have been found. Let the title of his film inspire you to make a work using charcoal as your basic material'."
Clay Gulgong 2016 (Gulgong, NSW Australia)
"Gulgong has hosted an international ceramics festival every three years since 1989. Initiated by the late Janet Mansfield, it is now organized by her son Neil Mansfield and his wife Bernadette Mansfield. I was invited to realize a large scale site specific fired clay work in the sculpture park Morning View, just outside Gulgong. The region surrounding Gulgong has a massive resource of clay. These deposits have been mined over many years for industrial use. The 10 tons of clay for my project were a mixture of locally mined kaolin and red clay dug straight form the earth at Morning View. Different percentages of the two clays were used in the various batches mixed. This created a variety of colours which were consequently blended by my body shaping the clay. The work has been fired by stacking wood from the Eucalyptus trees around the area on top of it, only covered by corrugated sheets." Photos raw clay: Bronwyn Kemp. Photos fired work: Simon Reece.
"Gulgong has hosted an international ceramics festival every three years since 1989. Initiated by the late Janet Mansfield, it is now organized by her son Neil Mansfield and his wife Bernadette Mansfield. I was invited to realize a large scale site specific fired clay work in the sculpture park Morning View, just outside Gulgong. The region surrounding Gulgong has a massive resource of clay. These deposits have been mined over many years for industrial use. The 10 tons of clay for my project were a mixture of locally mined kaolin and red clay dug straight form the earth at Morning View. Different percentages of the two clays were used in the various batches mixed. This created a variety of colours which were consequently blended by my body shaping the clay. The work has been fired by stacking wood from the Eucalyptus trees around the area on top of it, only covered by corrugated sheets." Photos raw clay: Bronwyn Kemp. Photos fired work: Simon Reece.
Large Kiln Sculpture, 2015 (St. Martin de Salencey, France)
"This large sculpture was shaped directly in my wood-firing trench kiln and subsequently fired. It is made of St. Amant-de-Puissaye stoneware clay. While drying it cracked into large pieces. These were taken out of the kiln and reassembled in the exhibition space of Centre Keramis, La Louvière, Belgium. The differences in temperature throughout the kiln brought out the whole range of colours concealed in the dark grey raw clay. The path of the flame is visible in the finished work. Dimensions: length: 4.50 m, width: 2.30 m."
"This large sculpture was shaped directly in my wood-firing trench kiln and subsequently fired. It is made of St. Amant-de-Puissaye stoneware clay. While drying it cracked into large pieces. These were taken out of the kiln and reassembled in the exhibition space of Centre Keramis, La Louvière, Belgium. The differences in temperature throughout the kiln brought out the whole range of colours concealed in the dark grey raw clay. The path of the flame is visible in the finished work. Dimensions: length: 4.50 m, width: 2.30 m."
Sonorité d'Argile, 2013 (Ciry-le-Noble, France)
"'Sonorité d'Argile’, a performance in collaboration with Dutch saxophonist, clarinettist and shakuhachi player Ab Baars, took place on August 9, 2013, at La Briqueterie in Ciry-le-Noble, France. The deserted brick-factory, now a museum, was not long-ago part of a thriving industry. By using raw clay, the material on which this industry was based, in a poetic project, our performance became part of the effort to give location and material a new part in the history of the region. 25 tons of clay directly from the quarry was deposited in the basin previously used for storage of coal for the big kilns. Children and adults from around the area came to help with the preparation of the clay. Ab Baars: 'In my music, in the improvisations, I search continuously for the unpolished, the disruptive, the abrasive. While improvising, groping, stumbling, I form my material. The way Alexandra Engelfriet works with raw clay, kneading, beating and kicking it, often with a rugged, rough structure as an end result, is interesting and inspiring. Because of this relationship I am excited about this collaborative project.'" Photos: Bertrand Lauprête, Emilie Fèvre and Fréderic Camut.
"'Sonorité d'Argile’, a performance in collaboration with Dutch saxophonist, clarinettist and shakuhachi player Ab Baars, took place on August 9, 2013, at La Briqueterie in Ciry-le-Noble, France. The deserted brick-factory, now a museum, was not long-ago part of a thriving industry. By using raw clay, the material on which this industry was based, in a poetic project, our performance became part of the effort to give location and material a new part in the history of the region. 25 tons of clay directly from the quarry was deposited in the basin previously used for storage of coal for the big kilns. Children and adults from around the area came to help with the preparation of the clay. Ab Baars: 'In my music, in the improvisations, I search continuously for the unpolished, the disruptive, the abrasive. While improvising, groping, stumbling, I form my material. The way Alexandra Engelfriet works with raw clay, kneading, beating and kicking it, often with a rugged, rough structure as an end result, is interesting and inspiring. Because of this relationship I am excited about this collaborative project.'" Photos: Bertrand Lauprête, Emilie Fèvre and Fréderic Camut.
Tranchée, 2013 (Le Vent des Forêts, La Meuse, France)
"Le Vent des Forêts is a vast sculpture park which is situated in the heart of the area La Meuse in France. Supported by the residents of 6 farming and forestry villages each year 7 contemporary artists are invited to realize an outdoor project during the first weeks of July. In 2013, the Association Le Vent des Forêts invited me to participate. With 20 tons of clay I have sculpted the walls of the middle 10 meters of a 50 meter long trench, dug out in the limestone ground on a hilltop in the forest near the village of Pierrefitte-sur-Aire. A kiln has been constructed ​enclosing this work and it has been fired day and night during a week. The finished work is now part of Le Vent des Forêts sculpture park.
The realization of this work would have been impossible without the help, support and participation of many people from the nearby villages and people coming from farther away to participate in the firing. A special thanks goes to Tuilerie Royer (Soulaines-Dhuys), Chaudronnerie Renneson (St-Mihiel), the Association Expression (Bar-le-Duc) and the volunteers of Le Vent de Forêts. Marc Higgin should be
mentioned, for his unrelenting and energetic assistance during the realization of the sculpture, and Thiébaut Chagué, whose counsel for the construction of the kiln and the firing process has been of great value."
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Photo: Christophe Beurrier, Estelle Chrétien and Guillaume Ramon. A film of the process of making has been made by Estelle Chrétien, see under Film.
www.leventdesforets.com
La Fonderie, 2011 (Carouge, Switzerland)
"In les Halles de la Fonderie, the huge industrial space of an old foundry, I worked for a week with 10 tons of clay from the brick factory Bardonnex SA. This project was part of the exhibition CERAMICS NOW!, itself part of the 12e Parcours Céramique Carougeois in Switzerland." Photos: Danièle Gardyn.
"In les Halles de la Fonderie, the huge industrial space of an old foundry, I worked for a week with 10 tons of clay from the brick factory Bardonnex SA. This project was part of the exhibition CERAMICS NOW!, itself part of the 12e Parcours Céramique Carougeois in Switzerland." Photos: Danièle Gardyn.
Reclaim, 2011 (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia)
"In the courtyard of the old Jam Factory in which the Tasmanian School of the Arts in Hobart is housed, I worked during a week with a field of yellow clay, straight from the quarry and feet wedged by the students of the sculpture department. A film has been made by Glen Dunn. The project was an initiative of Creative Arts - Tasmanian Polytechnic, supported by the School of Art - University of Tasmania and sponsored by the Pathways Project." See Motion.
"In the courtyard of the old Jam Factory in which the Tasmanian School of the Arts in Hobart is housed, I worked during a week with a field of yellow clay, straight from the quarry and feet wedged by the students of the sculpture department. A film has been made by Glen Dunn. The project was an initiative of Creative Arts - Tasmanian Polytechnic, supported by the School of Art - University of Tasmania and sponsored by the Pathways Project." See Motion.
Dust to Dust, 2011 (Punt WG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
"Clay is the material from which everything arises and into which everything returns. With 7 tons of earthy clay straight from the Kleine Gelderse Waard, the last river wash-land in the Netherlands that wasn’t flooded at that time, I realized a sculpture/installation/film project in the space of Punt WG in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in collaboration with filmmaker Marlou van den Berge. The film closely follows the process of the wetting and kneading of the clay to make it workable and the development of the work in the space. The tendency of the sloppy material to fall apart and the fabric needed to keep it together, became the leading elements in the process. Helena Goldwater: 'The film follows the actions and repetitions with the clay that are simple in their execution, but there is a complexity in the potentiality of meaning. The corporeal and visceral come through and lead towards an intimate work but also devastating in terms of life and death; horror on personal and wider scales.'" See also under Motion.
"Clay is the material from which everything arises and into which everything returns. With 7 tons of earthy clay straight from the Kleine Gelderse Waard, the last river wash-land in the Netherlands that wasn’t flooded at that time, I realized a sculpture/installation/film project in the space of Punt WG in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in collaboration with filmmaker Marlou van den Berge. The film closely follows the process of the wetting and kneading of the clay to make it workable and the development of the work in the space. The tendency of the sloppy material to fall apart and the fabric needed to keep it together, became the leading elements in the process. Helena Goldwater: 'The film follows the actions and repetitions with the clay that are simple in their execution, but there is a complexity in the potentiality of meaning. The corporeal and visceral come through and lead towards an intimate work but also devastating in terms of life and death; horror on personal and wider scales.'" See also under Motion.
Marl Hole, 2009 (Stoke on Trent, England)
"A raw clay 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. The film by Johnny Magee follows the work processes of all four artists."
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Film on Vimeo. Photos: Johnny Magee.
"A raw clay 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. The film by Johnny Magee follows the work processes of all four artists."
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Film on Vimeo. Photos: Johnny Magee.
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."
"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."
Silt in Gallery de Boer-Waalkens, 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."
"The silt of the flats of the Dollard was brought inside and poured down the wall of Gallery de Boer-Waalkens in Finsterwolde."
Tracks in the Flats, 1998-2003 (Ameland and the Dollard, the Netherlands)
"As part of 'Kunstmaand Ameland 1998' I worked for 6 weeks in the flats of the Waddenzee, the inner sea of the Netherlands. 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 also under Motion.
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 slip mixed with straw, these lines grew into walls." Photos: Rosa Verhoeve.
"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 slip mixed with straw, these lines grew into walls." Photos: Rosa Verhoeve.
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."
Photos : Christien Jaspars.
"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."
Photos : Christien Jaspars.
Sand I & II, 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."
"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."