Fascinated by societal sustainability I am interested in unusual, new materials and how I can manipulate those. I see myself as a pioneer who, by means of combining technology, art and science, shows how art can contribute to a strategy of sustainable development.
Since graduating in 2013 I have focused on understanding, controlling and manipulating unusual materials. In projects such as Filter Factory (2013) and Leek Packaging (2017), I have explored the possibilities of using waste streams to create new opportunities. Since 2015 I have been combining waste streams such as overdue foods with new, promising technologies in synthetic biology. This resulted in projects like The Art of Deception and The Meat Project.
Within my work I combine different media, using techniques and media tools either to experiment and document or to strengthen the message with video and visual images.
Natureconomy - The urban installation Natureconomy includes four hybrid animals which are a combination of hunter and prey, to demonstrate they need each other for a balanced ecosystem. The animals chosen are important for Dutch nature – inspired by the 10 of 010 programme of Gemeente Rotterdam. All are iconic species like the fox, the heron, the great tit, and the bat.
With the installation I question what the value is of nature and a balanced ecosystem?
Client: Rebel Group Nederland
Weaving Light - With Weaving Light I introduce light in the interior in the form of a sculpture, object or curtain. I am fascinated by how the fibers of the rope refract and filter the light. By knotting the rope in different ways and by playing with the density of the braids, the intensity of the light can be influenced. By experimenting with different thicknesses, different knotting and braiding techniques and different colors I influence the refraction of the light and create a filter. With these sculptures I make a combination of technology and traditional crafts.
The use of rope and light comes from a fascination to create new materials. I start from a basic material (rope), which is translated into an end product by means of various manipulations (knots). A labour-intensive process that is seemingly simple, but is translated into an intriguing object through repetition and a variety of techniques.
In collaboration with Giorgio Gasco
Supported by Creative Industries Fund NL
Prosthetic X - Prosthetic X is a technological “artificial data organ” that is strongly reminiscent of a natural organ, with prostheses that serve as aesthetic indicators for the functioning or non-functioning of (parts of) the body. It consists of a platform around the head and hands to which 9 prostheses can be connected, which respond and adapt in real time to our inner health, external condition and social interactions. A series of body extensions that live, breathe, move and change colour, like the organs in our body. They change by responding to personal social data, health data and external measurements. In addition, there is a tenth prosthesis: the exo-organ, which can stand with a loved one or caregiver. This indicates the “status” of the other nine, allowing dedicated others to gain insight into the health of the wearer from a distance.
Prosthetic X speculates how non- invasive health tracking tools will give us insight into social, mental and physical health. It will empower empathy, celebrate knowledge and combats the threat of loneliness, isolation and health conditions for an aging population. The shadows of aging will fade away and unleash a new beauty ideal.
Crystal Knots - 2019 - ongoing
collection of light objects
various dimensions
crystallized minerals
Crystal Knots is a series of site-specific light installations. The shape of the light objects is inspired by the biological phenomenon of protein folding. With this project, I continue my research for the boundaries of art and sciences and where these two subjects can possibly meet or serve each other.
In science, crystallography marks a new era for molecular research. It is the method to determine the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. With this technique it is possible not only to understand the complex molecular structures such as DNA but also the physical process of protein folding and interaction.
For this project, I am inspired by these molecular structures and knots. The Crystal Knots are an enlargement of what happens on a nanoscale in biology, where structure and function are indissociable. This crystal light installation depicts folded protein structures and consists of a curved tube encrusted with crystals and LED light incorporated.
Due to the modular character of the light objects, the installation can be small and used in an intimate interior, but by connecting the different elements to each other this chandelier can swing through space in infinite possibilities.
Crystal Series - Crystal Series
2016 - ongoing
collection of objects
various dimensions
crystallized minerals
Our world is changing in a fast and significant way. Progress has been measured by increased speed and efficiency - faster, better, stronger. This has caused a shift in our perception of time. In our fast paced society time seems to fly, time has become a luxury product, time has become a currency.
In reality time has been passing at the same speed for ages. Nature can be seen as the opponent of today’s society. Natural processes are the proof of time.
The ‘Crystal’ series is the result of research into stalagmites, one of the greatest wonders of nature. The growing process of the objects can be seen as a metaphor for time. Each object is unique in shape, colour and texture, due to the organic development of the object. The objects are the result of the natural crystallization of minerals and the influence of the designer on the formation process. This process can take up to several weeks to obtain the perfect shape, interesting colour combinations and dimensions of crystals.
The Art of Deception - 2015
Series of manipulated pig hearts
Collection of 21 in glass vessels
Mixed media
Humans use deception to achieve perfection in society, art and science. Reacting to this through art, we have taken discarded pig hearts and transformed them into elegant vessels for new life by decellularizing them and re-populating them with various techniques, into aesthetically improved hearts for humans.
Decellularization marks a new era of synthetic biology – organs are stripped of their cellular contents, leaving behind a sterile scaffold that can be repopulated with stemcells. While the medical utilization of this resource is being realised, the artistic and creative value of ghost organs represents unexplored territory.
With this collection of 21 transformed hearts we explore how biological interventions and aesthetic manipulation can be used as tools for the ultimate deception: the transformation of inner beauty, from grotesque to perfect. Can the ghost organ be a blank canvas for designers? Can organs be objects of design? Will humans be able to manipulate organs for aesthetic purposes?
The discarded dead hearts will not function as canonical organs, but rather as a representation of how far science can manipulate the human body.
In collaboration with Professor Toby Kiers (Free University Amsterdam)
Commissioned by Bio Art & Design Awards, with the support of ZonMw
(The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development).
Vegetable Paper - Vegetable Paper
2016
Cutting waste from vegetables
With 110 hectares of land, Jan van Lierop is one of the largest organic vegetable producers in the Netherlands. Cleaning these vegetables are the main source of waste within the process, which is currently being used as fertilizer. This is more of a solution to get rid of the waste rather than a fertilizer technique itself. As a starting point, we asked ourselves, can there be another application to this crop waste? The answer; Leek paper.
During one of our chats, Jan told me: “Our customers do not choose the cheapest per se, instead they are more interested in the storytelling behind each product.” Then he added: “The Netherlands has a low consumption of organic vegetables in comparison with other countries such as Belgium”. Meaning that most of Jan’s production is exported to foreign countries and there is a lack of awareness in this field within the Netherlands.
Organic vegetables have to be packed individually, in order to explain where the produce comes from, its nutritional value and prevent contamination with non-organic vegetables. Nowadays, vegetables are packed in flowpack, which is a biodegradable transparent plastic. But consumers are not aware that this packaging can be thrown away with organic waste, nor is it explained on the packaging itself. As a result, this organic packaging ends up with regular plastic waste and does not decompose.
After a theoretical and practical research, it emerged that it is possible to make paper from any organic material. With this knowledge, the idea grew and the concept was developed: to pack Jan van Lierop’s vegetables in paper made from the waste streams of his own production. This packaging would also be the perfect medium to explain the story of Jan and the craft of growing organic vegetables.
We are currently working on a businessplan and the feasibility of the implementation of this packaging. Please contact us if you would like to collaborate.
In collaboration with Papiermakerij de Hoop, Rotterdam
The Meat Project - The Meat Project
2015
Series of light objects
Various dimensions
Discarded meat
Every year tons of food are being thrown away by supermarkets, because the food expires before it is being sold. For this project I re-use expired meat from supermarkets. By taking the material out of its context and reframing it I want to create awareness around issues of waste in relation to meat production, distribution and consumption, and to show the urgency of evolution in those practices.
Expired slices of bacon get decellularized upon a laboratory treatment. With this process - that is currently being used in the latest research on tissue regeneration - meat loses all its cellular content, turns transparent white, feels rubbery and gets a marble look.
I discovered that this recycled raw material can be shaped, dried, glued and stretched. By applying this technique I am not only changing the look and shape of meat, but above all its meaning.
The result is a series of lighting objects; their shape is inspired by Escherichia coli, a bacteria that resides in meat and causes meat spoilage after a certain period.
Commissioned by and in collaboration with BioArt Laboratories
In the permanent collection of Centre Pompidou Paris
Les Sauvages - Les Sauvages
2012
Collection of 8 masks
Fur from roadkill
Day by day we pass by dead animals in the streets. Most of them got killed in traffic. Instantly they lose their value of a beautiful living creature and turn into a piece of trash. Years have made us immune to this problem. It’s a fact we already recognize as typical for our busy traffic and lives.
The goal of this collection of masks, made out of roadkill fur, is to create an experience that is at once poetic, uncanny, meditative and stunning. I gather, collate, re-use, layer, peel, burn, reveal, duplicate, play and photograph. It’s not my intention to shock, but to reveal the idea that objects that might have lost their value can still be beautiful.
By taking an everyday object that is intrinsically discomforting and by reframing and reinterpreting it, the viewer is being enticed to reexamine his preconceptions and prejudices.The masks are fetish inspired and made out of the fur of rabbits, hares and cats(roadkill).
For the project I collected roadkill and skinned and tanned them myself.
In Collaboration with Furlab Amsterdam.
Filter Factory - 2013
Recycled cigarette filters
Filter Factory is a stament on the littering behaviour of smokers. An average smoker throws every year 2.5 kilo of cigarette ends on the street. Birds eat these cigarette ends because they consider them to be food. As a result they die.
On the other hand, birds are smart and use the filters in their nests. Because the filters are made out of a synthetic fiber, they keep the eggs warm. Besides, the nicotine keeps leeches out of the nest, so the little chicks don’t die.
It is my aim to make smokers aware of their littering behaviour and reward them for their good behaviour instead of punishing them for bad behaviour. When throwing your cigarette end in the machine, it is being shredded and the counter runs. Every three hundredth cigarette, a door pops open and the lucky smoker can take a birdhouse home with him.
The birdhouses are being made in some sort of big waffle iron. The shredded cigarette filters are being melted in the waffle iron and thus being shaped into a birdhouse.
