Dion Soethoudt

artistiek onderzoek - conceptueel - design - objecten - performance

I am Dion Soethoudt, a conceptual designer. In my work I combine multi-disciplinary design methods such as illustration, installation and speculative research. I often explore new techniques or materials.

My bi-racial upbringing opened up a freedom to express and create things that might be considered unorthodox, but I can get away with it. It has shaped a unique and deviant way of thinking which often results in humour. Humour is like a tickling. It can function as an agent to push boundaries and challenges the idea of norms and values. My work dwells within the tension field between comedy and tragedy. Within this spectrum nothing is sacred.

‘Living productivity’ is the working title for everything I do. I strive to make the simple ‘act of being’ a full-time usable product. Therefore I search for productivity in the absurd, illogic and bizarre details of the mundane.


I Like You And You Like I Chapter 01: Personal Space - Dutch Design Week, October 2019 A performance where two autonomous entities spend seven days confined in a room of solitude. The project is inspired by (and an adaptation of) the 1974 Joseph Beuys performance in New York in which Beuys locked himself up with a wild coyote. Soethoudt chooses a different ‘spirit animal' in the form of an autonomous robot, capable of exploring and mapping its surroundings. With one dynamic element however: a 31-year-old designer. For seven consecutive days, living with only each other and themselves. The seclusion takes place in hexagon-shaped room of 44m2 and has a 24H live stream. No windows and only one door equipped with a one-way mirror where DDW visitors can witness the event live and in person. The A.I. and robotics revolution is causing a new status quo, as the industrial revolution did in the 19th century, railroading our conscious and subconscious decision-making. The digital to physical evolution of A.I. forces us have a tangible relation to it, and forces us - or it - to design its migration. I Like You And You Like I is an inquiry into artificial intelligence, human intelligence, autonomous thinking and the building of relationships. www.ilyayli.com
Interaction Footprint - Consciously or sub-consciously every object that your senses interact with leave a mark. Electrodes fuse and find there home in the Prefrontal cortex. The same uncontrollable marks are being taken an given by this manifest. Every form of interaction translates into a mark on the manifest and a mark on the one who touches it. The collective of marks creates the contour that draws its territory, history, and interaction. Het Nieuw Instituut Rotterdam established the ”Vedute” project in 1991. ”Vedute” is a library that holds a continuously growing collection of manifests made by various invited contemporary artists. All manifests fall under the same restrictions. The interior & exterior and objects within my childhood home, drawn from memory in 2014.
Stealing From Myself - Should artist recalibrate their ego within their work? The ego can destroy anything, especially in the creative industry. This not likely to change, looking at the increasing responsibilities put on designers as they are baptised as the problem-solvers of the world. Next, to fixing the world, we are often faced with a hunger for recognition, since it’s an industry where the recognition of your work or yourself has a direct effect on the numbers. Struggling with my own levels of creativity induced anxieties. I started exploring ways of recalibrating my ego within my work. Being an imaginative dreamer I took the drawings of my dreams seriously, during 10 months of illustrating the narratives of my sleep, I came across an intriguing character who would keep on reoccurring in my dreams. This character, who, oppositely, he would be named ‘Apollo’, was constantly creating ‘things’, using extraordinary methods that seemed as surprising and convincing as the highly original ideas he would come up with. The Romans believed that creativity was this divine attendant spirit that came to human beings from some distant and unknowable source, a genius. Apollo takes away the ego from the equation. They are not my idea’s they are his, I just steal them. This perspective on creativity limits the pursuit of self-preservation in my works. This project can be seen as a first attempt to develop an ego-free and design method. ‘Stealing From Myself’ became a 320 page book. A limited print of 200 copies, each and every copy signed by Dion Soethoudt. • Language: English / Height: 24cm / Width 17,5cm • Preface by Prof. Catelijne van Middelkoop • Concept, design & illustrations by Dion Soethoudt • Printed by Baltoprint
To Yayoi Kusama, from Studio Soethoudt - If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago. - Yayoi Kusama Dion’s fascination with polka dots started as a way to find productivity at times he felt stuck. Overwhelmed by his own bullshit, self-pity and other nonsense, this labor-intensive process forced him to focus his energy and attention into creating something that nobody was waiting for. He made it anyway. Hours and hours of drilling, pouring, sanding and polishing allowed him to procrastinate his daily choirs while remaining productive, pushing his self-hatred aside. Dion’s struggles are not unique. We collectively share inner doubts but still, we mostly deal with these issues in solitude. The act of doing whatever the fuck Dion wants is a luxury he allows himself from time to time. So far his procrastination finished two rare pieces. Yayoi Kusama was regularly hospitalised from overwork during her life. Many men artists copied her creativity, which made the men famous, but not Kusama. Thus, she was not able to make the money she believed she deserved. This frustration became so extreme that she attempted suicide.
Temporary Logic - Karoshi (death or suicide by overworking) is a huge problem in Tokyo. One of the main places to witness the seriousness of Karoshi is the subway. A popular place for salary(wo)men get some extra sleep, but also to commit suicide, a common consequence of Karoshi. Their daily commute is scattered with a distinctive communicative tool: tape. This improvised 'design solution' is used for practically any form of mending. Sometimes practical and logical, but mostly non-sensical and extremely clumsy. A 'temporary fix' which lasts decades. Unconsciously travelers are in dialogue with the tape, blindly accepting that whatever it communicates is true. Temporary Logic implements the same reasoning and methodology by ‘improving’ the archetypical Japanese office desk.
Fugazi Fugazi - Fugazi Fugazi* is a terrazzo brand created by Studio Soethoudt in collaboration with the Portuguese manufacturer RMC. In its origin terrazzo was created as a cheap, fake alternative to marble. With Fugazi Fugazi Studio Soethoudt strives to place terrazzo outside of the shadow of its pristine and high-class cousin. It’s not the goal to reinvent the wheel but to add motion to the cycle of terrazzo’s identity and possibilities. Next to a tile collection, furniture pieces will be created that focus on ‘sustainability in sentiment’ which goes against the notion of planned obsolescence but instead focusses on multi-generational ownership. Design becomes a family piece, an heirloom, part of a household’s identity. • Concept & Design by Dion Soethoudt • Manufacturing by RMC • Photography by Francisco Stoffel • Co-funded by: WORTH partnership program & European Commision
Sleeping Productivity - Can I translate my sub-conscious body movement during my sleep into a (functional) object? Wake up to a new idea. While our lives today revolve around packed schedules, we still need to spend a third of our lifetime sleeping. Being a restless sleeper myself I came up with ideas to turn the energy spent on resting into productive energy. Physical night-time activity, your tossing and turning, can be translated into sculptural physical objects using Dion’s installation ‘Sleeping Productivity’. At the current chapter, the production method is a (self-)created mechanism, which translates my body movement to a layer of polyurethane and depending on my sleeping activity shapes a unique object. Every movement is equal to an amount of A and B component polyurethane being poured down a trail and ending into a mold. Each color symbolises a new night. Every piece is different, a reflection of my sleep.
United Colors of Dionetton - Serie: 0 - A color study which started as a way to find productivity at times I felt stuck. Overwhelmed by my own self-pity and other nonsense, this labor-intensive process forced me to focus my energy and attention into creating something that nobody was waiting for. I made it anyway. Hours and hours of sanding, pouring, polishing and sanding again, allowed me to procrastinate my daily choirs while remaining productive. This collage later evolved into a commissioned wall-piece.
Soda Pop Shop - The Soda Pop Shop serves sodas, infused drinks and cocktails, taking its cue from the American soda fountains of the 1930s. Our palette ranges from the well-known classics to the curiously experimental. When bars closed their doors in the days of Prohibition, soda shops became a cornerstone of social activity, elevating non-alcoholic beverages to a high art form, providing a wonderland of flavors for adults and kids alike. This experimentation laid the groundwork for a whole new range of cocktails when Prohibition ended. We handcraft and preserve our unique flavors in our external kitchen to guarantee high quality, consistent products. Secure in the knowledge that we are pouring a streamlined drink every time, we make hospitality and presentation our main focus at the bar, giving all our attention to the details required to create the perfect serve. The nerdy historical approach is mostly behind-the-scenes; the experience at the bar should be one of simple joy: happiness in a glass with a twist. This is an ongoing project; the flavors will be rotated and will continue to evolve over time. We plan to organize workshops and events, inviting chefs and bartenders to inspire us with new creations and concoctions. All the magic takes place at the Fenix Food Factory, a collective of culinary entrepreneurs that has captivated the hearts of Rotterdammers with its offering of delicious, locally sourced and locally produced products. • Founded by Sietze Kalkwijk • Concept, Design execution by Rare Fruits Council • Co-curation by Dion Soethoudt