Tag: red

No Man’s Land

Posted on by Matthijs Muller

2024
Flagpole, adorned with barrier tape, situated on the only point in the garden where 4 cadastral plots meet. Barrier tape marking the boundaries of the 2 central plots that divide the garden in four parts. Sphere, comprised of rolled up barrier tape, representing the length of the German-French border (448km*). * according to Wikipedia.
As part of the Europe week in Eitorf, organised to celebrate the city-friendship between Eitorf (DE), Bouchain (FR) and Halesworth (GB), I was commissioned to create a temporary Artwork with a focus on the benefits of Europe.
The location was an empty villa with a huge garden. During my research I found out that the garden was divided in 4 cadastral plots. These borders within this single garden inspired me to focus on borders in general.

The Richardson Effect,
Lewis Fry Richardson (1881-1953), (Mathematician, Physicist, Meteorologist, Psychologist and Pacifist).
In search of a mathematical formula as a basis for understanding the origins of international conflicts, Richardson investigated, among other things, the relationship between the length of national borders and the probability of war. He discovered that there were varying measurements of the length of one and the same country border. When he investigated how this was possible, he found that the length of a coastline or national border depends on the accuracy with which it is measured. The more precise, the longer the border, Ad Infinitum. Richardson published these findings in 1951, which is also the year in which the EU attained its first form.

Scream

Posted on by Matthijs Muller

2005
Exhibition: Tulips from Kabul, Dogtroep in fortress Ruigenhoek (NL).
An installation project with guided tours in an old fortress near Utrecht with and about asylum seekers.
Installation: ear protection, firing slit. Approx. 15 x 45 x 5cm.

The tears of Miss Holland

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1993
Exhibition: Miss Holland (private home) Amsterdam (NL).
Installation: Soap on expanding foam. Approx. 360 x 120 x 70 cm.
A sperm-whale made of soap is placed among wealth dating back to the whaling age; wall size paintings, chandeliers, a herringbone bond carpet and an opulent owner.  It looks like being stranded in the back of this monumental building in Amsterdam.

Chandelier

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1997
Exhibition: complementary, Hengelo (’97), Haarlem (2001)
An exhibition with the theme 1 kg of orange and 1 kg of blue. 
Object: Fluorescent tubes, PVC, electric devices. Height about 140cm.
This rung ladder invites to climb up the light. The fluorescent tubes attract insects.

Romeo & Julia

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2000
Exhibition: Summerlaboratory, Artoll, Bedburg-Hau (DE), Amsterdam (NL, ’04).
Installation 1: Romeo: Wood, Plastic, pipe-insulation. Approx. 200 x 110 x 70cm.
Installation 2: Julia: Toilet, ventilator, ir switch, trash bin, safety blanket. Size variable.

Chilly

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2000
Exhibiton: Tegenbeeld, Old Meat market Haarlem (NL, 2000).
Installation: Cold-store-device, wood, former entrance. Approx. 240x220x220 cm.
A 17th century meat market was converted into a museum some twenty years ago. The glass entrance was added for climate control. That entrance became obsolete again after the museum was extended. For Tegenbeeld this former entrance was temporarily converted into a cold storage room. The glass fogged up on the museum side and visitors started drawing and writing on the dimmed glass.

Mankind

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2001
Exhibition: Mankind from Akteins at the University Cologne (DE).
Installation: Neoprene, wood, foam rubber, styropor.
(4x) approx. 65 x 50 x 35cm.
Stools of diving-suit material, in the shape of numbers, placed in a pathological institute, are surrounded by numbered hall stands, numbered students and numbered preparations preserved in formaldehyde.

Corridor / Overflow

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2002
Exhibition: visiting the neighbours, Tabitha, Amsterdam (NL).  
Concept/curated/organization together with Guda Koster.
Installation: Wood, pieces of carpet. Approx. 230 x 160 x 218cm.
In front of a window at the end of a corridor in a care centre, is a colorful pile/mountain/staircase made of many layers of carpet.

The upper inside

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2002
Artists in residency, ArToll, Bedburg Hau (DE).
Two Objects: Beaker and Dish made of tablets, glued together, on the altar of the church at the grounds of an asylum.
Dish diameter approx. 30cm.
Until mid 20th century, for patients in this asylum it was mandatory to join the mass in this church every Sunday.

Without title (the Kiss)

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2003
Project: the Kiss, proposal for an exhibition in the small citypark Sarphatiepark, Amsterdam (NL).
Installation: Grass (by temporarily covering the grass, imprints are visible). Size variable.
Throughout the park tens of imprints, each shaped differently and with different measurements, suggest a camping site after summer.

Victory platform

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2003
Project: playing/games, (Cover of) Supplement of the Amsterdam newspaper Parool (NL).
For the occasion of the 75th birthday of the monumental Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Artists, writers, journalists and sportsmen let themselves be inspired by the architecture, the sport, the history and the Olympic Games. All contributions together were published in one themed magazine/supplement (PS) of the newspaper Parool.
Concept/Organisation/Curated together with Guda Koster.
FrontPage of the themed magazine/supplement Parool PS. Tabloid, approx. 87.000 copies

spelen Art & Articles.pdf

Summertime

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2004
Exhibition: 100 years Lombok, Utrecht (NL), Amsterdam (NL, ’05).
Sunshades in various sizes. Size variable.
Like pop-up tents these sunshades in the landscape seem the pioneers of new inhabitants.

Icecap

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2004
Project: Turmstipendium/Grant, Watertower Geldern (DE).
First proposal: Put an icecap on top of the roof.  The high cost of this project due to the immense installation and energy input needed, made it impossible to realize.

Run-through

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2004
Project: Turmstipendium/Grant, Watertower Geldern (DE).
Installation: Toilet seat covers made of artificial grass (some of moquette). Approx. 9-meter diameter.
A theatrical assembly around the central pipe that used to drain the water out of the basin.
The tower is located next to a railway and a football field.

WaterLand

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2004
Proposal for a competition by the occasion of creating the new subway in Amsterdam (NL), InNL booklet (’11).
Sculpture: Concrete tiles chained together and floating on Styrofoam, the lampposts also float and sway in the waves. Planned near the former site of the Amsterdam gallow-island. Approx. 1800 x 1000 x 700cm.

innl.pdf

Ground level

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2005
Exhibition: Polderlicht Amsterdam (NL), InNL booklet (’11).
A sculpture route around the polluted grounds of a former Gas factory.
Installation: Lampposts, electric wiring. Approx. 3500 x 2000 x 120cm.
A small row of lampposts seems to be sunk into the ground or grown out of it. Originally more than 12 meters high they peep out of the pavement with just a little more than their glowing heads.

innl.pdf

Cast

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2005
Exhibition: Tulips from Kabul, Dogtroep in fortress Ruigenhoek (NL).
An installation project with guided tours in an old fortress near Utrecht with and about asylum seekers.
Installation: wood, paper, binder-paper, binder-rings, carpet.

Coffee

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2006
Exhibition: Coffee, former coffee-roasting factory Antwerp (BE),
Group exhibition with Karla Houben and Margreet Kramer.
Installation; Insulation sheets, electronics, ventilators, oasis floral foam (globe). Approx. 160 x 160 x 160cm (globe), mattresses in different 1:1 sizes.
Fans slowly push air into the mattresses and then let it flow out again, this make them seem to breathe slowly with soft crackling sounds.

Tie / Tire

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2007
Exhibition: UitZicht, Artwalk Amsterdam (NL), InNL booklet (’11),
Bedburg-Hau (DE, ’12)
A show with the invisible gardens behind the houses as a theme. Each artist interviews the tenants about gardens and gardening. Their stories become the inspiration for the artworks shown in the shop windows of this art show. Concept/curation/organization together with Guda Koster.
Installation: Photoprint mounted on Aluminium, spider paper, antique bookstand.
In his childhood, the tension between A. and his father eased when they were gardening together. It was only after his father’s death that he picked up gardening again.

Bagatelle

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2007
Competition (not selected): Broekpolder Vlaardingen (NL), InNL booklet (’11).
Sculpture: Competition to design a landmark for a nearby natural reserve next to a motorway.
The history of this reserve began as a chemical dump and the soil so toxic it was forbidden to enter. Concrete, tree. Approx 900x900x1500 cm.

innl.pdf

Without title (13)

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2008
Exhibitions: Beehive, Amsterdam (NL, ’08 – ’10).
Quickly changing group show with approx. 30 artists. Each artist has a white (cube) box of 60 x 60 x 60cm. Every Monday a new opening event.
The setup of this alternative set of shows was a good opportunity to test and try various ideas.
By chance my box number was 13. To start with I reacted to the superstition around that number.

Level

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2008
Exhibition: Landverkenners, Oostknollendam (NL), InNL booklet (’11), Schokland (NL, ’20).
Sculputure: 12 waterlevels, 2 palls. Approx 10 x 115 x 200cm.
Group show in a polder which became a bird sanctuary.
From afar this work looks like a sign, getting closer it becomes clear there is no text on this sign. Closer again one recognizes the levels that don’t seem to make sense.

innl.pdf

Wings/Churls

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2009
Exhibition: Skybox Marcipanis, Amsterdam (NL).
This former school building now houses studios and a restaurant. In the former doorman’s house shows are organized.
Installation: several garlands made of black paper bird-silhouettes, black adhesive foil. Size variable.

Head over heels

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2009
Competition (not selected): Honderdmorgen, Lingerwaard (NL), InNL booklet (’11).
Sculpture: Competition to design a temporary abode in the context of the river delta, brick factories, clay and bricks.
This House ironically embodies the difficulties involved with building brick houses in the marshy soil of the Netherlands.

innl.pdf

Archimedes

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2009
Competition (not selected): Honderdmorgen, Lingerwaard (NL), InNL booklet (’11).
Sculpture: Competition to design a temporary abode in the context of the river delta, brick factories, clay and bricks.
This rowing-boat defies all intuition. Laying upside down you don’t know if it can really float.
From underneath it looks like a part of an arched roof.

innl.pdf

Those who look to the outside

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2009
Exhibition: Ander licht, Hardebollenstraat, Utrecht (NL), Amsterdam (NL, ’10)
In a red light district a changing group show in a former prostitution window with installations that react to the surroundings.
Installation: window blinds, electronics, motors, wood, wires. Size variable.
All windows are covered by window blinds that occasionally peep open slightly, making passers-by feel like they are being observed.

Rough diamond

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2010
Proposal for a competition (not selected) for a new fountain in a city park in Schiedam (NL), InNL booklet (’11).
Fountain: 3 arms of an excavator mounted on a concrete pedestal. Randomly these arms dig up water with their buckets and let it pour out of holes in the buckets, back in the pond again and again.

innl.pdf

His Gardener

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2011
Residency with group-show: The ideal man, ArToll, Bedburg Hau (DE).
Land Art piece; Fallen leaves, partly removed. Approx. 9 meter diameter.
This H in a circle resembles both a helicopter landing spot, the sign for a men’s toilet and the sign for bus-stop in Germany.

Slow Prototyping

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2011
Residency with group-show: The ideal man, ArToll, Bedburg Hau (DE), Eitorf (DE, ’13)
Residency in one of the 60 houses on the grounds of an old mental hospital.
Installation: Din A4 paper sheets, sanded. Total size variable.
These toy-size cars are made of stacked but unattached sheets of paper. Therefore playing is not possible.
Only a gust of wind could blow them apart.

Green

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2011
Proposal (manipulated photo) for a site specific work.  InNL booklet (’11)
Polder-landscape, concrete foundations, Steel, paint. Size Variable.
Golf-courses often mimic a slightly hilly landscape; the variation makes it more attractive to play on. In the Dutch Polder-landscape these variations have to be man-made.
The artwork mimics a golf-course in a hilly landscape that isn’t there.  The normally sandy spots of a court are recreated in steel and put on poles to lift them above the ground. The result is the abstract imagination of a nonexistent golf-course.

innl.pdf

 

Radar

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2012
Proposal (not selected) for the Amsterdam (NL) Light Festival.
Installation: Electronics, motor, table tennis balls, green laser, acrylic ball. Size variable.
A green laser rotates in circles close under the surface of a canal. A green line moves around like on a radar screen. Several small balls are floating in the water. Once the laser hits these small balls they light up.

Landing-stage

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2007-2011
Proposal (manipulated photo) for a site specific work.  InNL booklet (’11)
Park in Amsterdam, wood. Size Variable.
The terrain of the parks in Amsterdam subsides by several cm a year. Meanwhile the houses, build on piles, remain at their higher level. This is why the parks are on a lower level than the surrounding streets and houses. The parks reflect the artificiality of the Dutch landscape, and although everyone visiting a park walks downhill to enter the park and uphill to leave, no one really notices.

innl.pdf

Forced growing II

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2012
Residency with group-show: In front of behind, ArToll (Church), Bedburg Hau (DE).
With Elaine Vis and Guda Koster, we created Paradise 2.0 in the Church of this mental hospital.
Installation: Wood, plastic, plants, Natrium lamp. Approx. 400 x 300 x 275cm.
A greenhouse over/around the altar of the church.

Farther

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2012
Residency with group-show in former cable factory (NKF) Delft (NL).
Print on adhesive foil. Approx. 18 x 10 meter.
Inspired by the famous early Graphic Designs which Piet Zwart made for the NKF, this large print on the facade mixes impressions of the current state of the location with my personal history.
I grew up in Delft and had my very first job in this very same factory building.

 

Kicker (Kicker/Table Footbal)

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2013
Working period: Wandel (change) at the ground of Artist/Entrepreneur Odo Rumpf, Cologne (DE).
Mannequin (modified) wood, metal. Approx. 220 x 200 x 50cm.
Odo has many mannequins lying around, many of which he already has transformed into some sort of metal humanoid artwork. Opposite “Odonien”, a railway-Bermuda-triangle transformed into a nightlife/artistic event ground , is a 12-story building known as the largest brothel of Europe. Kicker interacts with the location.

 

Strip

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2014
Proposal (not selected) for the Amsterdam (NL) Light Festival.
Installation: Prepared cars. Size Variable
Two lines of cars are floating in the main canal in Amsterdam, the headlights pointed towards each other.
The lights are lit; it looks as if there is a makeshift landing strip in the canal.

Blind Date

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2014
Guided Tour around my new home in the countryside (Mierscheid, DE).
Guided Tour with printed photos and videos (on a tablet) of Artworks by 12 Dutch Artists. 
Introducing myself as a Dutch artist (in Germany) I curated this Artwalk on location.
During a 2 hour walk through meadows and woods I chose 12 stops at points that all somehow related to an Artwork of a Dutch Artist.
I showed the artwork and explained its background, and the relation I saw to the spot.

BlindDate.pdf

Throne

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2014
Zero 1,2,3 a group-show in the elevator at the chamber of commerce, Cologne (DE), Eitorf (DE, 2014).
Sculpture: Stilts, wood. Approx. 50 x 50 x 160cm.
This small but very tall chair, made of stilts, is placed one of the many elevator-rooms.

Promised

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2015
Temporary installation together with Sonja Karle in a shop-window in a subway-station in Amsterdam (NL).
Installation: Partly existing work, partly new work. Paper, wood, photo, metal, textile, rope, flag. Size variable.
A small associative landscape made to not fulfill a superterrestrial promise underground.

Ich bin (I am)

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2017
Group-show: Mitwelt42103, in and around the new-Art-centre-Wuppertal (DE).
A group project about the tension between privacy and public matter.
Installation: Billboard in public space; photoprint, wood. Approx. 240×420 cm (Print).
The image used for Ich bin is a manipulated still from an execution-video send into the world by ISIS.
Both killer and beheaded are blurred slightly. The head of the victim/hostage is cut out so from behind you can put your head through the board and become part of the image.
Scattered over the picture, the shape of the oval cut-out is repeated (not cut out) as a graphical element.
The position of the persons, the color of their clothes and their strong outlines against a blue sky and desert, keep the image recognizable, certainly on a second look.
At the rear-side of the billboard, next to the oval opening, hangs a manual. It states the title of the work and the theme of the exhibition and invites people to stick their head through the billboard, make a picture of it and upload it to the website of the project (through a QR-code) and become part of the show. Only one person did this (with a dog in the opening). Many people did make the picture though, but didn’t want it to become public. Some recognized the source of the image only when they saw the image on the small screen of their phone/camera, with themselves in it.
Several threatening protests were sent to the local government, demanding the work to be removed immediately. As planned, after four weeks I removed the piece, unscathed and without any graffiti.

Water

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2018
Group-show: Water from the company, shopwindows, Den Helder (NL).
Due to its location, for centuries the city of Den Helder used to be the main port of Dutch military. But after the end of the cold war, the military moved out.
The number of inhabitants shrunk notably. Poverty and unemployment became a common problem. Therefore the city centre has many empty shops and is about to be reorganized.
Installation: Waterbottle, water, wood, electronics, motor, video-loop 2min57sec HD, player, monitor.
A waterbottle in the size you normally don’t have at home is laying on a plate on the top of a triangular shaped sort of pedestal.
The pedestal contains a mechanism that makes the bottle roll smoothly: cap up-bottom-up, making the water move constantly in the bottle in a wave from left to right, and back.
At some distance a monitor shows a video of an image of a mountainous landscape. A finger pushes the image around, from left to right and back, more or less in synch with the bottle.

Ouverture

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2020
Group-project (proposal, not selected): Supergau (Meltdown) Flachgau, Salzburgerland Austria (AT).
Installation: 9 barriers, electronics. Size variable.
9 Barriers stand, scattered around, on the administrative border of two provinces, in an overwhelming landscape where nobody thinks of borders.
Like some strange kind of choreography they just open and close independently and randomly.

Inside-Out

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2021
Group-show: Outside ArToll, Bedburg Hau (DE).
Video: video-loop 1min45sec HD, player, monitor.
Final show in this Artist-Initiative on the grounds of an asylum.
The recording shows a man seen from behind bars. He picks one bar and starts to balance it on his hand.
The opening in the bars doesn’t seem to interest him. He just balances the bar. You don’t see his hands, just the bars and his face and one bar moving behind them.
Then the bar is put back in its place.

Waterfall

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2021
Group-show: Poet on the water/closer to the water, former island Schokland (NL). 
The show is a sculpture-route on and around the former island (now an elevation in the polder – and Unesco World Heritage).
Sculpture: wood, 5 buckets, showerhead.