Author: thomasmeijerman

The influence of the tides on my work

The tides are a big factor within the formation of a coastal landscape. The landscape that I choose for a conversation with the landscape had to have a big difference between low tide and high tide. It had to have strong currents, so the landscape would be able to evolve over the time of my stay. That also meant that it changed both my physical and mental state. I want to share this photo of how the tides dissolved my work.

Residency Pictura Dordrecht

The 15th till the 28th of August I have been working in Pictura Dordrecht to start a new project. The ”experimental project weeks” can be seen as a sort of residency in which 5 artists are invited to work in the same space for two weeks. These are photos of my work during the final presentation.







Wild Summer of Art Part II

Tomorrow is the opening of the Brutus Wild Summer of Art Part II in which I will show a selection of works from the project a Conversation with the Landscape.

The exhibition is curated by Piet de Jonge (former curator of the Van Abbemuseum, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and Museum Kröller-Müller), Jessy Koeiman (curator Collective Learning, Art Institute Melly) and Liesbeth Bik (visual artist and curator).

For more information visit: https://brutus.nl/nl/programma/programma/wild+summer+of+art+part+ii/
and:
https://art.brutus.nl/Mjg1LzA=

A story of my latest intervention

In my work I am (often subconsciously) looking for something bigger than myself and something sublime. Last sunday I planned on doing an intervention during a storm with big waves that hit the rocks around me. When I arrived at the location I found out that the heavy rain caused the cliffs to become brittle and I witnessed a lot of small avalanches. I realized that at this moment I had the rare opportunity to create something sublime with pure elements. However the risk of doing this intervention would be very high and I had to wonder whether it would be worth it. Eventually I had to make the decision not to do it as it would risk both me and the rest of the works that I would be making here. I decided to postpone it and try again two days later.

The waves that day were higher than I planned on but it would still be safe enough to do the intervention. During the build up I found out that the rocks were a lot more slippery than before and at some point I got into a dangerous situation where the chance of getting stuck underwater was very high. Unfortunately I had to leave behind my food, tripod and my work in order to make it back to a safe height. I planned this intervention for two weeks in order to minimize the risks and to know exactly what I could expect in all the different situations. In the end working with the forces of nature is very unsure and even if you take everything into account, it can still surprise you.