JURYRAPPORT Gerrit Rietveld Academie 2015
The jury noticed a particular interest in the connection of industry and craftsmanship, especially in the limits of the Internet. If the Internet cannot help us anymore, than what will we do? It is very apparent that these interests are tackled through collaborations amongst graduates; collaborations that result in strong and daring works.
LAURA KLINKENBERG (JEWELLERY)
APPLIED ARTS
APPLIED ARTS
Applied arts jury: Joanna van der Zanden (independent curator and director of Throwing Snowballs) and Richard van der Laken (founder of Designpolitie and What Design Can Do).
SOPHIE HARDEMAN (FASHION) Sophie Hardeman makes something so commonly used, and so full of dogmas as denim fashion into her own freshly conceived world. In doing so she questions why denim should be worn and made in the ways we all know about. In her world the odd human body, unconventional techniques and the way gravity pulls and warps, are the tools for this questioning. Her ballpoint drawings, which recur as prints in one of her clothing designs, contribute to this world superbly.
In four well-defined and well presented works, Laura Klinkenberg makes us –as humans- see the relations we have with our body and the bodies of others, both human and artificial, in a different light. In her works, instead of wearing we are worn, every handshake leaves a slight trace of gold on the hand shaken, and strangers can be uncomfortably locked into an intimate struggle through shared jewellery. Her overall presentation is a well thought of choice in combination of media. Klinkenberg’s work seems subtle as well as big, both profound in their consequences.
ÉMILIE FERRAT & FRANÇOIS GIRARD-MEUNIER (GRAPHIC DESIGN) Small ceramic objects are being moved around. They are visualizations of a spoken dialogue oh so recognizable within art education: what if one puts a particular object upside down? Does this object suddenly transform into a sculpture? Wittingly scripted and parodic, Ferrat and Girard-Meunier touch on the fundamentals of the artistic process and boldly do so using video and sculpture in a graphic design department.
The jury noticed that graduates dared to cross the borders between existing Rietveld architecture and their works and even between their individual works and those of fellow graduates. This was especially successful in the presentations of the Fine Arts department on the first floor of the Rietveld building. As well as in the applied arts, in the autonomous arts the amount and quality of collaborations between graduates stood out.
AUTONOMOUS ARTS
AUTONOMOUS ARTS
Autonomous arts jury: Roos Gortzak (director of De Vleeshal) and Lorenzo Benedetti (director of De Appel arts center).
TICHO BROUWERS (FINE ARTS) What you see is where you stand. But how can one see one’s own situation from a different point of view? The jury compliments Ticho Brouwers on the way he has fully used the potential of the Burgerweeshuis designed by Aldo van Eyck. Taking a studio there as a starting point, Brouwers’ work seems to search for viewing everyday surroundings from multiple perspectives. Literally, as in guiding the viewer to a particular viewpoint within a space and metaphorically as in finding a way to look into architectural history. Brouwers impressed the jury by finding a fitting balance between space, video and sculpture. Tempting us to believe we can read the work, but what exactly are we reading? One get’s lost in a myth.
MIE FREDERIKKE FISCHER CHRISTENSEN & MARGAUX PARILLAUD (VAV)
JUAN DE PORRAS-ISLA & WOUTER PAIJMANS (FINE ARTS)
Desperate Housewives Gone Mental: presenting a tragi-comical narrative of two housewives going from perfectly styled home decoration to destructive MMA-fighting. Christensen’s and Parillaud’s work stands out in its way of mixing performance, sculpture and installation. The work acknowledges that every time it is performed, it is unique. It cunningly switches between referring to art history and petty, daily routines, culminating in the total destruction of sculptures, setting and humans alike.
In their first year at the academy Juan De Porras-Isla and Wouter Paijmans were forced to work together. Now, after their individual journeys through the Fine Arts Department, they decided that what they started together should also end together. Although we might well distinguish Paijmans interests in painting and sculpture from De Porras’ teasing, computer generated videos, the jury wishes to emphasize the communication between the works. Together, they touch on the notion of returning to the physical object as a reaction to new but rapidly aging technologies.
Again the jury concluded that the Rietveld produced a selection of very fine theses this year. Some are very well written, some a bit less, but all of them are interesting and well designed. This year the main topics were media theory, speculative realism or thing-theory, and of course, as always: authenticity and identity. Last year the jury concluded that there was a dangerous tendency towards more formatted, academic theses. To the jury’s great relief that was not the case this year. All the theses were quite original in their approach and had managed to find their own tone of voice. However, according to the jury, most of them were lacking in engagement: the society at large seems to be at a great distance from the academy. And though the path of exploration and discovery was often quite exciting, conclusions were strangely missing, as if the followed path had suddenly disappeared. Last but certainly not least: some of the theses tried to cover a topic in its entirety, making them difficult to read. Although the jury admires the effort, it still thinks that a thesis at an art school should not turn into such an impossible task. MARKO BAKOVIC (DESIGNLAB) TITLE: X COMMANDMENTS. MY TEN DESIGN-RULES EXPLAINED THROUGH HISTORIES, MANIFESTS AND KEY-TEXTS Marko Bakovic gives an almost complete history of design from the beginning of the 19th century up to the 3D printer. He gives us a chart with all the important texts and manifestos, and he tells their stories to find out what it all means to him. If you really want to know what design can do, or at least what people think it can do or have wanted it to do: read this thesis. The jury suggests that the thesis should be printed and handed out to first year students of the design department: with this thesis, who needs theory classes?
THESIS
THESIS
Thesis jury: Sandra Smets (art critic at NRC Handelsblad), Xander Karskens (curator at curator De Hallen) and Jeroen Boomgaard (LAPS, Research Institute for Art and Public Space).
BAHA GÖRKEM YALIM (VAV) TITLE: A SPECULATIVE RE-READING OF KEEPSAKES Baha Görkem Yalim’s thesis takes the reader on a literary and intellectual journey into the meaning of things: things in general, art things in particular. It starts with a piece of fictional writing that is very well done, and that more or less places the reader in the middle of things. But once he gets there the reader is confronted with a theoretical expose about the meaning of things. It kept the jury members on the edge of their seats. We will not try to summarize this daring, complicated treatise because we might fail; we just advise: read it and struggle with it. Things will never be the same again.
CELINA YAVELOW (GRAPHIC DESIGN) TITLE: WHERE DID YOU HIDE THE GUN? In another mix of fact and fiction Celina Yavelow analyzes the power of language. But in this case fiction and fact are in perfect balance with each other, kept together by powerful design. We know that breaking up is hard to do, but Celina shows us that it is the words that hit us the hardest. Words are not innocent, they are connected to bodies, they have impact and they move things and people around. Reading this the jury became very aware of their own words and decided to shut up.
FLORIAN MAUERSBERGER (VAV) TITLE: SIT DOWN, SISYPHUS This thesis is a beautifully designed rereading of the myth of Sisyphus as it was told by Albert Camus. As you all know The Greek Gods punished Sisyphus for being a liar, a cheat and a manipulator. A very contemporary theme you might say. He was punished by having to roll a big rock up against a mountain only to see it roll down again once he almost reached the top. Mauersberger shows how people from his generation don’t get this story: they have been trained too much in adapting to any situation. So they think Sisyphus should quit his task and just sit down. Mauersberger analyzes the advantages, but certainly also the disadvantages of looking at the world in this manner.
Winners Applied Arts: Laura Klinkenberg (Jewellery) Autonomous Arts: Juan De Porras-Isla & Wouter Paijmans (Fine Arts) Thesis: Baha Görkem Yalim (VAV), A Speculative Re-reading of Keepsakes