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the jaunt
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TRIP #001 — HELSINKI, FINLAND
HEDOF HELSINKI in
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TRIP #001 — HELSINKI, FINLAND For the very first trip of our project we worked together with Hedof and sent him up north towards Helsinki, Finland. Being the capital of Finland, Helsinki lies right in between Scandinavian and Russian history and influences. A beautiful and green city, surrounded by the many small islands on the coastline. Throughout the years Helsinki has put contemporary Finnish design on the map, but more importantly it was the number one destination on Hedof’s wishlist. Helsinki was on the top of your wish list of places to see. Why Helsinki? When I got into illustration and design, I quickly found out that all my favourite creatives were Scandinavian and especially from Finland. The Nordic aesthetic really appeals to me, simple, clean bold designs combined with folk elements and nature. Because the countries are a bit more remote and separate from the rest of Europe, they really developed a certain style of their own. Finland in particular, because of their close connection to and with Russia. I always pictured Finland as a cold, dark magical place with beautiful people living in fairy tale houses filled with design furniture and beautiful treasures from the past. So that’s why, as a designer, it was on the top of my wish list.
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HEDOF
“When you are travelling all by yourself you have no other ways to share your experiences except for your pen and paper.” — HEDOF
Inspiration is an illusive state of being. Do you remember having a certain moment where you realised you were right in the moment? The realisation of being really inspired came to me when I was going over my drawings in the airport bar on my way back home. I realized I had produced way more than I usually do back home. When you are travelling all by yourself you have no other ways to share your experiences except for your pen and paper. During the trip itself I just felt really lucky to be a part of this amazing project and was smiling all the time, thinking to myself I have the best job in the world. How do you look back at your trip in hindsight? I look back at this trip as an amazing opportunity and experience. It was the first time I travelled by myself, which was quite weird to be alone for a couple of days without anybody you know. Helsinki is still one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen so far. In five days time I’ve actually made more photos of my surroundings than I did while I was in New York for two weeks. Mostly the experience taught me to sit down and take notice to your surroundings. Sometimes you see something that is not really interesting at first sight but when you focus on it and rework it until you are happy with it, the possibilities to produce something are endless. That is definitely something I discovered in Helsinki for the first time and I still practise that to this day.
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HELSINKI, FINLAND
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HEDOF
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TRIP #007 — LOS ANgELES, AMERICA
JORDY VAN DEN NIEUWENDIJK LOS ANgELES in
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TRIP #007 — LOS ANGELES, AMERICA Following in the footsteps of David Hockney, Dutch artist Jordy van den Nieuwendijk was invited to travel to the West Coast of the United States for his first visit to Los Angeles. To see with his own eyes how this place mesmerized and inspired the young David Hockney when he first visited the city of Angels. to the Studio’ and ‘A Bigger Grand Canyon’. To relive the journey that Hockney experienced in his work, Jordy set his sails and roamed across the City of Angels. What is it about David Hockney and his work that makes such a strong connection with you? While I studied Graphic Design at the Royal Academy in The Hague, there was no class teaching me about art besides Art History. After getting in touch with David Hockney’s work I simply could not keep my eyes from his work and my nose out of his books. He is one of the reasons why i’m experimenting with painting now, especially after reading a lot of his writing. It’s not just David Hockney, for some reason I have a weakness for artists that have their last name starting with an ‘H’. Keith Haring, Howard Hodgkin, Edward Hopper, and George Hardie. It’s a disease I have, and I am taking pills and injections for it.
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“In the end the trip was so inspiring, it didn’t only change or influence my work, it changed and influenced who and what I am.” — JORDY VAN DEN NIEUWENDIJK Where did you first start making your sketches for your final artwork? Was it during the trip or back home? I made a lot of drawings over there, but I made the sketches for the final artwork in the airplane flying back home. Mostly defragmenting the brain, organising all memories, and selecting the most interesting drawings. I first tried a series of reverse perspective drawings but ended up doing a crooked perspective of a chair. From all the drawings I made on my trip this chair was the one drawing that I kept coming back to. I decided for once to not go for a drawing of a plant and focus on the chair for my artwork. What did you take away from this trip? I went on this trip with a mission, to create an artwork inspired by my experiences. So this kind off made me look extremely intense at everything, even at myself. In the end the trip was so inspiring, it didn’t only change or influence my work, it changed and influenced who and what I am. I think it’s visible in all my work lately. It taught me to open my eyes and the windows in my head. I think I crossed a substantial amount of borders in my work since this trip and I am now exploring and approaching my visual language and knowledge from different angles. The trip was a life changer for me. It made me realise once again, that you can be whatever you want. When I was young I always hoped I could be an illustrator or do something with drawing. Now my drawings took me to LA. It’s all wonderful and I am truly thankful.
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