The Gerrit Rietveld Academie is proud to present 16 projects of Rietveld alums during Amsterdam Art Week. The exhibition Canopy will present work by artists graduated from the academy in Amsterdam in the years 2021, 2022 and 2023. Here you can find a sneak peek of the projects by the participating artists:
Anna Tamm
THE CLOCK STRUCK MIDNIGHT AND THEY WERE NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN, 2022
Interweaving domestic elements and the importance of memory, we see theremains of dinner. One can only wonder what happened here and whether there was ever a proper goodbye. The party is over—what does my generation have to celebrate? This ongoing research of ceramic glaze on salvaged porcelain stems from limerence in an econostalgic climate.
Caro de Valk
Itinerant of Ssscores, 2022
A sound invites the ear, whether with actions from the outside or from within. This work affords a set of possible interactions, a virtual script, and ultimately a way of relating to its surroundings. It rewires that interaction, transforming it by suggesting other ways of responding. In that moment, we’re left with possibilities of another body, both ours and not. An opening surrounded by metal bended circles, offers a peek into another volume - one that goes beyond the rectangular shape.
Cemre Eraslan
Brainstorm, 2024
Hosted by Cemre Eraslan as the artist and Terry Hoekstra as the mathematician, Brainstorm aims to be a hub of interdisciplinary dialogue between divergent spheres of specialization, observing the poetics of perception native to them in a way that encourages us to lean into each other’s learning curves.
Darya Akhrameika
Fading City, 2023
Darya Akhrameika looks back on the city of Minsk, where her identity has been shaped. She uses the medium of architectural drawings to reflect on what it means to grow up in such a complex and ambiguous place. Through the use of specific locations within Minsk, these drawings reveal the city's spatial features influenced by historical and political circumstances. The translucent engravings reflect the feelings of inaccessibility and loss that are prevalent in Belarus, in particular in Minsk, Darya's hometown.
Eve Boontje
Kissing Bench, 2021
We were sitting side by side but facing each other.
At first glance the kissing bench has an air of romanticism; with its whimsical form and lightness. The seats are cast glass, the moulds taken from the butt prints of two lovers. However, like furniture in public spaces, it is bolted firmly to the ground. A sculptural bench for outdoor cruising areas; a place to flirt and a place to feel awkward. The kissing bench holds space for questions about intimacy and loneliness in a city.
Photo by Rodrigo Munnecom
Herman Hjorth Berge
Crushed Mountain, 2021
Torn from place and stripped of its identity, the mountain has been reduced to homogenous mass – an aggregate in the rapid urban expansion of places like Amsterdam Zuidas and fuel for the constant maintenance of ever-expanding infrastructure. The tile you are standing on contains a part of a mountain which no longer exists, or is being gradually chipped away. The process of becoming a tile depends on a constant chain of exploitation, great strain on environment and destruction of place.
Ilya Stasevich
Twenty One, 2023
Have you had that tree planted in your honour yet? You will most likely not be remembered anyways. It will stand there slowly deformed and eaten away by the vicious wind of time. Just like this bench. Just like the sun rises inevitably every time after it sets, there will always be a two of them after the two of us. Youme’s and Meyou’s, like in that song. “They don't just go from A to B; they go around and come around again”.
Ingeborg Kraft Fermin & Abel Kars
It had to be good to get where it is*, 2023
1886 - Drink Coca‑Cola – 1905 - Coca-Cola revives and sustains – 1922 - Thirst knows no season – 1923 - Enjoy thirst – 1941 - Coca-Cola is Coke! – 1945 - Passport to refreshment – 1945 - Coke means Coca-Cola – 1957 - The sign of good taste – 1963 - Things go better with Coke – 1976 - Coke adds life – 1987 - Can’t beat the feeling! – 1990 - Can’t Beat The Real Thing – 1993 - Always Coca-Cola – 2020 - Be Open Like Never Before – 2021 - Real Magic*
*Official slogans of the Coca-Cola Company
Jieun Kim
Plurals, 2024
Entities resembling ghostly figures the size of a human palm. Not easily noticeable, but once seen, they keep appearing from somewhere. They multiply. At night, they gather in one place. It seems they gather to plot something. During the day, they roam around. To find their target. Most importantly, this: if you made eye contact with them, you became the target.
Josefina Gilardi
Receiver, 2024
Receiver is a sound piece for two transducers on steel plates. The material qualities of the metal affect the audio signal, feeding back into the composition, mutating and changing it. Like an antenna, this self standing emitter is itself a recipient, broadcasting a network of interdependencies on the rooftop terrace.
Marthe Wille
The Jiggler, 2022
A three-legged sculpture that maybe will shed itself from time to time. Inspiration came from the enjoyment when something small but unexpected is happening for a brief moment and is perceived by only one or two people in the room. Maybe you
Novi Otten
Untitled, 2024
One moment please…
When I came to this country, 27 years ago, I was amazed by the trees on the side of the road, neat and lined up.
I enjoy it. My eyes get a little rest from the irregularities.
It turns out there are many more things...
The cutlery at Christmas dinner.
In the past, my fingers used to be my eating utensils.
A bit too complicated for me.
I'll just draw, maybe it helps.
Qiran Xu
'Soon I left because I cannot stay.', 2024
One ordinary day, I inadvertently let a stack of photos slip from my hands and scattered across the floor. I tend to pick them up in hast since they don’t belong there. However, upon glancing downward, I discovered the inability to interrogate them as if they were ghosts floating on the ground, returning to the definition of 'image' itself. Subsequently, I decided to bring these images into a public space. The work is silenced, and the surrounding talks for
Tasha Arlova
Searching For a Blue Bird, 2024
Shamans say that our souls are made of birds. If a child gets scared, their bird may fly away. In this poetic journey, we follow a girl who has lost her beloved companion, a blue bird and is eager to return it. Now, she embarks on an adventure to find the bird and, hopefully, her true self.
Anton Shebethko
Pride Camouflage Flag, 2024
In many nations, true progress toward LGBTQIA+ rights remains elusive, with queer individuals still facing criminalization for their identities. At the same time, in the countries of "west world" that present themselves as safe havens for LGBTQIA+ people, regression is occurring, as highlighted by numerous human rights organizations.
The Pride Camouflage Flag reimagining the Progress Pride Flag, one of the newest iterations of the rainbow flag tradition embraced by the queer community. Ambiguous symbolism of camouflaging of queer identity arises from the fusion of conflicting concepts: while the notion of "camouflage" typically connotes concealment, the flag's vibrant appearance serves as a rallying cry for unity and the imperative to openly assert their rights through visibility and advocacy.
The flag draws inspiration from the presence of queer individuals in the Ukrainian army, who are simultaneously combating Russia's aggression and advocating for equal rights within Ukraine.
Eva van der Zand
What do you see from where you stand?, 2023
Tiny viewpoint drawings surrounded by soft hair, encapsulating people's viewpoints from a roof top in Amsterdam.
A performative work where multiple viewpoints will be collected during the Amsterdam Art Week.
A voice asks: "What do you see from where you stand? If you come, I will ask you."
Vocal cords hum: "Hmm okay"
A voice feels: "A sentence that awakens humility in me.. and perhaps in you as well."
Vocal cords doubt: "Perhaps"
A voice declares: "Sometimes our vision is blocked, by the wind blowing our own hair in front of our eyes."
Vocal cords agree: "yes"
A voice suggests: "I will draw your viewpoint and I can help you to remove a tiny piece of your hair which blocks your vision."
Vocal cords full of trust: "Please"
A voice wonders: "Will it help you to see more clearly?"