13 maart 2018

Jasper de Beijer








In het atelier van Jasper de Beijer, Koog aan de Zaan, 2016.

"....
Alternative and individual are the first words with which the Hong-Fabriek can be described, both from the outside and the interior. We will be picked up by the artist in the courtyard. Passing unusually designed furniture which was probably created here, we make our way to the freight elevator, which clearly has its best years behind it. Expectantly, de Beijer presses the button: “The elevator only works some of the time.” We wait. Surprisingly, it is not working now. So, we walk up to the fourth floor. On the way there, we receive our first piece of information. The formerly large open space of the fourth floor has been divided bit by bit into separate rooms, reported de Beijer. Size and location should be determined here and expanded as needed. Loud banging and construction materials in every corner unmistakably suggest brisk construction activity.

He had initially marked out his work space, de Beijer told us while opening the door, then directly bricked up the exterior walls and eventually expanded the interior too. Upon entering the room, it is then revealed to us then what everyone imagines a real art studio to look like: boxes piled up between fabrics, paint tubes, paint cans, glue, styrofoam and paper. Other items such as luggage, lampshades, rattan baskets, costumes and artistic plants are lying around everywhere.

In the middle of all this, I find figures which I recognise from his pictures, but in miniature.

There is creative chaos. On closer inspection, however, I realize that there is a system in the chaos. Different workspaces are divided not only by rooms, but also reflect the parallel work processes of de Beijers, which I’ll find out about later. The walls covered with green fabric in a corner of the room, which are equipped with a floor, ladder and tripod, suggest his photo studio. The model airplane made of rattan placed in the centre of the room, the models of heads standing and lying on the trestle tables, ships, cars, hairpieces, the colours and the tools refer to the analog part – while the computer, printer and camera at the other end of the room refer unmistakably to the digital part of his work. At least I was able to sense, how his manipulated photographs could come into being. I glance up at the gallery, which had been drawn into the room.

He had not drawn this in only to gain additional storage space, but also to create a separate relaxation area, de Beijer told us, following my gaze. The hodgepodge of discarded upholstery located underneath the gallery next to the table is apparently there for taking short breaks or, as now, for having meetings with visitors.
...."
(bron: Atelierbesuche, foto's: Sarah Schovenberg, tekst: Elke Backes)


Jasper de Beijer at work in his studio, 2006(?). (bron: in Kamiyama)

> Jasper de Beijer

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