Dutch furniture designer, Maarten Baas is one of the pioneers of Contemporary Kitsch design. His creations are something totally new and radical, colorful, playful and explicitly childish.
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Who Is Maarten Baas?
Maarten Baaswas born in1978in Arnsberg, West Germany. He studied at the school inEindhoven, a breeding ground for the greatest number of active creative talents, such asJurgen Bey,Hella JongeriusorRichard Hutten. After having studied design in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands and Italy, the Dutchman Maarten Baas is dedicated to the creation of unique pieces made by hand. Since breaking into the scene with his Smoke collection, Baas has been working withunconventional materialsthat ignore traditional limitations, which has led to the creation of Clay, a series of furniture made of synthetic plasticine. In 2005, he started a collaboration withBas den Herder, which allowed to increase the scale of production of their works without losing the manufacture. TheRoomservice画廊offers the first exhibition in this city by the Dutch designer, which will be open until January 31, 2009. This exhibition shows pieces from the Clay series, a line of furniture made with industrial clay.
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The skeleton, conceived to bring greater consistency to the structure, was coated and modeled by hand with synthetic clay, and was painted in eight colors: black, white, brown, red, yellow, blue, orange and green, to give it an industrial appearance. No type of mold was used in the production, which makes each element a unique example. A somewhatnaive aspectand thesurprise factorprovided by the handcraft side, turned this project into a very commented success in his career. Clay was presented in 2006 at theInternational Furniture Fair in Milan. Throughout his career, Baas has presented atICFFin New York, theStedelijk Museumin Amsterdam,Victoria & Albert Museum,Design Museumin London which exhibited 18 pieces by Clay and last but not least, he was named Designer of the Year byDesign Miami(2009). In particular, he is theyoungest designerever to be recognised as Designer of the Year during Design Miami.
Info source:https://www.elmundo.es/papel/2008/12/12/mujer/2559695.html
Image source:https://www.dezeen.com/2020/07/06/101-chair-maarten-baas-lensvelt-vdf-products-fair/
What About His Most Significant Works?
- The Clay Series
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TheClay seriesconsists of pieces of furniturehand-formedout of synthetic clay. “Clay” furniture is form 2006 and Marteen wanted to make a naive chair. Literally clayed by hand. Every chair isuniqueand even thought there is a metal structure inside, they are all hand made. The chairs, which resemblechildish modelsrendered inPlay-Doh, are actually made of “synthetic clay“塑造一个金属框架。他们完全ag)ainst the idea of perishability. Plus, scientists believe that synthetic clay may actually help rid the environment of radioactive waste. When this is added to the fact that “all pieces are modeled by hand… making each piece unique,” the Maarten Baas chairs seem at least sustainable by definition, but perhaps not so sustainable when up against the more modern, colloquial meaning.
- The Empty chair
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TheEmpty Chairdesigned by Maarten Baas is aboutfive meters talland was presented for the first time during the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International on May 28, 2011 in Pakhuis De Zwijger in Amsterdam.Amnesty Internationalproposed to Maarten Baas to design a piece to support their campaign against the increased suppression of writers, journalists, artists and activists. In 2010, Liu Xiaobo was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize for his peaceful battle for fundamental human rights. Liu Xiaobo could not accept the prize in person, because he was in jail serving a 11 year imprisonment for ‘undermining of the state’. Therefore, The Empty Chair of Liu Xiaobo became a symbol forrepression. It is a symbol for Liu and many others who are in jail for expressing their opinion.
- The Smoke Series
Image source:https://mikeshouts.com/smoke-furniture-collection-by-maarten-baas/. Author:
For his graduate collection – theSmoke furniture range– Baas literallyset fireto old chairs and tables before coating them in an epoxy resin to preserve the charred remains. As a student, he invented the original technology ofburning wooden furnitureto give itoriginalityandnovelty.Bass himself explained his idea in this way: “I was always amazed at the reason why we buy things and donottouch them, because we want things to remainunchanged,why do we think that symmetry and smoothness are beautiful? What happens if I try to change the face of things, for example by shooting and burning? The thing has acquired a character, has received a new aesthetic, a different meaning, becoming more emotional and personal. The furniture isburned, finished withtransparent epoxy resinto maintain theshapeanddurationof the work. By stripping away ornament, Baas diminishes thehands-off preciousness设计和将对象的接近他们true purpose, as common tables and chairs.
How Can We Identify Baas’ Design?
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Baas’ designs straddle the boundary betweenartanddesignand are known for their conceptual, humorous, rebellious and theatrical character. Thisdisruptiveandprovocative approach, symptomatic of a refusal of perfection in design, was positively welcomed by museums and collectors who immediately contested his pieces. Therebellious natureof his first series then also characterized the subsequent work. The Dutch designer continues to create works with the autonomy of an artist, experimenting freely from his studio in the south of Holland and sending his production all over the world. “For every piece of furniture, I look for adirectandspontaneous aesthetic. Anoptimistic veinand a certainhumoralso often come into play. I like it to belightand oftenconceptual“. Despite the recognizable style, its production isvaried. Reflecting on his stylistic approach, Baas states: “I always do what comes to mind. I do not have a specific strategy or style that I try to keep. I follow the intuition“. Surprise and the unexpected are the fundamental traits of hisappeal.
Info sources:
http://iloboyou.com/maarten-baas-organic-design/
https://www.vogue.it/news/notizie-del-giorno/2016/04/11/maarten-baas/?refresh_ce=
http://www.dedeceblog.com/2011/05/26/the-empty-chair-by-maarten-baas-for-amnesty-international/
https://inhabitat.com/inhabitots/maarten-baas%E2%80%99-clay-childrens-chairs/
