Pieke Bergmans has a studio in Amsterdam as well as Milan, where she held yearly exhibitions. And even though she has formally studied graphic design, 3D design, and industrial design, Bergmans now considers herself more of an artist. She is fascinated with movement and the limitations attributed to materials, and tends to study existing production processes in order to manipulate them. Bergmans finds the precision and regularity of machine-made things leaves little room for wondering and poetry, and wants to place everyday implements into a world where we can constantly be surprised.
- Pieke Bergmans
“I prefer not knowing too much about the techniques, and then really dive into something, and while doing it, learning. Because if I know too much then I often also set things aside. ...When you do something and you see it’s great, the really difficult moment is to do that a second time, and then the knowledge comes in and then you have to start to use all experience to make it happen. So here, it’s a little bit the same. I have no idea what I’m doing, but afterwards, I will, and then I will have to repeat it and I hope it’s going to be effective.”
“So you see the glass blower, he’s having the long stick with the glass at the end and he’s rolling it and balancing it, and I was completely amazed about the glass, that is dancing at the end of his pipe. And of course the glass wants to fall, and then the glass blower has to play with all these moments. And then he inflates this magical glass ball, and then finally when it’s big enough he drops it into a mould. And then you inflate the glass, you open a mould, and you get the shape that you designed. ”
“So this is what happened: the mould opened, and what came out was a square vase. And I was like, ‘Oh my God, how disappointing!’ Because before, the glass was completely alive and it took on so many beautiful shapes just by its own nature, and all of a sudden it was a square. And I thought, ‘This has nothing to do with its own will, with all the magic that’s already there.’ So then I decided, ‘Okay, for my project, I’m going to set the glass free.’”
“Normally things are being exhibited in museums and they're finished. But it's so much nicer actually to be involved also, as a public and to see which steps are being made, and where. ...Of course it's a bit, at the same time, it's a bit secret, you know. Often I feel like we shut the door and nobody can come inside until the final object has been exhibited. But now this is all about being open and I'm happy to share the moments.”
This interview was conducted by Armina Foroughi + Kae Linh Ngo -
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