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In this insightful, Mourad Bahrouch sits down with Jona Bronkhorst to explore the intersection of art, technology, and human intuition. Jona shares his journey from traditional design education at Rietveld Academy to embracing AI as a creative tool. They discuss how AI mirrors human dreams, the dangers of over-reliance on algorithms, and the evolution of B2B marketing strategies with AI.From the rise of AI-generated content to the future of personalized media, this episode unpacks the philosophy, ethics, and practical applications of AI in creative industries. Mourad and Jona debate whether AI can truly be creative, how brands and agencies are integrating AI, and why staying human-centered is key to success. Whether you're an artist, entrepreneur, or AI enthusiast, this conversation will leave you with game-changing insights on the future of work and creativity._https://propello.nl/https://www.jonacreative.work/https://www.instagram.com/jona.bronkhorst/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonabronkhorst/
What you'll learn in this episode: How Terhi's work changed as she moved from Finland to Amsterdam to France How the weather influenced Terhi's recent exhibition at Ornamentum Gallery How jewelry can help us explore the relationship between man and nature Why Terhi creates her work on a mannequin, and how she lets materials tell her what they want to be Why love is the most important thing an artist can put in their work About Terhi Tolvanen Currently based in the French countryside, Terhi Tolvanen was born in Helsinki, Finland (1968). Following studies at the Lahti Design Institute, Finland, and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, NL, Tolvanen earned a Master's Degree in Jewelry at the Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam, NL. Tolvanen's works can be found in numerous distinguished private and public collections worldwide, including the Swiss National Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum (London, UK) the Dallas Museum of Art (TX- USA) among others. Photos available on TheJewelryJourney.com: Additional Resources Website Instagram Transcript: Terhi Tolvanen's jewelry isn't made of gold or diamonds, but in its own way, it's just as precious. The Finnish jeweler uses natural materials like wood, raw minerals and shells to create jewelry that not only looks beautiful, but challenges viewers to reflect on the world around them. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about how her daily walks shape her work; how living in Amsterdam and rural France have changed her jewelry over the years; and her advice for emerging artists. Read the episode transcript here. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey, exploring the hidden world of art around you. Because every piece of art has a story, and jewelry is no exception. Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the first part of a two-part episode. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it's released later this week. We're so glad you're here today. I'd never heard of our guest, Terhi Tolvanen, before. I'll let her pronounce the name in Finnish. I don't know how I missed her jewelry because I like large, statement-type pieces, and that's what many of Terhi's pieces are. I was really taken with them. She uses a lot of materials found in nature, integrated with stones that we might see in other jewelry. Her work can be found in many prestigious museums around the world. She herself has studied in several countries, growing and perfecting her work. Today, we will learn a lot about Terhi and the inspiration and ideas you will find all around her. Welcome to the podcast, Terhi. Terhi: Thank you so much, Sharon, for inviting me. It's great to be talking with you. Sharon: I'm so glad that we have the chance to talk. Can you tell us why you moved from Finland to Amsterdam to France? Can you tell us how the materials varied in each area? Terhi: I moved away from Finland. Originally, I was supposed to be going away for only one year, but after technical school, I was missing quite a lot to learn more about the reasons why to make things. At the time in Finland, there was no possibility to continue. That's why I started looking elsewhere. I ended up then studying in Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and I totally fell in love with the school. The one year I was supposed to stay became six years. After four years, I also did a master course over there, and after school I stayed because it was great. I fell in love with jewelry. There were galleries, there were events, there were colleagues, there were things happening. During the school years, I made a lot of friends, and I found a place to stay and all that. Now for about 10 years, I've been in France. I moved to France because of love. I fell in love. Sharon: Love, okay. And did you find materials different in each area? Terhi: The materials, yeah, of course. Moving to France has changed the accessibility to my materials totally, because I moved to the countryside from the city. This meant that I was able to use more and more branches that I could collect and find a little bit everywhere. And I've continued what I started doing already in the Netherlands for finding all my minerals and stones. I would go to mineral fairs. Now that I'm in France, I go to Paris. Sharon: Are there are a lot of materials in Paris? Do you find things to work with? Terhi: There is a quite good mineral fair once a year, in the beginning of December. I almost always have to wait one year if I want to have something or find the same thing again or find new material. When I do that, I have to count that I have enough for working for one year. I buy a lot and I don't always use everything. Sometimes it can even take up to five years before I really know what I want to do with certain minerals, but this is always very exciting for me. I'm a very big fan of minerals and stones in any shape and color and format. I have used a lot of rough minerals that I would cut just a little bit so that the dimensions would fit on a piece. For about three or four years, I've also been buying some cut stones. When I still lived in Amsterdam, I used to work with a stone cutter who would cut stones especially for me, and that was a very good cooperation. Since then, he has stopped working a little bit in that way. But he would save me things the normal goldsmiths wouldn't want to buy. He learned very quickly that was interesting for me. Mainly it was things that were a little bit different, a little bit less perfect than a traditional goldsmith would want to use. Sharon: How long have you been a maker? Did you choose it later or did you choose it when you were young? Terhi: I have been a maker since my graduation from the Sandberg Instituut. The master course in Amsterdam is called Sandberg Instituut. I graduated from there in 1999, and I had my first solo show in 2000. Of course, it took a little time to get going. But now it's 24 years ago. It's long. Sharon: And you knew when you graduated that you wanted to be a maker or a jeweler. That's what you wanted to do professionally. Terhi: Yes. I was asking this question a lot while studying. When I started studying in Amsterdam, I was absolutely convinced that I don't want to be an artist and I don't want to make jewelry. But I thought, “Never mind. I will be able to learn a lot of important things anyway at school.” This meant that during a lot of school years, I was trying all kinds of different things. I was drawing a lot, I was making objects, I was working a lot with textiles, sort of half- clothes, half-sculpture pieces. And then at one moment towards the end of the master course, when it really became a reality that soon I will have to get out of the school and go into the real world, I really decided, “Okay, I will make jewelry,” because my conclusion, after all these school years, was that that's the thing I can do the best. So, I really chose it. Also, because of the situation at the time in the Netherlands, it was possible to ask for working grants for jewelry arts. I had some very good school friends that were very much encouraging me to take the jewelry direction. So, yes, it was a very conscious decision at the time, and I have not regretted it. Sharon: It was long periods when you were in a country. You said you were in Amsterdam for six years. Did you teach? I don't know, maybe I have that wrong. Terhi: No, not there. I was there for school for six years altogether. Also, I stayed for the reason that it was cheaper to work at school than rent a studio. When I graduated from the Instituut, I stayed in Amsterdam because it was, work wise, very exciting to stay there. I had a job on the site. Then later I got a working grant. I had a nice studio, so I stayed in Amsterdam until 2013 when I moved to France. Sharon: I have to ask if you knew the languages before you came to each country. Well, English in Amsterdam works. What languages do you speak? Terhi: I'm multilingual. in Amsterdam I decided that I would like to learn Dutch because I thought it is very important for the quality of life. I managed to learn Dutch, so I speak Dutch quite fluently. At school it was a lot in English, of course. I speak Finnish, Dutch, English, and now in France, people don't speak so much English, so I really had to learn French. I had already studied French during all my school time in Finland, so I had a base for that, but I couldn't speak it so well. Now, of course, with all the years, I have learned to speak French. I'm teaching now in France at ENSAD Limoges, the École Nationale Supérieure d'Art et de Design, which is one of the national art schools. I'm teaching in French. Sharon: As you learned each language, did your works change? Did it make it easier to work or harder? Did you see a change in your work? Terhi: Well, living abroad, it's often lost in translation, of course. To know a language very well, you need to also understand the mentality and the culture of each country. I don't know if it's so much the language that's influencing the work. It's more the physical fact being in a certain place with certain surroundings. Of course, for me nature is very important. It's a richness, the language is. Definitely, yes. Sharon: Your most recent exhibition, I don't know if you had another one since then, but last summer you were at Ornamentum Gallery. Your work was shown at Ornamentum Gallery, which is in Massachusetts, I think. Terhi: It's in Hudson, New York. Sharon: Okay. I couldn't remember. Hudson, New York. The exhibit was called Moderate to Southwest Winds. What does that mean in jewelry? What did you think it meant? Terhi: I chose the title. It's a weather forecast. It's taken out of a weather forecast. I chose that because while working for that show, I realized that what is really making the rhythm of my work and my thinking is the weather. I go out every morning for a walk, and this is a very important moment for me depending on the face in the work. Either I try to just empty my mind and observe things in nature. I look at colors and light and shapes and textures. Or, when I'm a little bit further in the work, then the moment of walking is very nice for finding solutions, so I'm working in my head. And, of course, what is then very important is the weather. If it's nice weather, if the sun is shining, if it's raining, if it's the spring or the winter. In wintertime, there is not so much light, so I have to wait for the light to be able to go out. This is totally deciding the rhythm of my day. As I also wrote at the time for the text of the exhibition, all my life I've been following the weather forecast. I check every morning what kind of weather it's going to be. I plan my day. If it's raining in the morning, I will go and do my walk in the afternoon and so on. This is something that I learned from my grandfather in Finland who had a little summer cottage on a little island. It's important to know what kind of weather it is, if it was safe to take the boat to the mainland or not. This is a kind of habit. It's sort of a daily ritual for me. I was also thinking that as the weather is the factor that is so important, I can also say that what was a little bit different for this exhibition was that the theme was a little bit more general. I let myself have the freedom of not deciding so tightly the theme that I'm working on. During COVID, I had put aside all kinds of different plans, all kinds of pieces that I wanted to make but I was not able to make at the time. I also had some materials that they had put on the site especially for the show at Ornamentum. I decided to make the show in that way, that I will make all these pieces that were waiting to be made. I found that, like the weather, the circumstances of the situation led to that conclusion somewhat and what I could say. Sharon: How did COVID affect you and your work? Terhi: I found it a very, very difficult time. I didn't stop working totally, but I was not able to really make my big pieces. It was quite military like, I would say. How to explain? The French system was very strict. To go out, you had to sign a paper and you had to tell what you were going to do, and you had one hour to do that. If you would not be back at home on time, then you would get fined. There was a very efficient fear campaign on television and so on. It felt very uncertain, and I'm sure this was the case for everybody. It took away a lot of the safe feeling which is necessary to be able to really dive into a big work. In a way, the time was cut in small moments when it was possible to create. Ever since I started working, I think the COVID year was really the first year that I didn't have so much production. Sharon: Were you allowed to go out to your studio? Is your studio in your home or is it separate? Terhi: At the time, I had a studio in a little town close to home. When they announced that the lockdown is going to come, I moved the most important things from my studio to my home so then I didn't have to go. This would have been possible. I could have signed the paper and said, “I'm going to my work,” but I felt better working at home. Also, being in the countryside, it was more free to go out. It was an isolated house at the time. I have moved since, but it was much easier to be there than in a city situation. I'm glad I did it. I moved my goldsmithing bench and my main tools and my main materials. Sharon: You moved them home? Terhi: Yeah, I had a little room at home to be able to work. Sharon: What did you want them to learn from the exhibition? Let's say your show at Ornamentum was the first time they were seeing your work or contemporary jewelry. What did you want them to learn by looking at it? Terhi: I'm very concerned about wearability in my work. This gives the scale. For somebody who is not so acquainted with contemporary jewelry, a lot of times people find it very big. I like to say that my work is sculpture. Then one could say that it's wearable sculpture. I'm also, first of all, talking about nature since the beginning. I'm working on the same theme in a way for about 20 years. I never changed because there are always new things. What I want to really put in the front—this is a little bit of a French saying, sorry—is that nature is very precious, and there are a lot of very beautiful things to see. How to put it very simply? I just want to show that it's very special. There are a lot of little things you can see when one walks in the forest. It's worthwhile to really look. This sounds a little bit like no explanation because there are so many factors. But I'm talking about a dialog between man and nature. I'm talking about respect towards nature. I'm talking about this kind of eagerness to control nature, and the nature is fighting back so this dialog is never ending. Of course, today this is a topic that is more actual than ever. There are so many wonderful things. It's amazing, I think. I mean, just the mineral world. It's amazing what nature can make. Sharon: We will have photos posted on the website. Please head to TheJewelryJourney.com to check them out. Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.
What you'll learn in this episode: How Esther's experiences in China and India continue to influence her work today Why different materials have different meanings, and how that impacts the wearer Why the relationship between a jewelry artist and a customer is particularly special and intimate How wearing jewelry influences the way we move through the world The most important qualities a jewelry teacher should have About Esther Brinkmann Esther Brinkmann is an independent jewelry maker living and working in Switzerland. Her work has been exhibited in galleries throughout the world and is held in the collections of the National Museum of Switzerland, Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Museo Internazionale delle Arti Applicate Oggi (MIAAO) in Torino, and the V&A in London. She established the Haute École d'Art et de Design (HEAD) in Geneva, the first jewelry education program of its kind in the country. Additional Resources: Esther's Website Esther's Instagram Photos Available on TheJewelryJourney.com Transcript: Jewelry artist Esther Brinkmann makes her rings with intention, considering everything from the meaning of the material used to the way the shape of the ring will change how the wearer moves their hands. She has passed this perspective down to hundreds of students at the Haute École d'Art et de Design (HEAD), the jewelry program she founded in Geneva. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about how living in China and India made her question her identity and influenced her work; why many of her rings are designed to fit different sized hands; and what makes the relationship between artist and wearer so special. Read the episode transcript here. Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. If you haven't heard part one, please head to TheJewelryJourney.com. I recently went to Switzerland with Art Jewelry Forum. One of the afternoons we had was at Esther Brinkmann's home. It was a very memorable lunch and afternoon. We got to see her studio, and on top of that, we had an unforgettable luncheon cooked by her husband, Warner. Welcome back. Do you think you were taken by the design, the motifs and everything, because you're a designer? For instance, would I be taken by it? Esther: You would be marveled by all these beautiful things, and you would love to buy these things, but maybe you would not have the desire to do your own designs, whereas I immediately got the desire to introduce these new inspirations. I was really stimulated to introduce these things in my own designs and to evolve to develop new ideas. Sharon: For those of us that were interested in the enamel rings, I think you said we had to be careful if we dropped them or banged them. They were like glass. Esther: Yeah, enamel is a glass-like material. It certainly it is not the best idea to make rings with enamel, but I could not resist. As I love rings, I just had to do a few of those rings. This was a period when I did realize maybe 20 of those rings, but they are difficult to sell because they are difficult to wear. You have deal with them very carefully. Sharon: What other jewelry did you make while you were there? Esther: In India, besides these enamel rings, besides this collaboration, I also started to do pieces with some stones. I discovered, for instance, the polki diamond in India. You can find it only in India. It's a diamond; let's say it is not the best quality. It's a piece of diamond with many, many cracks. They split it into very thin plates, very roughly faceted, not as we have the idea of a diamond with many, many facets. It is a very flat stone with a lot of cracks. It looks like broken ice or something like that. I love this kind of diamond. I started to make rings with that. I also started to purchase a number of not very precious stones, like peridots or topaz, etc. I started to introduce stones as a color element in rings especially. Sharon: They call them polki diamonds? How would you spell that? Esther: P-O-L-K-I. This might be the Hindi word for this specific diamond, but when you put it on Google, you can find it. Sharon: That's interesting. From what you're describing, it's what we consider Indian diamonds. Along with the monograph that was put out by Arnoldsche for some of your exhibits, you also have a book that just came out about your jewelry. Esther: Yes. Sharon: A lot of it describes jewelry provoking feelings or provoking people. Could you talk about that a little? How do you see it provoking people? Esther: I think this is the main reason why I am so interested in jewelry, because jewelry is something I create. I make a piece that has a relationship to a body, to a person. I don't know who the person wearing my piece will be. That depends on my practice. I work with galleries, but I create a piece with the idea that another person will choose it, and this person will wear it. This person will be like an ambassador of what I have created. This person will adopt what I have created for herself. She or he will wear it and show it, will translate it to others around her or him. That is a very special thing, a very special relationship between an artist and a customer or a collector. When you buy a sculpture, the sculpture will have a relationship to a space, to your garden or your living room, but a piece of jewelry is something very intimate. When a collector buys something I have created, it's not mine anymore. I am absolutely comfortable and very at ease with this idea, to give this away. What I know and what makes it so rich is that this person will adopt something and use it as an intimate mirror of her thoughts, of her emotions, of her mind, of her attitude. I think this is a very special thing. The piece of jewelry influences our gestures, especially the big rings. They influence our gestures. They influence our body language. We experience our body in a different way when we wear a piece of jewelry. Sharon: Any piece or are you talking about larger, significant pieces? Esther: No, any piece, any. I'm talking now about any piece. Sharon: Oh, wow! That's something to think about. You mentioned that you make the rings in gold and jade and silver. Do they have different meanings, the different materials? Esther: Absolutely. I think any material has its own meaning. Of course, gold, silver and jade are so-called precious materials. They are considered by everybody as precious. I like them not because they are considered precious worldwide, but I like to work with them because of other qualities. For instance, gold and silver are very plastic materials. You can hammer volumes out of a flat sheet of gold or silver. You cannot do this with a simple hammer and iron, for instance, but gold and silver have these plastic qualities. Then, of course, the color is a very important aspect. The weight of silver is very tender. Yellow gold is much stronger. I also know that silver is linked in many, many cultures to the moon and the feminine, and gold is linked to the sun and to the male aspect in us. Whether we know it or not, it is like an ancestral knowing that is within us and that we can feel. That's also why different people are attracted by different materials. Not everybody likes to wear gold. Not everybody is able to have a big ring made of gold because it's a statement you make. Sharon: Do you think you're influenced in these thoughts by your living abroad or living in different cultures? Esther: I think so, yes. Of course, I learned a lot. For instance, jade has a strong symbolic meaning in China and for the Chinese culture. It's a very strong material, which we may not understand immediately, only if we learn about it. I think living in other areas of the world, you become sensitive to how different materials are used. As a person who likes to transform material into something, into an object, or to transform very simple materials like a thread or a string into something precious, into something which has a specific character, it gives you another relationship to different materials. I choose my materials very consciously by what I want to transmit as a feeling. Sharon: Would you call yourself a jeweler? Esther: Yes, absolutely. I'm a jewelry maker, yes. Sharon: I guess a jewelry maker is different than a jeweler. I have my own understanding of what a jeweler is. You're a jewelry maker. Esther: I have to say English is not my language. I might not make the difference between jeweler and jewelry maker. I know the difference between a jewelry maker and a designer. I'm not a designer because I make things myself. I create and I make. I realize things myself. So, I'm not a designer. I don't consider myself a designer. Sharon: What possessed you to start a whole department in Geneva, a jewelry department at the university there? Esther: That was a very happy, glad circumstance. It was in the beginning of 1980. Switzerland joined the European Space for Higher Education. Art schools and schools for applied arts were things then, not universities. They had no universities for art. In the beginning of 1980, we joined the European Space for Higher Education. At the school where I studied between 1974 and 1978, and where I started to teach in 1982, we, the teachers, were asked to make a proposal for a new education program. At that time, I was already very active as an independent jewelry maker. I could participate in international exhibitions, and I absolutely wanted to open a department for experimental and art jewelry in Geneva because we didn't have that. We had this excellent program for luxury jewelry. That is what I learned. For four years, I had this education for luxury jewelry, and I thought it was the time in Switzerland, and especially in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. In this very luxurious environment, we needed something breaking this up. This is another idea of what luxury can be. It's not only luxury and precious metals and very expensive stones; it can be something very different. That is the environment where I could start this jewelry design department at the school in Geneva, which is now called the School for Applied Arts, which has the same status as a university. Sharon: As a university, did you first study basic university courses? Esther: I was never in a university. I just knew them from my colleagues I met when we exhibited. I knew the Rietveld Academy. I knew the RCA in London. I knew Otto Künzli in Munich. I had this dream of doing something like that in Geneva, and I was given the opportunity and the confidence to start and create this department. It was a very lucky situation. I am a very lucky person in general. Sharon: Well, you must be a good teacher because there are people all over that I met who said, “Oh, I studied with Esther Brinkmann.” You must be a good teacher. They wouldn't have chosen this, would they? Esther: I'm very much able to transmit my passion. I'm also able to support young people to find their own way, to express ideas, to find their own materials and, maybe the most important, to find the energy to develop and to not give up, to stay with an idea and to follow your intuition, to give you the skills and the force to realize something until satisfaction. This is a very, very important thing. Everybody has ideas; everybody can have excellent ideas, but you have to have the energy and the endurance to follow your way and follow your idea until materializing something to achieve a piece. That is something you need support for. I think that is a very important thing the teacher has to give, to transmit to her students. Sharon: Was there a competition or was there stress in choosing you? Were they going to choose somebody for this position? Esther: No, there was nobody. There were different people to propose different programs. I had a colleague who also proposed a program for watch design. We had a very small department for watch design open at that time, but nothing in the field of creative jewelry. Sharon: Creative jewelry being contemporary too? Esther: Yes, being contemporary jewelry. Sharon: Tell us about the Magpies. We'll finish with that. What about the Magpies? Esther: I met the Magpies more or less at the same period. I met Theresa, who was the founder of this club called the Magpies. It was a small group of friends, of women. They were just fond of jewelry, although not of contemporary jewelry at that time. Two or three of them were involved in archaeology. They were fond of tribal jewelry, of jewelry from the Middle East. They were just interested in jewelry. When I met them, I could introduce them to contemporary jewelry. Since then, they were very supportive of my students as a group of women who were just enthusiastic and following what we were doing and also, of course, buying work, which is always very important. That's how we kept going in parallel together until now. What happened is that I would say in the last 15 years, this group has become less and less active because the women are getting elderly. They stopped organizing activities. Only recently a group of younger people are starting this group of collectors again and trying to organize activities around this topic. It depends always on people and privileged relationships that we can have with collectors, but also galleries. It's the same with students. People can stimulate each other to excellence, to create things and to do activities which they would not do when they are alone. Sharon: Do you see that happening with Magpies? Do these stimulate? Esther: The fact that we were friends and that I could include them in our activities at the department, I think that was a very stimulating period of time for them. Somehow with my successors, it did not happen in that same way. But it seems that now, with the new generation at the school in Geneva, they are trying again to create this link and this relationship with collectors. They might succeed. I think so. It's about transmitting your passion, and it's about exchanging ideas. It's about generosity from one part, and the other that makes things can make things happen. Sharon: You certainly have made things happen. Thank you for being with us today. I greatly, greatly appreciate it. Esther: Thank you for having me, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about all this. Thanks. Sharon: We will have photos posted on the website. Please head to TheJewelryJourney.com to check them out. Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.
Vincent van de Waal, creative director of global streetwear juggernaut Patta came fully willing to talk and as he starts out by telling Dominique they can discuss everything she wants, your host couldn't be happier. Listen in as the duo traces back Vincent's journey from hanging outside the local community centre and parole office in Leiden to his big move to Amsterdam at the tender age of seventeen and getting his first jobs selling ties and later on nuts at the market. The true quest into where his passions lie lead Vincent to a succesful run at the prestigious Rietveld Academy where he found multiple mentors and associates for life. The two also discuss his lifetime commitment to Patta, team work, his style influences, the evolution of his visual art practice, the aspirations of his post-punk band OWN and - drumroll - future Patta plans. Follow Vincent van de Waal HERE Follow Patta HERE Follow The Most: on Instagram. on Facebook.
Annemieke Bosman in gesprek met Alberto de Michele Alberto DE MICHELE (1980, Italy) studeerde aan de Rietveld Academy en was artist-in-resident aan de Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Zijn korte film I lupi (2010) won de UIP Prix en werd genomineerd voor de Tiger Award op het Internationaal Filmfestival Rotterdam. The Last Ride of the Wolves (2022) is zijn eerste speelfilm. Deze film gaat in premere op het IFFR van 26 januari t/m 6 februari in Rotterdam.
When a friend took me to Bonanza Coffee on Berlin's buzzing Oderberger Strasse back in 2006, I felt disturbed and suspicious about the whole thing. This had nothing to do with my beloved old-fashioned Italian-style espresso places where I'd usually have a cup of the dark, bitter drink. It took me years to understand this new kind of coffee, to taste, to smell, and appreciate the whole complex flavor and aroma profile; to accept that an old tradition was taken in the hands of a bunch of young people to experiment and to create something different with the good old coffee bean that's been a part of our culinary heritage since at least the 15th century. Young Kiduk Reus, one of the founders of Bonanza, was one of those kids - curious, brave, and fearless, and ready for a new chapter in his life. After studying design at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam and at the Rietveld Academy of Arts in Amsterdam, after successfully working in the advertising industry, he felt that Berlin was calling his name in 2004. He packed his bags, the vague idea of starting a speciality coffee shop at the back of his mind. That was the beginning of a time that would later become known as the worldwide Third Wave Coffee Movement. Born in Seoul, South Korea, adopted at the age of 4 by an American mother and a Dutch father, Kiduk grew up in the Netherlands in a town famous for cheese, in Gouda. Food played an important role. He remembers being a picky child knowing exactly what he wanted to eat and what he didn't. His palate was already refined, a skill that would come in handy later in his life. In the following years, Kiduk learned what would become a mantra in his life: I need this, it needs to be better, I improve it. And then, miraculously (or not), other people pick up on it. Understanding that he has to be the motor to bring movement to his ideas, he always had the soul of an entrepreneur. Not waiting for others to come up with something great or to improve something existing, he jumped in first to create what he needed to move on and fulfill his mission. So when he started the first Bonanza coffee shop together with his partner he knew he wanted to roast his own beans as soon as possible to simply reach and keep the quality that he had in mind. Coincidentally, Kiduk noticed that some old cast-iron equipment - stored in an old airplane hangar by a friend of his and that he had access to - was the best possible equipment for roasting coffee beans. So he jumped on the occasion and spontaneously started a business that would in the end finance Bonanza for a long time. He bought the old parts and machines, added new parts to make them work even better, and became the Berlin man to supply roasting machines to all the big names in the speciality coffee roasting business worldwide. Blue Bottle, Seven Seeds, and about another 250 coffee roasters went to Kiduk Reus' workshop and got their vintage equipment, customized by Kiduk himself and his growing team of mechanics. Kiduk says he listens to his mind more than to his feeling. His intuition is definitely absolutely reliable. Many of his decisions seem random at first but then turn into something great. For this podcast episode, Kiduk teaches me how to make the perfect hand-brewed coffee. You can find all the blog posts about the podcast episodes including my guests' recipes on meikepeters.com under 'Meet in Your Kitchen'. INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/meetinmykitchenpodcast GUEST: https://www.instagram.com/bonanzacoffee RECIPE: https://www.meikepeters.com/meet-in-your-kitchen-kiduk-reus-bonanza-the-perfect-coffee MUSIC: Martin Stumpf FRÜHSCHOPPEN: Ferrari Trento SOUND MIX: Kraatz Studios https://kraatzstudios.com MEIKE PETERS: Newsletter: https://www.meikepeters.com/subscribe-2 Blog: https://www.meikepeters.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatinmykitchen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatinmykitchen Cookbooks: https://www.meikepeters.com/cookbooks
Deze 8ste episode van Data Voorstellingen spreken we met Hilje de Boer van Visual Logic. In gesprekken rond eerdere afleveringen van deze podcast viel de naam van Hilje al eens en wij zijn zeer blij dat we deze aflevering met haar konden maken. Ze studeerde Filosofie (Filosofie in bedrijf) en ze legt uit waarom en hoe ze dit toe kan passen. Dat zij op de Rietveld Academy terecht is gekomen vonden wij een hele bijzonder stap en Hilje verteld hoe dit zo gelopen is. Bij ING heeft ze gewerkt als Teammanager Documentary Trade, nog een interessante wending in haar carrière en dit komt natuurlijk ook ter sprake. Hilje was een betrokken bij een start-up traject Paperplanex en ook dit wordt natuurlijk besproken. Haar bedrijf Visual Logic verbindt mens en informatie door bedrijven te ondersteunen met Data Visualisatie + Data Storytelling, Data Consultancy + Strategie en door het geven van trainingen. Eén thema hierbij is ‘een mensgerichte data strategie' en ze legt uit wat ze hiermee bedoeld. Ze geeft aan dat tijdens trainingen ook het ‘Misleiden met grafieken bespreekt'. Ze licht toe wat ze hiermee bedoeld en geeft hiervan wat voorbeelden. Heb je vragen, opmerkingen, tips of andere opbouwende feedback voor ons, laat dit ons dan weten via: michel@datavoorstellingen.nl of ben@datavoorstellingen.nl.
In episode 103 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on subscription models, the expectation of photography by non-photographers, and the importance of light. Plus this week photographer Hellen van Meene takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which she answer's the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?' Hellen van Meene was born in the Netherlands in 1972. Her mother gave her a camera at age 15 and she began taking photographs at age 16 of her friends, which developed into her continuing focus on adolescent girls in old houses in her hometown of Alkmaar as part of her professional practice. Van Meene studied Fine Art at Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and spent a brief period in 1995 at the Edinburgh College of Art. Five years out of art school, she was shortlisted for the Citibank Photography Prize (2001) and signed with New York's Matthew Marks gallery. As her work gained recognition, she expanded her subject matter and spent time working in England, Russia, Latvia, the United States and Japan. Van Meene's work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, The Photographer's Gallery, London, and The Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is held in the collections of major museums worldwide including the Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Art Institute of Chicago, MoCA Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Five monographs of her work have been published; Hellen van Meene: The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits (2015); Hellen van Meene: Japan Series (2002); Hellen van Meene: Portraits (2004); Hellen van Meene: New Work (2006); and Hellen van Meene: tout va disparaître (2009). She lives and works in Heiloo in the Netherlands and is represented by galleries in London, New York and Tokyo. http://hellenvanmeene.com You can also access and subscribe to these podcasts at SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/unofphoto on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/a-photographic-life/id1380344701 on Player FM https://player.fm/series/a-photographic-lifeand Podbean www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/i6uqx-6d9ad/A-Photographic-Life-Podcast Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Focal Press 2014) and The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Focal Press 2015). His book New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography was published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2019. The documentary film, Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay can now be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd47549knOU&t=3915s. © Grant Scott 2020
Viewing the hot sculpted work of Prague’s Martin Janecký inspires a sensation akin to gazing upon precious and antique art treasures from around the globe. His glass busts in white or black glass remind us that the human form speaks volumes about beauty, history, hope and art in a way that no other object could. Born in the Czech Republic in 1980, Janecký began working with glass at the age of 13 at his father’s factory. His secondary school training at Novy Bor concentrated on the creation of glass art and introduced him to artists and designers from around the world that hired him to execute their ideas. In 2003, the young artist made his first trip to the United States where he studied at the Pilchuck Glass School under Richard Royal and William Morris. Among Janecký’s most recognized strengths was his mastering of blowing and sculpting “inside the bubble,” the technique used in the creation of his startling original works. Before long, Janecký became a highly sought teacher in his field. He has taught, demonstrated and exhibited in Europe, America, Australia, Africa and Asia, to include the Corning Museum of Glass, Pilchuck Glass School, Chrysler Museum of Art, UrbanGlass, the Rietveld Academy in Holland, Bornholm Design School in Denmark, the Australian National University in Canberra, and the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art in Japan, among many. Following a 2013 visit to Mexico, Janecký embarked on an exploration of the human skull in a tribute to Dia de Muertos, an outgrowth of his passion for the culture and people of Mexico. He says: “The willingness of the Mexican people to share this occasion with an outsider like me, someone from a totally different environment, was a humbling experience that inspired me to want to create a body of work that honors and celebrates this amazing event. My plan was to recreate iconic examples of this culture in glass, which had never been done on this scale. I did so with humility and a huge respect for Mexico’s history and culture.” Janecký’s homeland,The Czech Republic, is rightfully proud of its own globally recognized tradition of glassmaking. Writes Dr. Petr Nový, Head Curator, Museum of Glass Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic: “Martin Janecký’s expressive realism is somewhat alien to the Czech art scene, meaning it isn’t always met with a clear sense of comprehension. It is as if non-abstract works should primarily be viewed as handicraft instead of art. But in Janecký’s case, superb handicraft serves as a springboard for this unique artist to be able to capture emotions in his glass works. And such power is something we find only very rarely in the contemporary world of studio glass art. … “Janecký has earned a rightful place among the greatest not just Czech, but also global, stars of the glass art scene. His original works are generating great enthusiasm among galleries and collectors, including from global celebrities. His successes are not just the result of talent, creativity, and artistic boldness, but chiefly a considerable amount of hard work. Expertise in the field of glass art requires constant application and searching out new limits – and that is only possible with an all-encompassing day-to-day dedication. Although Janecký’s confidence as an artist has undoubtedly grown, he nonetheless remains humble with regards to his chosen material, knowing there is still so much to discover. And this approach is evidently one of the key reasons why Martin Janecký’s glass works are so remarkably distinct.”
Job Wouters aka Letman is a skilled letterer and mural painter, but not only that. He studied graphic design at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and typography at the KABK in The Hague, where he now also teaches. He talked to us about his smoking habit, his first typographic memory and how he started as a graphic designer. Today his work balances between art, illustration, typography and design. As an artist he follows his own paths based on his intuition. He talks about the exhibition he was part of at Marres in Maastricht, and his dream project. Recorded at All Eyes On Type, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Letman :: Marres - The Painted Bird exhibit video :: File Download (28:07 min / 39 MB)
For this episode, we spoke to Ben Clark about his new book Nobody Cares, launched today, Wednesday 13th December at fanfare. To start with we discussed his first book, A Bit Like Sponge and Other Stories, which was completed while he was studying at the Rietveld Academy. The conversation then moves on to deal with crap writing, car crashes, and boredom as a creative inspiration.
We sat down with Harmen Liemburg, Dutch silkscreen wizard with a keen eye for color and detail. Beside his work as a visual designer and design-writer, he also runs the silkscreen workshop at the Rietveld Academy, together with his old teacher Kees Maas. He tells us why he loves the craft of silkscreening so much and how he started his career as a cartographer. He has a big fascination for both the United States and Japan, which he tries to visit as often as he can. No wonder his design heroes are Japanese and American as well. We end this talk with the question how he would like to be remembered, and he replies with an interesting paradox about work, life and time. Recorded at What Design Can Do 2012, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Harmen Liemburg :: What Design Can Do presentation video :: Rietveld Academy :: File Download (21:56 min / 25 MB)
Armand Mevis is one half of design studio Mevis & Van Deursen. While Linda Van Deursen is the head of the Graphic Design department at the Rietveld Academy, Armand Mevis teaches at the Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem. We talk with Armand about the collaboration, on the commitment towards each other. For them working together is much more a conversation then sketching on the computer. How they hand over work to others and the position of this temporary third partner in their work. As a teacher Armand talks to us about his vision on teaching and his opinion on the level of design education in the Netherlands. Recorded at the Integrated 2009 conference in Antwerp, Belgium. Mevis & Van Deursen :: M&vD at Designmuseum :: Werkplaats Typografie Arnhem :: Gerrit Rietveld Academy :: File Download (19:56 min / 28 MB)
What is the influence of the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and how did it change? Node are reluctant to define their graphic style. They explain their typographic sound projects and bring us the song ‘Make The Logo Bigger’. But what is Node’s claim to fame? And have they lived up to their parents’ expactations? Do they consider themselves to be digital bohemians? (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16) Nodeâs Audio Alphabet :: Nodeâs All Sound project :: Make The Logo Bigger - the song :: File Download (15:45 min / 22 MB)