Whatever I create should be versatile

Bart Nijboer (August, 1990) has studied industrial design and later graduated with a Bachelor of Fine arts at the ArtEZ Institute of Fine Arts. Bart is truly an artist who knows his materials. He created industrial lamps, and now uses his creativity to make decorative and unique objects, as well as big sculptures, without having to deal with limitations of any kind.

What kind of a designer or artist are you?
“I don’t really see a difference between art and industrial design. Whatever I create should have a meaning, but not necessarily a purpose. In any case, I like my work to be as versatile as possible. The main reason that I did not pursue a career in industrial design is that I don’t want to be limited by all kinds of rules and market demands. That annoys me. I don’t want to have to worry about financial aspects. I want to be free. A product should be what it is. Period. However, I have made a couple of lamps, and don’t mind designing more industrial objects, but only when it is my own idea, without having to think about markets or how much money it is worth.”

Do you have favourite materials to work with?
“I prefer hard materials, such as steel, iron and wood. I like a material to stay unchanged and challenge me. A cohesion between what I want to find in a material, and what it has to offer, that’s what I am looking for. You won’t find that with clay, a material so flexible that one is inclined to pump their own will into it, without finding out what the material really is made or capable of. A piece of iron remains unchanged and one should use it as it

 is. You can cut wood, but still you would have to consider its grains and how it has grown, which in my case means the material determines most of the choices I make. I like that to be visual in my work, because I want to show that I don’t force my choices upon the material, I should be obvious I want to work together with it.”

Do you use self-adhesive tape as a bonding material?

“Not when I make sculptures, but I do work with self-adhesive tape to hang my drawings on the wall. I do have a suggestion to the tape industry though: please put on the packaging what it is for! There are so many different types of self-adhesive tapes, it is sometimes a bit confusing.”

How do you envisage your future as a designer?
“I graduated in 2014, and was invited to show my work at special exhibitions for newly graduated artists. Therefore, it is hard to determine whether people really appreciate your work. I recently received a grant from the Mondriaan Fund for young talent. That enables me to research the effects of movement in relation to my work and the creative process, for a year. At the moment I am also working as a handyman, using all kinds of materials, but not in an arty way. I hope to be able to sell some of my works and be able to further develop myself. However, I don’t think many of my objects will become available as easy to sell industrial products.”

Please visit: www.bartnijboer.nl