Category: Structures

SASH

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

SASH

Bas-relief in salvaged wood #136, 9,5 x 1 x 17m.
Made from local poplar trees.
Built on assignment for BKOR Rotterdam (on permanent display opposite Voorschoterlaan subway station, Rotterdam).
photo by Bob Goedewaagen.

A large public sculpture built in july 2022 on the side of a six story apartment building on the corner of the Oudedijk and the Voorschoterlaan in Kralingen, Rotterdam. The project started in 2017 as a local initiative under the guidance of BKOR Rotterdam. Work started in December 2020 when seven large local poplar trees were cut down to the specifications of the artist. SASH is a bas-relief of a sliding window constructed in perspective. It is modeled after a window from the Voorschoterlaan from poplar trees from the Kralingsebos that were scheduled to be felled and processed as waste. The trunks were milled in Stroe, dried in Zelhem, thermally modified in Sevenum and planed in Maasdijk, a process that took 18 months. The artwork was prepared by a team of five while Vincent Petit built the supporting steel structure in the shipyards of Oud IJsselmonde. In july ’22 SASH was assembled on location.

Watch a film about the construction process of SASH made by Ron with his daughter Mila van der Ende
(Dutch with English subtitles):





Some examples of work done on commission:

Mediator

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Mediator

2019
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #126, 99 x 212 x 13cm.





In March 2019 Van der Ende paid a visit to artist Diet Wiegman in his Schiedam studio. He knew Wiegman to possess a collection of masks from around the globe, collected through the decades on auctions and flea-markets. The visit resulted in a series of photos of the back of these masks.
“I chose an African tribal mask as a starting point for the Mediator sculpture because it had an interesting shape and appearance. In all probability, it came from the Senufo culture in the region of Southern Mali, Northern Ivory Coast en Western Burkina Faso. Wiegman had bought this mask in an auction some 35 years ago, without any documentation. To try and reconnect it to its place of origin I collected street photos from the region and incorporated those into the work. The mosaic is executed in the strict color scheme of the local Bògòlanfini or ‘mudcloth’ technique, with dirty whites, red and yellow earth tones and black.”

The title Mediator comes from a quote from Pablo Picasso about his visit to the Trocadéro ethnographic museum in Paris in 1907, an occasion Picasso sees as the birth of modern art.

“When I went to the old Trocadéro, it was disgusting. The Flea Market. The smell. I was all alone. I wanted to get away. But I didn’t leave. I stayed. I stayed. I understood that it was very important: something was happening to me, right?
The masks weren’t just like any other pieces of sculpture. Not at all. They were magic things. But why weren’t the Egyptian pieces or the Chaldean? We hadn’t realized it. Those were primitives, not magic things. The Negro pieces were intercesseurs, mediators; ever since then I’ve known the word in French. They were against everything—against unknown, threatening spirits. I always looked at fetishes. I understood; I too am against everything. I too believe that everything is unknown, that everything is an enemy! Everything! “
(Picasso’s Mask, André Malraux, New York, 1976, p10-11)




Part of the Markers exhibition at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam in 2020.

Floe

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Floe (Transition 5)

2018
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #122, 170 x 85 x 12cm.

Floe is the last in a series of five reliefs based on local archeological finds representing pots, dishes, and bottles.

Floe is based on an iridescent (wine or water) bottle from the second half of the eighteenth century. The word ‘floe’ is used for floating ice sheets in the polar regions.




Part of the Markers exhibition at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam in 2020.

The Blimp

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

The Blimp (Transition 4)

2018
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #121, 174 x 161 x 15cm




Part of the Markers exhibition at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam in 2020.

KIT

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

KIT

2018
Bas-relief in salvaged wood, 460 x 460 x 32cm.
Made on commission for Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Photo’s: Bob Goedewaagen.

This work is on permanent 24 hour a day display in the main entrance of the Erasmus MC hospital in Rotterdam.


KIT depicts a monumental cube consisting of colored wooden blocks. It is the largest salvaged wood bas-relief to date. As an object it is like an emblem or a coat of arms. But the image appears like a giant three dimensional puzzle. Within an improvised stack the parts are seemingly still looking for their final place. The work is meant to symbolize ‘accepting a challenge’ and to encourage anybody navigating the hallways of this large institute, as an emphasis on the power of the individual.


KIT-6-1170px
KIT-7-1170px
KIT-2-1170px





Some Erasmus M.C. video clips from the project (Dutch):










Some examples of work done on commission:

Flux

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Flux (Transition 3)

2017
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #118, 173 x 107 x 11cm

Flux is based on a ‘starling pot’, a nesting pot, estimated to be from the 17th or 18th century. The color scheme revolves around oxblood red, pinks and greys.




Part of the Markers exhibition at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam in 2020.

Superlotado

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Superlotado (Transition 2)

2017
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #117, 124 x 145 x 17cm.
Private collection, Berlin, Germany.


Superlotado is a word from the Portuguese language meaning ‘full to the brim’.
It signifies affluence and superabundance.




Part of the Markers exhibition at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam in 2020.

Reverb-Decay

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Reverb/Decay (Transition 1)

2017
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #116, 119 x 218 x 13cm.
Concordia Collection, Rotterdam, Netherlands.



Reverb/Decay

Reverb/Decay is the first in a series of five reliefs based on archeological finds from the soil in and around the city of Rotterdam. They represent pots, dishes, and bottles that have been discarded throughout the history of human settlement in the area. All the original specimens come from the collection of Museum Rotterdam.
The works in the series are numbered Transition 1 through 5. The term Transition refers to their regular shapes, which are mathematically defined by a transition that is relative to a single axis.

The Reverb/Decay bas-relief is based on an albarello, an ointment jar, that dates from the sixteenth century. The glazed jar decorated with stripes and leaves was used as a starting point for intense experimentation with color and texture intended to make the work visually vibrate. The name is in reference to synthesizer equipment where the term can be found next to the buttons that regulate audio loops. “Reverb” regulates repetition within the loop and “Decay” regulates decline.




Part of the Markers exhibition at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam in 2020.

Oracle

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Oracle

2016
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #110, 190 x 122 x 12cm.
Private collection, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

This bas relief was based on a window frame that is part of the Oracle assemblage by Robert Rauschenberg from 1965 that is in the collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.


All the works that were part of the Bare Bones exhibition at Ron Mandos Gallery in Amsterdam in 2016.

Cog

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Cog

2016
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #108, 170 x 124 x 12cm.
Private collection, Moscow, Russian Federatian.


All the works that were part of the Bare Bones exhibition at Ron Mandos Gallery in Amsterdam in 2016.

Wedges

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Wedges

2014
Group of bas-reliefs in salvaged wood #103, size ca. 2 x 2m.




Made for the The factory Set retrospective at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam 2014/15. A total of 37 bas reliefs were shown. Most of them on loan.

Rounds

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Rounds

2013
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #96, 111 x 167 x 14cm.
Private collection, Delft, Netherlands.




Part of the Phasmid exhibition in 2012 at Ambach & Rice gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA:

Type Stack

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Type Stack (BENWAY)

2013
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #95, 144 x 142 x 16cm.
Private collection, Rotterdam, Netherlands.




Part of the Phasmid exhibition in 2012 at Ambach & Rice gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA:

Cyclotron

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Cyclotron

2013
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #94, 315 x 109 x 15cm in two parts.
Private collection, Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece.




Part of the Phasmid exhibition in 2012 at Ambach & Rice gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA:

Cold Storage

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Cold Storage

2013
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #91, 194 x 132 x 15cm.
Corporate collection, Houston, Texas, United States.





PHASMID

The Phasmid or Phasmatodea are an order of insects commonly known as stick insects. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek phasma, meaning an apparition or phantom.




Part of the Phasmid exhibition in 2012 at Ambach & Rice gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA:

Yaw

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Yaw (from the Svabhāva subset: Pitch/Roll/Yaw)

2012
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #89, 160 x 165 x 12cm.
Private collection, Rotterdam, Netherlands.






Part of the Edge of Space exhibition in 2012 at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam.

Roll

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Roll (from the Svabhāva subset: Pitch/Roll/Yaw)

2012
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #88, 127 x 174 x 10cm.
Private collection, Rotterdam, Netherlands.




Part of the Edge of Space exhibition in 2012 at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam.

Pitch

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Pitch (from the Svabhāva subset: Pitch/Roll/Yaw)

2012
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #86, 234 x 193 x 15cm.
Private collection, Leiden, Netherlands.



Svabhāva

The Sanskrit word Svabhava literally means ‘own-being’ or ‘own-becoming’. It is the intrinsic, essential nature or essence of living beings. The Buddhist symbol for Svabhāva is a wooden wheel.
(source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Svabhāva)

Line Shaft

A line shaft is a power driven rotating shaft for power transmission that was used extensively from the Industrial Revolution until the early 20th century. Before widespread use of electric motors small enough to be connected directly to each piece of machinery, line shafting was used to distribute power from a large central power source to machinery throughout a workshop or an industrial complex. The central power source could be a water wheel, turbine, windmill, animal power or steam engine. Power was distributed from the shaft to the machinery by a system of belts, pulleys and gears known as millwork. The pulleys were constructed of wood, iron or steel. Varying sizes of pulleys were used in conjunction to change the speed of rotation. Near the end of the 19th century, some factories had a mile or more of line shafts in a single building.
(source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_shaft)

Examples of wooden pulleys.
(source: stoommachine.info/drijfwerk) 




Part of the Edge of Space exhibition in 2012 at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam.

Node

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Node (Small Stellated Dodecahedron)

2012
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #79, 155 x 160 x 12cm.
Private collection, Rotterdam, Netherlands.




Part of the Edge of Space exhibition in 2012 at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam.

Wrangler

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Wrangler (Compound of Five Octahedra)

2011
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #75, ca 200 x 200 x 16cm.
Collection Verre Bergen, Rotterdam, Netherlands.




Part of the Edge of Space exhibition in 2012 at Ron Mandos gallery, Amsterdam.

Kassa 3

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Kassa 3 (Checkout 3)

Bas-relief in salvaged wood #25, 189 x 106 x 14cm.
LAM, Lisser Art Museum, Lisse, Netherlands.



Part of a set of three checkout counters which were exhibited together on the Art Rotterdam art fair in 2005 by galerie Delta.

Kassa 2

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Kassa 2 (Checkout 2)

2004
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #24, 187 x 112 x 14cm.
Collection of Felix Claus, Amsterdam, Netherlands.



Part of a set of three checkout counters which were exhibited together on the Art Rotterdam art fair in 2005 by galerie Delta.

Kassa 1

index of sculptures 1988 to 2024

Kassa 1 (Checkout 1)

2004
Bas-relief in salvaged wood #23, 173 x 115 x 14cm.
Private collection Rotterdam, Netherlands.



Part of a set of three checkout counters which were exhibited together on the Art Rotterdam art fair in 2005 by galerie Delta.