Berndnaut Smilde

Berndnaut Smilde (b. 1978) is a Dutch artist born in Groningen who lives and works in Amsterdam. He often draws in his work upon the physical presence of transitional spaces. Places such as corridors, elevators, staircases and balconies interest Smilde as spaces that exist to be in between. This interest also branches out into the possibility of how a given space might be in between states of construction and deconstruction. Using his day to day surroundings as points of conjecture, Smilde often works in response to a specific site, creating special narratives whereby multiple layers of ideas and meaning are able to collide and coexist. Throughout this process Smilde often uses construction materials and imitation products such as photographic prints, artificial turf and polystyrene interior decoration that make reference to the physical construct of those spaces, while he works with and plays on the boundary of where ‘in between’ starts and ends. (Text by Tristan Hessing, MOOT, an artist-led project space based in Nottingham, England). www.berndnaut.nl