This multiple titled ‘Dark Matter Matters’ is made from brass, blackest black paint (absorbs up to 99% of visible light) and a small piece of basalt.

This offer is for a limited amount of time and runs till 31 December 2020.

The sculpture is produced in a limited edition of 20 pieces + 1 AP.

Size: 15cm diameter x 7.5cm : € 800 each 
(After the 31st of December the sculpture will be priced at € 900 each)

Size: 30cm diameter x 15cm : € 1600 each
(After the 31st of December the sculpture will be priced at € 1800 each)

The multiple will be issued in a box, including material, instructions for mounting and a signed and numbered certificate. We ship worldwide but costs of transportation are not included in the price. It is also possible to pay in installments. For more information contact the studio.

“Dark matter has not yet been observed directly, if it exists, it must barely interact with ordinary matter”

I somehow felt an urge to tackle issues of social discrepancies. Observations made by me on a daily basis made me wonder how personalities and identities evolve under constant pressure and forced feeding of accumulated added values. If we seek solid ordinary ground, a firm desire for matter that makes us take root in society and gives shape to our self image, we seem to be constantly afloat. Drifting along as driftwood, gathering matter along the way and constructing our identity on shifting added values, seems like an impoverished form. Our identity seems to be shaped according to corporate values and to a lesser extent to social values. We belief in a need that is not necessarily ours but supplied to us, allowing us to believe it is an intrinsic motivation. Branding and marketing as an almost religious tool for branding purpose of living. Influences that supply a false sense of belonging. Desperation as pivoting dark matter. Quoting Wikipedia ‘Primary support for dark matter comes from calculations showing that many galaxies would fly apart, or that they would not have formed or would not move as they do, if they did not contain a large amount of unseen matter.’ So what is the unseen matter that keeps you grounded in your galaxy? Shiny glossy cover with a dark inside? What keeps your dark matter afloat?

Chris just installed his new sculpture ‘A shelter for the soft voices’ in Angermünde, Germany. Made from a single 10 ton glacier boulder sourced from a nearby sand quarry, the sculpture reveals a small space inside.

With this particular sculpture, I wanted to create a small space within the boulder that fits a young child. Children have no fixed conception of the world surrounding them. They perceive their surroundings through a looking glass that has not yet been framed to a large extent. They grow up in an increasingly polarized world with stronger contrasts. I wanted to give space to those of whom society does not expect any strong views yet. A tucked away space in a volume so compact, so sheer indestructible, yet so willingly accepting an intervention of this kind, to give shelter to one child. What lies at the basis of this world, shields that what lies at the basis of our future, the next generation.

The sculpture allows children to explore the work and interact with it in an elementary way. Through sensory experience: climbing, crawling and speaking softly to hear their voices amplified by the sculpture, they become more susceptible to the artwork and the volume, mass and story it represents. In a playful fashion, the sculpture will leave an impression in their young lives.

Chris travelled to the East of Germany, North of Berlin to search for a suitable boulder for a new work. Tucked away in a sand quarry in this scenic and remote part of Germany, was this 10 ton glacier boulder. In the coming weeks, Chris will sculpt a large work as part of a new series of work titled  ‘A Divisional Approach’.

The work ‘Gated Community’, a 13 ton granite sculpture Chris recently finished, was installed in the sculpture park. The Anningahof will have 40 new outdoor sculptures on display this season and has redesigned its indoor exhibition spaces. A must see for anyone visiting Zwolle. For more info: www.anningahof.nl

Although the crisis continues and most exhibitions have been postponed till further notice, Chris is working on a new sculpture for the Anningahof Estate. The sculpture will be on show when the park opens up to the public. In the meantime, a lot of work has to be done on the 13 ton sculpture made from Brazilian granite. The sculpture will be titled ‘Gated Community’ and will reflect upon ‘confinement’ as a mindset of liberty. More information will follow soon. For more info on the Anningahof Estate: www.anningahof.nl

Just received a photo of the sculpture I made last year for the town of Fontanarosa in Italy. It is installed at the museum there. I made the work to discuss the idea of ‘home’ and what defines this sensation. Not by presenting any answers. Just wanted to allow whoever visits the sculpture, to have an isolated experience of solitude in my artwork. 

These are uncertain times yet it supplies us with a healthy contrast. Instead of despair, we need to be resourceful and foremost creative. Sure, a lot of questions demand swift answers but perhaps this process of searching for new stable grounds, will be more valuable than we can foresee. Rise to the occasion, embrace creative thinking and values and use this moment of solitude and forced isolation for what it’s worth…a golden opportunity.

Stay healthy, stay sane, look and help others and design a better world. Peace.

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Yesterday, the 15th of December 2019, we commemorated the bombing take took place 75 years ago in Zwolle. With an impressive ceremony, the monument was unveiled by those who witnessed the tragedy at the time.

Photo: © Jelle Raap 2019

This coming Sunday, the 15th of December will mark the 75th anniversary of the bombing that struck the city of Zwolle in 1944. Our allies bombed part of the city known as Dieze-West / Bollebieste. I had the honour of making a sculpture to commemorate this event and the 5 people who lost their lives.