story of the endless freedom - ekwc den bosch

story of the endless freedom - ekwc den bosch - 2007

"I beat with my fist the porcelain on the table.

As the clouds in the sky,
so the sharp lines blur into a haze that will disappear.
What remains is the picture on my retina,
projected on a backdrop of memories.

I'm standing on my feet on the ground and I stamp in the clay.
There in the Middle, so close and so far away.
The drawings will be fired.
So it has to bee.
The result is a rigid extract of my experience of making.

And then, there is that Wretched with his arms wide forever ...

How to make the vulnerable strong without sacrificing the soul? "

let's dance (jesus is just alright) - 2007

During his working period in the European Ceramic Work Centre in Den Bosch Bart Drost wanted to capture the process of transformation of porcelain mass to solidified porcelain. The Church icon of the suffering Christ on the cross was his leitmotiv. "Suffered enough, stop, relax! He made film recordings during the combustion process, the stages which the changing porcelain mass had to undergo. The very vulnerable dried clay mass couldn't resist the gravity of the earth during the increasing of the combustion temperature. The Christ figure had finally let go down his arms, step by step.

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the accountability

"It's really beautiful, but I can't do anything with it..!"

In 2007 I was artist in residence at the European Ceramic Work Center in Den Bosch. In 2000 I had my first work period in this center and afterwards I thought back with nostalgia to the 'nice kneading in the clay' and the images that arose from there as if from nowhere. At that time my leitmotiv when working was "The boy's story". In 2007 my starting point would be "The use of play", in which a combination of river clay and porcelain would be used in the works. Who can describe my surprise, my disappointment, my shock (?!) when - after seven years - I felt clay in my hands again and this touch especially created a feeling of disgust in me. No intense euphoria, on the contrary. I couldn't do anything with the clay. Get rid of it. Then onto the porcelain. The substance of this material disgusted me even more: I thought it was chewing gum, crumbly clay; what should I do with this now? Hitting, hitting was the only appropriate action for this material. Beating porcelain. I placed small sausages and ceramic balls on the oven tray and pounded them into flat, thin strips. And while hitting with my fist I gave direction to the sausages, connecting them together, shaping them. I discovered a new way of drawing, a new form of drawing.

The result is several hundred salad drawings. Little stories, anecdotes, statements. Wafer-thin porcelain, two-dimensional or three-dimensional? Vulnerable in material and content. They suit me well, these salad drawings and they are a natural step on my path in the arts. I have collected them in a chest of drawers with eighteen drawers, pinned up on board like butterflies. Like jewels in a box. But be careful, they are so vulnerable. Vulnerability involves the danger of damage, breaking. No wonder those hundreds of salad drawings never leave my studio. The gallery owner is enthusiastic and sighs: "It is really beautiful, but I can't do anything with it..!" The collector covers his mouth but does not dare to make a purchase. And I? I'm looking for a way to show my salad drawings to the world.

Jewelry in a chest of drawers; jewelry for the wall; not to wear. What do you mean 'not to wear?'. It is the fear of breaking that hinders carrying. How long should a piece of jewelry be worn? How long is five minutes? And why should a lettuce drawing not break? What do you mean eternity? And above all: what is the value of a work of art if it cannot be shown. Is art more than show and splendor?

Bart Drost, January 2011.