Koos Buist
Groningen, Netherlands
Residency: March 15 – May 15, 2017
Project Description
During the residency I worked on two projects.
I. As stated in the proposal, it was my goal to make an artwork that is merging art and ecology. In the first weeks I did read about and looked at ancient Native American earthworks and prehistoric structures. I got a free library card at The Utica Library to get books about the Utica area and nature. I started making sketches and 3D models of scrap wood and metal. As part of this project I also learned about metal bending. I formed half of a bug out of one metal rod. It became a line drawing in the sky.
The final work is an Earthwork or Insect Wood Henge built on the grounds of Griffiss International Sculpture Garden. The work will be a habitat for insects (and including other small arthropods) and a place for us (humans) to meet them. It can also be beneficial for the surroundings (garden) as bees and bumblebees are good pollinators.
II. Working in the studio, this project is about the little things in the surroundings of Utica. When I arrived there was snow everywhere, so I was forced to search for organic material indoors. My first work showed all the bugs I could find in my studio. The second became a tripod for the Boxelder Bug that swarmed into the metal workplace. When the snow disappeared I went cycling and walking in the marshes between the Mohawk River and Erie Canal. This heavily polluted area is a gold mine for interesting material. I like to work with materials that fade the boundary between culture and nature. In the marshes, there are plenty of those kinds of objects. Many findings were immediately ready for display. Others needed minor adjustments to put the materials in the right context.
I also made two gnomes that live in the marsh. The local Native Americans call them little people or Jogahoh. In the Netherlands we call them Kabouters. They occur in legends all over the world. I recognized something of myself in these spirit beings.
For next year I’m working on a show about the fictional people of the sea mudflats in of the north Netherlands. The little people I made here are a preliminary study of this people. The things I also read about Native Americans and the art I did see at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Native American history in New York City are of great inspiration.
The realization of the Insect Wood Henge in Rome is the most important development. It exceeds all my expectations of this residency. I am very grateful for all the help I received from Sculpture Space and the Griffiss International Sculpture Garden. I am very curious how the work will develop in the coming years. I hope that Sculpture Space can give this experience to many following artists.
About the Artist
Koos Buist (born 1984, Groningen, Netherlands) grew up on the countryside around Ezinge. Here is where the foundations were laid for his love to work with, work in and work for nature. Moving to the city of Groningen to study at the Art Academy Minerva, his work started to focus on the micro nature outdoors and indoors. He graduated in 2010.
Koos now works as an interdisciplinary artist with his studio based in the Biotoop at Haren, Netherlands. His work consists of installations, films, and collaborative projects with other artists and biologists. Recent exhibitions include CBK Groningen in 2016, and Museum of Natural History, Rotterdam in 2015. He has also had shows at VU Hortus, Amsterdam in 2014, Frise Studio, Hamburg in 2013 and NNM Studio, Lima in 2012. His interactive and collaborative projects take place on festivals such as The Night of Art and Science, FestiValderAa, and Philosophy Festival in the Netherlands.
His movie production ‘SLOOT’ has been screened at different art spaces and national film festivals. During the Noordelijk Film Festival, it received the ‘Noorderkroon Award’ for Best Feature Film in 2016.