herman de vries -- eschenau summer press publications

Sjoerd Buisman
Sjoerd Buisman's interest in natural growth-processes is not inspired by a scientific interest in biology as such. Interviewed in 1987, he declared: "The subjects I choose must first and foremost yield an interesting visual result. The visual aspect is more important to me than the scientific aspect. (...) I am an artist, not a biologist. Art is my sole concern. These subjects are nothing special to a biologist."
His early (1967) fascination in natural growth and decay processes is recorded in the 'potato panels', which traced the sprouting, wilting and finally the slow withering of the tuber. He later became interested in manipulations and in circumstances which interfered with the natural process. For instance, he photographed and drew plants in their natural positions first, and then after they had been hung upside down. It was this originally detached curiosity that encouraged him to develop a kind of natural awareness of the laws and forces governing the natural processes he was trying to manipulate. Made wise through experience, by the late 1970s he was able to prevent 'nature's whims' from determining the 'form' of his 'objects' and 'sculptures'. Indeed, the sculptural form/design became at least as essential to Buisman as the growth process that took place within that formal framework.
For his sculptural growth projects he planted willow saplings in patterns, preferably geometrical ones, sometimes turned inwards at an angle, sometimes outwards, or a combination of the two. At first the form (square, oblong, circle, triangle) was the most formative and striking aspect, but after a time the result of the growth process featured prominently in the 'total image'. Only by dint of constant intervention (i.e. gardening activities such as pruning) could the balance between form and process be maintained. These sculptures can only exist by the grace of two opposing forces: the laws of nature, and 'culture', i.e. human manipulation. Some of Buisman's most fascinating growth projects are to be seen in the Hoge Veluwe National Park, in the direct vicinity of the Kröller-Müller Museum.
The growth projects, which are still going on today, if only because of the need of permanent maintenance, brought a fascinating period more or less to a close. Since 1980 Sjoerd Buisman had concentrated on sculptural form and design as such. Even prior to this period the plastic quality of the spiral development of certain plants had constantly fascinated him. Starting with drawings and proceeding to bronze, wood, concrete and papier-maché sculptures, he gave abstract form to these spiral growth principles. Alongside the spiral pieces he was producing concentric sculptures and drawings whose form was once more dictated by the principles of natural growth.
The basically strict laws governing the spiral or concentric form gave most of his pieces ofthe 1980s a sober,'severe' and sometimes quite straightforward look. In his more recent sculptures, such as 'Babel Boogie-Woogie', Sjoerd Buisman seems to have recaptured his interest in manipulating the laws of nature, endeavouring to achieve optimal 'freakishness' within the limits of natural growth [...]
TEXT CREDITS
Citation Frits Bles, '[Introduction]', in exhibition catalogue Sjoerd Buisman : tekeningen, beelden 1980-1992 = drawings, sculptures 1980-1992 ; Van Reekum Museum Apeldoorn 8 februari-6 april 1992 / Frits Bles, Sjoerd Buisman (Van Reekum Museum : Apeldoorn 1992) 7-9, citation on p. 7-8.
IMAGE CREDITS
Photo: Lilian Seegers, Amsterdam.

More Information
Press Folder (Baukunst Galerie - 2006) and 'Sjoerd Buisman - Manipulations', Baukunst Galerie, Cologne [online] (2006); available at <http://www.baukunst-galerie.de/ausstellungen/ sjoerdbuisman-manipulations_en.php> [accessed 29 October 2010].