herman de vries art catalogue

2007-00-00-1100 — exhibition view Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo (2009)

mesa

catalogue number:	hdv 2007.111.1
date created:	1996-2007
classification:	the real works: installations
work type:	floor installation
medium:	mixed media
dimensions:	43 parts, variable dimensions [see 'extended description'] installed dimensions 240 × 220 × 22 cm
signature and inscriptions:	certificate
edition:

current repository:	collection Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo
current repository number:	KM 131.260
collecting history:	acquired in 2007
related works:	a few years ago herman de vries started another floor installation titled 'mesa II'. Still unfinished
comment:
photo/scan:	courtesy Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo
rights & reproduction:	herman de vries/Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo

extended description

01. cooking pot (22 × 28 cm) - Western Africa (2002)

02. beech branch (70 × 11.5 × 9.4 cm) - Steigerwald (1997)

03. food bowl (6.5 × 16.2 × 21.5 cm) - Western Africa (2002)

04. frame drum / bendir (25 × 8 cm) - Morocco (1985)

05. resinous substance, frankincense / zaoui (9.5 × 10.2 × 8.8 cm) - Morocco (1996)

06. nest of a blackbird (13 × 9 cm) - Eschenau

07. nest (4.4 × 3.1 × 4.4 cm) - Oakland CA (1999)

08. waterjug (17 × 23.5 cm) - El Cercado near Chipude, La Gomera (1993) [exhibited in 1998 in Stadthalle Ulm 'das geheimnis des wassers']

09. stone (21.2 × 18 × 19.3 cm) - Steigerwald (1997)

10. bundle of rope (ca. 43.5 × 40 × 10 cm) - Hassfurt (1974)

11. rock crystal (17 × 11.5 × 6 cm) - unknown

12. dragon's blood (ca. 10.5 × 8 cm) - Aichstetten (1998)

13. ash stick (29 × 4.6 cm) - Steigerwald (2005)

14. bone (18 × 14 × 13 cm) - Hundsrück

15. skull cup (18 × 13.9 × 7 cm) - Labrang, Tibet (2003)

16. bundle of twigs (42 × 13.5 × 6 cm) - Mouans-Sartoux (1991)

17. tree stump (9 × 24 × 30 cm) - Steigerwald

18. mala, rudraksha (88 cm) - Pashupatinath, Nepal

19. book (36 × 33 × 5.2 cm) - Kandy, Ceylon (1971)

20. torn root section (32.7 × 17 × 10 cm) - Steigerwald (1997)

21. charred wood (20 × 19.5 × 12.5 cm) - Steigerwald (1999)

22. splitting wedge (24.2 × 4.5 cm) - Westheim (1987)

23. limestone (13 × 9.6 × 6.5 cm) - Digne-les-Bains

24. brimstone (24.5 × 20.5 × 14.5 cm) - Stiftland (1994)

25. sickle (24.6 × 3 cm) - Hassfurt

26. measuring rod, broken off (3.2 × 1.2 × 24 cm) - Eschenau

27. stone-age knives (9 × 4.3 + 7.5 &ti8mes; 3 cm) - Anatolia (2003)

28. ayahuasca (15 × 3.5 cm + 22.7 × 2.5 cm) - Berlin (2003)

29. peyotl (4.1 × 3.6 × 4.5 cm) - Lepe, La Gomera (1972)

30. henbane (30.8 × 2.5 cm) - Sulzheim

31. bar of gold (1 kg) - Hassfurt

32. corncob - Zell am Ebersberg (1999)

33. mortar with pestle (17.5 × 5.5 + 17.5 × 8.5 cm) - Amsterdam (1970)

34. basalt rock (7.4 × 8 × 11 cm) - Hermigua, La Gomera (1982)

35. prismatic glass (26 × 4 cm) - Gavdos (1978)

36. artefact (3.5 × 10.2 × 14.5 cm) - Agadir (2005)

37. green serpentine (5 × 10.5 × 15.3 cm) - Oberengadin

38. sankha, conch shell (16.5 × 8 cm) - Bombay

39. padlock, corroded (9.5 × 6.5 × 2 cm) - Steigerwald

40. drill core (20 × 4 + 19 × 3 cm) - Digne-les-Bains

41. hoe (15.5 × 16 cm) - Eschenau

42. mushroom with electrical artefact (17 × 4.9 × 5.4 cm (electronic part) + 16 × 9.6 × 9.5 cm (mushroom)) - Steigerwald (2005)

43. cymbal (6.5 × 1.5 cm) - Kathmandu (1989)

exhibition history

2009	'herman de vries. unity', Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo
2025	'herman de vries. 70 jaar natuur als kunstwerk', Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede

published references

monograph	mesa. katalog mit dokumentation und einigen anmerkungen und zusätzlichen informationen = catalogue with documentation, some annotations and additional information 1996-2007 (Stichting Kröller Müller Museum : Otterlo 2009) 152 pp.
exhibition catalogue	all this here. herman de vries pionier tussen wetenschap, natuur en kunst = all this here. herman de vries pioneer between science, nature and art / Cees de Boer (Rijksmuseum Twenthe : Enschede / Jap Sam Books : Prinsenbeek 2025) image repr. on page unpaged (ill. number 113) 149.