MC’s Mindgames — Berndnaut Smilde
A temporary exhibition full of experiences in The Hague
In the 125th year of Escher’s birth, new life is being breathed into the universe of Maurits Cornelis Escher. To this end, curator Mary Hessing of BinnenhofBuiten selected six young artists and designers to give shape to their visions: Teun Zwets, the duo Alissa + Nienke, Iris Toonen, Grietje Schepers, the duo Leon de Bruijne & Willem van Doorn and Berndnaut Smilde. The artists reflect on Escher’s work during MC’s Mindgames. Today we show Berndnaut Smilde.
MC’s Mindgames takes place at several monumental sites in the Museum Quarter that have specially opened their doors, including Huize Voorhout and Kazernestraat 23A.
Berndnaut Smilde – Nimbus
Nimbus; a cloud as a temporary sculpture is an icon of modern art. With a huge series of exhibitions including in London, Perth, Arnhem, Bristol and Landskrona, Berndnaut Smilde has been extremely successful with his poetic interventions in space. The Groningen-based artist broke through with ‘Nimbus’, which Time Magazine hailed as one of the best inventions of 2012. Smilde manages to float a small, perfectly white cloud in the middle of a room. This is also a matter of precision: temperature, humidity and lighting must be tuned. If the parameters are right, Berndnaut conjures a cloud in the room with a smoke machine. Wonderful though this is.
Artist Berndnaut Smilde had the unique opportunity to create an installation for the exhibition MC’s Mindgames in the form of a photograph of a cloud shot in the imposing ‘Handelingenkamer’ of the Lower House of Parliament building in the Binnenhof. Location: the photo will be exhibited on the monumental cast-iron billboard column on Lange Voorhout.
MC’s Mindgames
Museum Quarter, The Hague
6 – 29 October, 2023
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
denhaag.com
Curator: Mary Hessing of wothstudio.nl
Photo billboard: Johan Nieuwenhuize
Portrait photo: Jan Willem Kaldenbach