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Klaas Breukel is a graphic designer and visual artist. After graduating with a Bachelor degree in Fine Arts (Utrecht school of the Arts) in 1999, Klaas established a successful design studio in Amsterdam the Netherlands, the city where he was born and raised. In 2009 Klaas moved to New Zealand with his partner and young children, continuing to run the business while exploring a new lifestyle in sunny Nelson. Klaas is also an accomplish video performance artist (VJ), and is an ex-board member of Te Ramaroa — one of the original artists that helped setup the festival.
I always enjoyed making installation art and after having worked as a VJ for various dance events and festivals overseas in the early 2000s I discovered light was a natural fit in my art practice. Since then I’ve been working with projection and light-based projects regularly alongside my other art and design work.
I think ‘Scope’ which was a part of the 2023 edition of Te Ramaroa, was one of my favourites so far. Scope was an installation I created in collaboration with researcher Ellen Cieraad and the aim of the installation was to inform the visitors of the event about the consequences of light pollution on Te Taiao, our natural world. You had to interact with the work to find out more about the topic and we had a set of questions for each visitor of the installation. The answered questions were later used by Cieraad as part of her ongoing research into light pollution. I enjoyed the conversations this installation sparked and the juxtaposition of this work as part of a light festival. While light offers many benefits, and in the case of Te Ramaroa brings great joy to people, there is also a dark side to it that is worth considering along with things we can do to minimise negative impacts.
I think that depends on the nature of the work and the context it is shown in. I’m personally most interested in light installations that convey some kind of message, tell a story or contain an interactive element for people to experience. Light has the ability to create something magical in the contrast of darkness which is something that people naturally delight in. If you combine that with a deeper layer that goes beyond the strictly visual you can create stronger connections with an audience and enable experiences that move them, or make them think.
The health and safety part of a light installation can be quite challenging. You never know how the audience is going to interact with your work. Making sure things are safe, strong enough to handle the elements, and last the duration of the event is important. Allowing enough time for prototyping and experimenting can help to overcome some of these challenges.
Submit your application, no matter how crazy your idea is. Find people who can support you with building, developing and installing the work. Test and prototype on a smaller scale before making something that’s big in size. Spend time on research and budgeting the materials and create a solid planning that allows for plenty of testing and tweaking. Don’t be disappointed if your work doesn’t get selected but learn from the process, enjoy the festival and submit again for the following event.
Thanks Klaasz!
You can check out more of Klaasz's work here:
https://www.thisisthem.com/variousworks
