Material Tendencies: Maarten Baas

Our team recently spoke with Baas about his intuitive way of creating.

The whole handicap of my career is that I never work with the same material. I wish I had a specialism. One day I am creating a 12 hour movie, another, I am learning how to preserve burned wood and how to make clay furniture. I couldn’t choose one material. My way of working is never one way. I feel what keeps it fresh is the explosion that happens in your head when you don’t know what to do with the material. So if I was forced to work with only one material, I think I would quit my job.

The idea is always first and then I fill it in with the material and the technique. Though, sometimes I already have quite a clear idea of what kind of material would fit because it is part of the concept. Once I made a very superficial kind of piece in bronze − a gum ball machine. For me bronze is symbolic for a kind of timeless material whereby the gum ball machine is a very temporary, entertaining piece.

My intuition is my main tool and I have to really cherish that. The older you get and the more responsibilities you have, the harder it is to be flexible. I try to create circumstances in which my superpower - my intuition - is always available. That is for me the holy grail.