the solo exhibition shows 120 glass pieces nationaal glasmuseum leerdam march 20 – may 10, 2009

image courtesy pieter vandermeer

'royal rip off's' glass by baas van beek at leerdam glass museuma few of the ‘royal rip off’s’, currently shown at the nationaal glasmuseum leerdam

dutch designer van beek believes in like altering the existing production process rather then inventing a new one. he deplores the idea of setting up independent factories, which he compares to establishing more sweat shops, which are completely unnecessary given the system and set-ups that already exist. the push for exclusivity, anti-mass production and limited editions are, according to him, a type of neo-colonial exploitation. ‘designers are obsessed and think their approach can save the world, but really it is just this xenophobic longing for the past’, he says, ‘my work shows that you can use existing processes to generate new forms thus devaluing the limited edition.’

'royal rip off's' glass by baas van beek at leerdam glass museum‘rip off’s’ ceramic pieces

the first series played around with six different versions of ten vases comprising known and (previously) unique pieces with parts that were interchangeable. during a residency at the european ceramic work center he created hybrid forms out of his own moulds, joined together with regular hobby moulds. ‘this time’, he says, ‘i created an elevated state of mediocrity.’

'royal rip off's' glass by baas van beek at leerdam glass museum