|
"Maarten's
family name is BAAS. The
given name of Bas is -obviously- BAS
(from seBAStian). So these names have
nothing to do with each other. So it's just:
Maarten Baas & Bas den Herder."
 Maarten Baas is
a young product designer who skipped the lower and middle rungs on the ladder
of success and went straight to the top.
His line of furniture, Smoke,
which includes blow-torched versions of design classics like Gerrit Rietveld's Zigzag chair featured at right, brought him worldwide
attention when Murray Moss commissioned him to do an exhibit, Where there’s Smoke..., of one-off
pieces at his store Moss, in New York, in 2004.
(Select pieces of the Smoke collection
are now in production by Moooi.) From
there, he hasn’t turned back, nor has the world turned its back on him. Design journalists questioned whether his Smoke pieces were iconoclastic, whether the
approach was almost a nose-thumbing at all-things design. None of that.
It was Maarten’s intellectual curiosity, born during his student days and
which remained during his transition into post-university world. What
would happen if… Not if in physical terms, but if of all the philosophical questions
Maarten had about design at the moment. (right, Smoke Zigzag chair, photo by Maarten van Houten; intro photo: Zigzag burning, photo by Bas Princen)
Maybe more than
describing his work, the journalists’ questions describe Maarten. An iconoclast. He refuses labels, he doesn’t care what
others are doing, he refuses anything which isn’t his own free will. He’s interested in exactly what he’s
interested in, nothing more, nothing less, and if you’re curious as to what
that might be…try not to ask. He knows
it when he sees it. He also knows what
he’d like to see (in his work). He’s a
visionary.
His success as a
designer has been quite significant in the four years since graduating from the
Design Academy in Eindhoven, in fact too successful to begin listing, and more successful than
many designers achieve in a much longer period of time. What’s more interesting about Maarten than
what he does is the way he works.
Although he began as a solo act in 2003, in 2005 he joined forces with an
exceptional producer—Bas den Herder, and together they formed an additional
second studio, Baas & den Herder.
Bas, formerly with Piet Hein Eek, is the producer of Maarten’s ideas and
products, a true right-hand man (with a great sense of humor also). He puts into being what Maarten ideates. When you consider that Maarten doesn’t produce
drawings, but goes straight from idea to prototype, their relationship is
outstanding. Maarten is able to
articulate his ideas enough so that Bas can take the ball and run with it. That’s no small feat in the design field, and
Maarten considers himself lucky to benefit from such a good, unique working
relationship.
 This enviable synergy
helped make a success of perhaps the most innovative material finish and of one
of the most unique designs of the Salone del Mobile Fuori Salone 2006: Clay Furniture. (Clay Furniture, stacking chairs, photo left by M. van Houten)
To Maarten, the
things he does are obvious, simple, intuitive.
You either get them or you don’t.
And if you don’t, it’d be easier finding someone else to ask because he
prefers to keep his opinions and feelings on such topics close-hold. He’s hesitant to express too much because
he’s not interested in influencing opinions.
At least not overtly— his designs have had considerable influence on the
design world, and with the creative vision and technical capacities of both
Maarten and Bas, a patient wait for the next product is always worthwhile.
Your design philosophy.
I don’t really
have a design philosophy. I like to
design, I think how I make things are the most logical for me and in general
it’s quite illogical stuff that I make because it’s not very average or so, but
I think it’s obvious to make it the way I do it. Like if I would like to have it myself,
that’s good enough, and I try to see if other people like it as well, so
there’s no real philosophy.
For what contribution would you like to be known to
the design field?
Authenticity.
 Dutch design vs. European vs. American design: How are they different? Where does Maarten Baas fit into that
continuum? I don’t
know. I’m sure there are differences
between my work and others, but I don’t really see a difference between
them. It’s not something I look at. I don’t look at design in that way. I just notice what’s nice, and if it doesn’t
interest me, it doesn’t penetrate my brain.
I have never analyzed design in this way. (Clay Furniture, detail of floor fan, photo left by M. van Houten)
What do each of you contribute to the design
process? What are your strengths? What are you no good at? Well, it's simple: I'm the
designer and Bas produces. So the ideas come from me and I make the prototypes,
together we are developing it, so Bas also has some aesthetical influence in
that stage. In general I'm doing more the headlines, like communication and
appointments and so, and Bas manages the workshop. He's good at creating the
unique atmosphere which is in the place over here.
There is not a
real design process, like I never draw.
I just start making it. Maarten
Baas is still a very young company. Bas
and I have only known each other for two years.
So there’s not a really regular thing to say about how we work. But generally you can say like for the Clay Furniture,
I felt like I wanted to make some pieces of furniture with the clay we had, and
so I asked Bas “I have a technical problem here, how would you manage it?” And he has a team of people and they worked
on the technical side.
So, generally, I
do design and we help each other.
Everybody comes up with ideas and we direct it. I come up with the idea and the prototype and
we develop it together, at least that’s how it went with the clay
furniture. But with the Smoke Furniture and Treasure
furniture, these were developed before I knew Bas. But in general, you could say Bas does the
practical things and I do the ideas, the layout of exhibitions. And there, it’s more that I come up with the
idea and Bas fills in the idea.
Describe the development of your “clay furniture”.
We had that industrial
clay here for some other things, and then I thought: hey, let's make
furniture with that stuff. So I just started making it and it ended up like the
Clay furniture collection. Quite simple...
What role does design/being a designer play in your
life?
Design doesn't play a role
in my personal life. I only know something about it from a professional point
of view. Being a designer is a very nice way of making a living, so that's
reason why that's important in my life, but not more than that. I just enjoy
doing what I do, and by coincidence it seems to be design...
Which obstacle has been the most difficult to overcome
during your design career?
In the beginning there
were so many things going on, which I had to manage by myself. Apart from
the huge Smoke success, there were a
lot of practical things to arrange, such as arranging a good workplace with
equipment, buying a van to transport things, making a
website, dealing with tax-rules, how to transport a piece to U.S?, etc. Meanwhile, I wanted to make some new designs
as well, but there simply wasn't time to do so. It sometimes has
been frustrating if people complained that they were disappointed that I
only made Smoke and didn't make
anything new after a year... (Treasure dining chair in yellow, photo right M. Van Houten)
What motivates you?
If people say
my designs, or the way we work and live, are inspiring.
Time Capsule: Which three of your designs would you put in
a time capsule that say the most about you and the way we live? Anyone else’s designs? 3 of my designs would be:
Smoke zigzag chair, treasure dining chair and clay dining chair. Someone else's
design: Tejo Remy's chest of drawers , Jurgen Bey's "broken family" ,
Bertjan Pot's pumpkin lights . I don't
feel like explaining why, that feels like explaining a joke or so!
Which food/dessert best describes your design style?
I think food in
general. The idea of "food" is very similar with many ways to look at
my design. The shape is mostly organic and natural. It would be very scary to
eat something very straight and smooth. Also the way food is created is very
similar. A good cook doesn't need to have a recipe, he just uses his
feeling, his experience and the ingredients which are available. That's
also how I design. There's no drawing, just a vague plan of what I could do and
what I need to make it. Also the fact
that there's food to be eaten is nice... Here’s a comparison I
think is pretty appropriate: it's nice
that good food can be enjoyed by a lot of people. The connoisseur enjoys eating
a 3 star meal, but people who are not specialized will enjoy it as well. I
prefer that idea in design (and art) as well, instead of someone having to be
an expert to enjoy it. (Portrait of Maarten Baas, left. photo M. van Houten)
First thing you notice in a restaurant.
The door.
It totally depends on the
restaurant. Every restaurant has its own characteristics and there's not a
specific one which is the most important to me.
Eating what food brings back the best memories?
Orange juice
and sandwiches with Nutella. It doesn’t necessarily bring only good memories,
but at least very clear memories related to this food. It was almost the only thing I ate during the
Design Academy, with all ups and downs.
Your best flea market furniture find (or best deal on
a piece of furniture). Where is it now?
Richard Hutten's table
chair. I made a Smoke piece for him and he gave a table chair to me. It's now in my newest "hey chair, be a
bookshelf!" So I have to arrange a new one...
No home is complete without…
A roof...
I'm not really the person
to answer to these kinds of questions. It's about my opinion of how someone
else should do something. The most important thing of my opinion is, "the
more diversity the better" so according to me everybody should make
his/her own ideas, without being influenced too much by others.
The last piece of art you hung in your home/fell in
love with?
"the laughing working
horse", I got it from my father, who got it from an artist. The
artist said my father works, but also laughs at the whole field he's working
in. Now it's mine...
You’ll always pick up the magazine if a flying frog with three heads and 5 legs is on the cover. In other words, the cover is never the reason I
pick up a magazine. It's more the moment, before a long journey for example.
Then any magazine can be okay, from Donald Duck to the New York Times.
Information source you can’t live without.
Television
You can never have too many… bin liners to put in the stuff which you have too much of. When I buy something I never think whether it's worth
the money, but I always think like: is the disadvantage of having this thing bigger or
smaller than not having this thing? Often it turns out I prefer to have
nothing.
You’re most proud of your collection of… Chaos: sometimes it disappears, but I manage to
keep on maintaining this collection, I make new chaos every day. When I clean
my desk it's always a mess again within one hour. Still, I'm very punctual and
even organized, but there always needs to be a certain amount of chaos around
me.
Photos by Maarten van Houten and Bas Princen, as noted, provided with permission from Maarten Baas, www.maartenbaas.com
Special Note: "Eppur
Si Muove": exhibited as an assignment of Case da Abitare and Alessi, to
make a souvenir for Italy. If the sun shines through this abstract sculpture,
its shadow will say Galileo´s famous words about the sun and the earth:
"Eppur Si Muove".
|
