Dutch visual artist Berndnaut Smilde graduated with a master's degree in fine art from the Frank Mohr Institute in 2005 in Groningen.
His best known works include the series 'Conditioner'; sculptures that spread an antiseptic scent throughout several rooms, and 'Unflattened', which shows an inverted rainbow . In 2012 he created a series of clouds. Smilde discovered a way to create clouds in the middle of a room by carefully balancing temperature, humidity, and lighting. He chooses locations that are old and damp and that have no air circulation. from coal mines to cathedrals
“I see them as temporary sculptures of almost nothing — the edge of materiality. It looks like you can dive into them or grab them, but they just fall apart. There's a duality there that I really like, where you're trying to achieve this ideal thing that then just collapses moments later”. Smilde in an interview with IGNANT
In the following video Berndnaut Smilde shares the inspiration behind his 10-second cloud sculptures (just long enough to be photographed.) at Storytellers Summit. His acclaimed Nimbus series was captured through photographs before the clouds (and the sculptures) vanished.
The art of making indoor clouds | Berndnaut Smilde | Storytellers Summit 2019
