When I first saw Berndnaut Smilde's work, I was immediately captivated by his images and his research. Of course, the ‘indoor clouds’ are amazing. But his triptych video Nimbus Atlas, in which he films the birth of a cloud, as it were, also fascinates me. This triptych shows the development of clouds in slow motion until they disappear from view. Even now that we have had the work in our home for years (at least the prototype), I can look at it endlessly.
Nimbus DE.GROEN. No other work in the collection is as directly connected to the collection as this one. Nimbus DE.GROEN was created in the atrium of the building on Weverstraat in Arnhem, where the collection was located until June 2024. Right up until the end, people came to us in Weverstraat and stared up at the atrium with anticipation. Eventually, they asked us when we would turn the cloud back on.
Very occasionally, visitors bump into each other. Someone points up and says: last time I was here, there was a cloud hanging here. In this way, imagination becomes greater than reality. Nimbus DE.GROEN has become an iconic image.
Now here in Showdepot we have a new work by Berndnaut and it's like a dream come true. We have the real cloud!
Berndnaut Smilde (Groningen, 1978) works in Amsterdam.
