For Dutch artist Marijke van Warmerdam, the act of creating is rooted in experimentation and discovery. This ethos is reflected in her approach to making art, often beginning with actions that may seem “completely pointless.” She describes, “You fill a bucket, you throw it in the water, and it’s something completely pointless. I think when you do something pointless, you look for something surprising, and that’s the payoff.”
Although Marijke van Warmerdam trained as a sculptor, her desire to explore movement led her to filmmaking. “At a certain point, I really wanted things to move. I think that was the moment that I started to make films,” she recalls. Her early experiments with film loops, such as Handstand – a 16mm film of girls doing handstands – opened new pathways for her practice and earned her the nickname “the loop guru.”
“I don’t tell stories. If you see it as a story, then it’s a story of just a few, three or four words, nothing more than that. And they are looping. So I see it more in a sculptural way, like as if you walk around a sculpture,” the artist explains.
In this short interview, Marijke van Warmerdam reflects on her development as an artist, emphasizing the importance of serendipity and encounters. “I went to the academy, but I think becoming an artist is much more about the people you meet, the opportunities you get, the chances you have to take when you actually have made the work.”
In her work, van Warmerdam often explores the fleeting nature of time and perception. “A moment never exists on its own. There’s always a moment ahead of it and always a moment coming afterwards. The moment you point to something, one second later, it’s already somewhere else. And I think this is what I am trying to catch. More moments in one moment, in one image.”
Her fascination with ambiguity is exemplified in works like ’Play and Stay’ (2021), which she describes as capturing the interplay between movement and stasis.
Marijke van Warmerdam’s admiration for other artists also plays a role in her practice. Reflecting on her time in New York, she recalls, “I became a big fan of David Hammons […] the snowballs – it’s such a fantastic, great piece. You have something that is also nothing at the same time. You sell a snowball, but what is this? It’s actually also nothing. And that… I find that great.”
Marijke van Warmerdam approaches each piece with an openness to the unexpected: “Once you start working, it’s somehow diving into an adventure, and you don’t know where it will end. But that’s also the reason to do it, to discover something. That’s also the reason that I like to collaborate with other people. And sometimes misunderstandings can give a certain result that you can be happy about.”
Asked about art’s potential to change the world, Marijke van Warmerdam offers a measured perspective: “I can’t change the world, but maybe… what I can offer with a piece is that it will give another mindset… I see it as a kind of gym for the mind.”
Marijke van Warmerdam (b. 1959) is a Dutch artist based in Amsterdam. She works across mediums, including film, photography, and sculpture, and is known for her poetic, looping film works that capture everyday moments with a sense of wonder and ambiguity. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including in major biennials such as Venice and Sydney, and is part of collections in institutions like the Stedelijk Museum and Centre Pompidou. Marijke van Warmerdam is also a professor at the Staatlichen Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe.
Marijke van Warmerdam was interviewed by Nanna Rebekka at Galleri Susanne Ottesen in connection with the exhibition ‘Marijke van Warmerdam: The sun comes in’ (29 Nov 2024 – 01 Feb 2025)
Producer: Nanna Rebekka
Editor: Signe Boe
Cinematographer: Rasmus Quistgaard
Music: Jonas Engberg, Thor Sørensen and Peter Rockwell (StereoRoyal / Upright Music)
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2025
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