Maurik Stomps

socio-social, sculpture, residency, public space, process,Objects, installation, D.I.Y, Design, Community, Artistic research

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I am a Rotterdam designer and I make interventions in public space that subtly disrupt daily life. This creates alienating situations that challenge the prevailing norm. I try to understand and unravel my immediate environment. My projects arise from personal amazement, indignation, frustration, or curiosity and often include a broader social theme such as the inclusivity of public space, individual freedom in an increasingly dense urban environment and the role design can play in this. With a sense of humor I try to expose this often complex theme in a surprising way. I do this experimentally, which means that by making and placing objects in the city, I respond to my environment and seek interaction or confrontation with the subjects of my work.

**Greetings from Rotterdam** - During one day I follow four different city users of Rotterdam. Four people who have nothing in common, except for one and the same intermediate station: Rotterdam. In the video I try to get a grip on this changeable city by viewing it through the eyes of four 'visitors'.

**BureaucRats** - Every time 'sinkholes' appeared in the sidewalk, a municipal worker came to close the holes. This started to become a routine, as rats continued to dig tunnels under those same tiles to get above ground. I thought I would make it easier for both parties.

**bikes, bikes, bikes** - Objects that try to subtly disrupt daily affairs.

**bikes, bikes, bikes** - Objects that try to subtly disrupt daily affairs. Who decides which bicycle can be left on the street, and when is something a wreck? Two well-maintained bicycle rear ends apparently did not make it to the balloting. Within a week, this object disappeared without warning.

**more green on the streets** - grateful use of a green pixel

**Public privacy** - As part of an ongoing empirical study into the use of public space. Who owns the city?

**Bend the rules, stretch the norm** - An empirical study into the use of public space Who owns public space and to what extent can someone claim a part of the city? With various playful interventions I tried to stretch the consensus about the public domain. But when my attempt to appropriate public space became itself appropriated, the project took an unexpected turn.

Het Nieuwe Instituut

Date: 01-07-2022 t/m 30-09-2023

Location: Het Nieuwe Instituut

interactive installation in which stories from the city were collected and archived in the 'head office' of the fictional Ministry of Real Estate, located in Het Nieuwe Instituut.

This artist has no awards yet.