Myrthe Bokelmann has a residency in Het Bos from 1 to 15 october. And you can get to know her work on October 16 in the Theatre Space of Het Bos.
We asked Myrthe some questions:
When is your favourite time of the day to create?
When creating alone, I don’t necessarily prefer a specific time of the day for creating, but a lot of the process happens in in-between moments for me. Like standing in the shower, sitting on the toilet, right before I fall asleep… Often I’ll spend an entire day in the studio and the moment I put on my shoes and jacket to leave, I have a moment of improvising that feels interesting. The time spent before leaving feels necessary to have these 10-minute outbursts of creativity, but in the actual ‘working time’ things don’t always come up. In collaboration with others, I like the first half of the day.
Do you have a network of other artists, and how do they support you?
Most (actually all) of my current work relies on collaborations with others right now. Slowly I’m trying to consciously build connections with people in ways that can last, or go beyond the getting to know each other mode, which is often present in freelance projects. In creative processes it’s important to me that it feels comfortable to spend time together and to explore ideas without immediate judgement on the outcome. I rely on the people I work with because we create a language, and a space together that feels safe and trusting. That kind of environment makes it feel fun to expand our own ideas and performativity, as well as look at our work critically and reflectively.
Is there a specific environment or material that’s integral to your art?
I like when an environment has different textures. Creating from a plain black box feels a bit overwhelming because of how many possibilities it offers. When I create, I think through my body. Different shapes and textures within a space help me to understand my body and physicality within that space and allow for a dialogue.