Rogier Marius
Born in Rotterdam in 1980
Lives and works in Amsterdam
Rogier Marius is an artist and engineer. In both practices, his attention revolves around the craft of woodworking and its primary resources: the tree and the forest.
“A tree is not only shaped by leaves searching for light and roots craving for water. Local damage caused by plagues and physical events equally determines its appearance. In the forest, symbioses—both competition and commensalism—together with physical ephemerality shape the whole.”
Where tradition and lineage form the basis of a craft, both the artist and the engineer critically approach the question of what works. The artist does so in an intuitive, perhaps aesthetic way; the engineer in a more rational or mathematical sense. Rogier playfully investigates the incompatibilities between these traditions and professional fields.
In his design practice, this research results in highly functional yet playful constructions. In his art practice, it leads to intricate but logical sculptures and installations.
CV
Rogier Marius studied biology, construction and philosophy. He has degrees in Biomaterial Sciences (University of Groningen, MSc) and art, Unstable Media (Gerrit Rietveld Academie).
Rogier Marius is one of the initiators of the artist sanctuary ‘Vrij Paleis’ in Amsterdam and curator for the ongoing series of exhibitions called ‘Vrij Paleis open’.