Diamonds - Freerk Wilbers

Looking at ‘Diamond’ is like looking into a vortex, or a whirlpool. The work is made from an acrylic material with special optical properties that turn the work into something like a lens. It keeps turning in on itself, reflecting, breaking up, and distorting whatever is behind and around it. Moving flecks of light and colour shimmer on walls, ceiling and floor, illuminating the room with a glimmering, watery play of light. When the work is hit by beams of sunlight, every moving fleck is reminiscent of  a little rainbow. 

‘Diamond’ refers to the crystalline appearance of the work, as well as its geometric shape. It is made up out of 64 circular acrylic discs, suspended on strings, which are grouped in four concentric rings. Four discs make up the center, eighteen discs are in the first ring, twenty-four are in the second, and eighteen are in the third, outer ring. Each ring is supported by a spidery aluminium frame, which are in turn suspended from one another with steel cables. Like in a clockwork movement, each cable functions as a spring that is wound and unwound. It is their precise properties that determine the character of the work’s movement.

The discs are very light and any current of air in the room directly influences the way they move. By moving, breathing, or simply radiating heat, you are stirring the air and changing the configuration of the artwork.

This work was on show during Big Art 2021 (Zaandam, nl)

Motive #15 (Large diamond)
Acrylic sheet, aluminium frame, custom motor and controller
13m x 4,1m x 4,1m cm (incl. frame) / 7,1 m x 4,1 m x 4,1 m (diamond only), 2021

Photography by Jacqueline Fuijkschot

This work was on show during Moving, the solo by Freerk Wilbers (2021, Root Gallery)

Motive #11 (Diamond)
Acrylic sheet, aluminium frame, custom motor and controller
240 x 138 x 138 cm (incl. frame) / 138 x 138 x 138 cm (diamond only), 2021

These installations are unique pieces, developed by Freerk Wilbers in collaboration with Root Gallery. If you would like to receive more information about this installation - or the possibilities for commissioned work - don’t hesitate to send us an email: contact@root.gallery.