‘Murals Inc. Machine Painting Show II’, at the Margarine Factory (De Kaai)

Murals Inc. presents during ‘Summer at South’ the ‘Murals Inc. Machine Painting Show II’, an unique event about the use of innovative paint techniques on walls and is a must for anyone interested in experimental forms of mural art.

The Margarine site

We thought it appropriate in the context of ‘Summer at South’ to have our paint performances take place at other locations. The Margarine terrain at Nassaukade is not far from our location at Piekstraat and very suitable as an interesting place for experimental forms of machine painting.

Paint performances

The paint performances at the Margarine Factory are realised by Rutger de Vries, his experimental method are discussed below.

Experimental murals

The resulting murals are bold, dynamic and visually stunning, demonstrating the artists’ innovative approach to the creative process. The exhibition underlines the importance of experimentation, innovation and invention in contemporary art, and encourages viewers to rethink the process of creating an artwork.

Film

South Open Air Cinema / The Margarine Factory ±1923. Courtesy of Rotterdam City Archive and permission of Unilever.

The Margarine site

The site located on Nassaukade is the site of the Margarine factory, which will be closed in 2021. The site is being redeveloped for housing. As part of placemaking, parts of the site and some of the factory spaces will be made available to cultural community initiatives until actual construction activities take place. As the factory is a model of machine production that took place there, and also contributes in other ways to an exciting environment for art and culture, Murals Inc. has decided to partly host the ‘Murals Inc. Machine Painting Show II’ at this location.

Below is an account of the plans by Rutger de Vries and Germain_IPIN. Information and film stills from the film / The Margarine Factory ±1923 that South Open Air Cinema will screen.

South Open Air Cinema / The Margarine Factory ±1923

After 132 years, the Margarine Factory stands empty, but certainly not in this wonderful film some 100 years old. The film ‘The Margarine Factory’ shows the then state-of-the-art production process of the new, increasingly popular packet of margarine, ‘Blue Band.’ Location also plays an important role. Margarine is by then already made from vegetable oil from all over the world, for which the raw materials arrive at the port of Rotterdam. The Nassaukade (now ‘De Kaai’) was therefore the perfect location for the Netherlands’ first margarine factory.

An unique opportunity to see this then futuristic film in large format on the location itself and experience the grandeur of this icon of the industrial era. Including all the Rotterdam factory workers who were an indispensable link in the production process of a century ago.

Courtesy of Stadsarchief Rotterdam and Unilever.

Murals Inc. presents during Zomer op Zuid the ‘Murals Inc. Machine Painting Show II‘, an unique event on the use of innovative paint techniques on walls. We will show the paint performances at various locations including the former Margarine Factory (now De Kaai) on Nassaukade. Zuid Open Air Cinema presents the 1923 film The Margarine Factory.

‘COLOR CHART - MMPS II’

For the ‘Murals Inc. Machine Painting Show II‘, Rutger de Vries is creating a spatial installation in the former Margarine Hall in which the wall becomes part of the machine. Each brick is ‘printed‘ by means of a ‘tool‘ developed for this purpose. Each brick is given a different colour; a total of 249 colours are used. The 249 bricks are used to construct a wall that runs across the room. The machine aspect, belonging to a factory that produced packets of butter, is relived here in the form of a machine paint performance.

Rutger de Vries will start the production process on 28 June.

Program

— Saturday 1 July Festive Opening from 12:00 to 18:00.
— Continuous film program: South Open Air Cinema / The Margarine Factory ±1923.
— Films on Machine Painting: Ash Keating, Daan Botlek, Rutger de Vries and Otto Baum
— Music: Levels Switch brings Jaskelis (former winner of Rotterdam Grand Prize).
— Barretje 0.0.

Note: the aerated concrete blocks will be reused.

About the work of Rutger de Vries

Rutger de Vries’ extensive paint installations arise from the seemingly contradictory dynamic between expression and concealment. His spatial interventions mark spaces that sometimes almost seem to disappear under several colourful layers of paint. Diverging in both geometric formal language and more organic and flaring paint surfaces, the uncompromising paintings initially resemble the expressions of an energetic, restless painter. But at the scene of the installations, visible traces are left behind: the tools left behind mark the absence of the maker himself.

De Vries’ work is influenced by the traditions of both process painting and conceptual art, from which emerge experimental actions and systematic logic that conform to the available working conditions. Outsourcing artistic actions to formulaic methods evokes associations with artists like Sol LeWitt, although his canonical statement ‘the idea becomes a machine that makes the art’ translates in De Vries’s practice to self-developed tools and computer-controlled machines. By letting these devices determine the composition, form and intensity of the paintings and drawings, De Vries questions and explores the meaning and scope of his own authorship.

Painting with a Forklift by Germain Prévost / IPIN, has unfortunately been cancelled.

Germain Prévost / IPIN uses a forklift truck to create a mural. In doing so, he demonstrates the factory-like character of the area in his own way.

Summer 2023, Rotterdam puts all the spotlights on Rotterdam Zuid. For more than four months, there will be lots to do there, for everyone. With a programme of 60 large and small events, Zomer op Zuid shows what Zuid really is: powerful, idiosyncratic, surprising and unstoppable. Since Murals Inc. descended on Feijenoord in early 2020, a world has opened up. We are therefore delighted to be able to contribute to Zomer op Zuid.