The Transformed Bell is a reimagining of the church bell as a sculptural object and instrument. In the 17th century, the brothers François and Pieter Hemony created the first truly tuned bell: they gave the bell a coherent harmonic structure—combining a strike note with a precise overtone series. In collaboration with Royal Eijsbouts, a leading bell foundry, I replaced the customary bell shape with a radically new form. Achieving a full harmonic range in this unfamiliar form required the invention of a new internal acoustic profile — the result of twenty years of modelling and testing, and an ongoing process of refinement. In this way, the project continues a Dutch tradition of innovation in bell-making.

Homage to Japanese Lacquer is a recontextualisation of one of the world’s oldest paints. Asian lacquer (Chinese qi, Japanese urushi) is the sap of the lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum), first used nine millennia ago. Known in the West primarily through its association with Japanese culture, it is a highly exacting medium that demands years of experience and precise working conditions. For this reason, the project unfolds in collaboration with lacquer masters, as a sustained dialogue between conceptual approach and craft knowledge. Through this exchange, all aspects of urushi come into view—its history, its material behaviour, its technical rigour, and the aesthetics that arise from it.

Harmen Brethouwer