Recently he came in at number 35 in the top 50 most important contemporary artists in the Netherlands. Number 35, or artist Marc Bijl (1970), exhibited at the Groninger Museum in 2012 and has been doing studio visits as a guest lecturer at the Frank Mohr Institute (FMI) in Groningen since 2015. Kunstspot asked him about his role as an artist and guest lecturer: “I like to be the outsider who drops by every now and then.”
WHAT DOES YOUR WORK AT THE FRANK MOHR INSTITUTE ENTAIL?
"In addition to the regular team of teachers, students are also introduced to guest lecturers. I am one of those guest lecturers, and I visit every month. The main difference is that I am there more as an artist and less as a teacher. I am a kind of sparring partner: I show more of the artist side and talk more on a colleague level with the students. I don’t have any authority in the assessment process, which leads to different discussions. And that's also the status I've kind of acquired now and I'd like to keep it that way: I'm the outsider who comes to visit now and then.”
WHY DID YOU START DOING THIS JOB?
“Firstly, it seemed like a fun experience. The conversations with the students are rather long, deep and interesting. So coming to Groningen once a semester is not enough for me. I like to come more often so I can help develop a vision. And as long as it's possible I'll stay there."
WHAT ARE THE FUN ASPECTS?
“The most fun is definitely the contact with the students. This young generation of artists has a different perception of the world. Things like where they get the news or their visual language or their idea of artistry in general. They come from a completely different background, simply because the world has changed so much. What I get out of it is that I intensively interact with people who perceive things in a completely different way. And that's not just because they are from a different generation; at FMI you also have students from Peru, China or the US. And it's wonderful to see young people from all those different continents sitting around a table cooking a recipe from Egyptian cuisine by an Egyptian artist. Yes, then you regain faith in humanity and also in art. Because the connection that exists between them at that moment, even though they themselves may not know it yet, is still the art. They gave that fresh perspective back to me; I had lost it a bit."
AND WHAT ARE THE LESS PLEASANT ASPECTS?
“The most fun is definitely the contact with the students. This young generation of artists has a different perception of the world. Things like where they get the news or their visual language or their idea of artistry in general. They come from a completely different background, simply because the world has changed so much. What I get out of it is that I intensively interact with people who perceive things in a completely different way. And that's not just because they are from a different generation; at FMI you also have students from Peru, China or the US. And it's wonderful to see young people from all those different continents sitting around a table cooking a recipe from Egyptian cuisine by an Egyptian artist. Yes, then you regain faith in humanity and also in art. Because the connection that exists between them at that moment, even though they themselves may not know it yet, is still the art. They gave that fresh perspective back to me; I had lost it a bit."
WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON YOU WANT TO GIVE THE STUDENTS?
“Keep it fun, and when it stops being fun, make sure you've finished things up properly and achieved the goal. So you do have to accept both sides of the coin. The free, freaky development phase and then presenting and representing. Because even if you've built the work three times before, you should still be able to love it and be happy to explain it for the umpteenth time. And so you will learn and eventually be able to do this. Have faith in your own work and don't be afraid to show and explain it for the hundredth time.”
WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND?
[Marc laughs] “I started at the MTS, but didn't finish it. Then in 1997 I graduated from the art academy in Den Bosch.”
HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED AS AN ARTIST SINCE YOU GRADUATED?
“As an artist, I used to be in a kind of resistance mode. At the time there was a lot of talk about research art and project-based art. I found that annoying, so I resented it. What I wanted was the romantic image of the artist. And not the image of the artist sitting alone in his attic room, but actually living as an artist. I thought it was important to bring a little rock 'n' roll into my art and also into my life. Because that's what I wasn’t seeing around me. I mainly saw the artist who always had to work in such a small project setup. Yes, I even found that very annoying.
“My heroes were lone wolves like Andy Warhol and Sol LeWitt. And of course they did have assistants; they didn't work alone. But there is only one boss and that is the artist! I thought that was important, and I lived that life. Much has changed in the art world since then, but the reason for becoming an artist has remained the same for me. I never want to lose that romantic aspect. What I do notice, however, is that what I found terrible about all that research art back then, I can now really appreciate. The approach really appeals to me. So there are certain artists who are doing whom I also want to show in Groningen and discuss them with the students of the FMI.”
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PUT STUDENTS IN TOUCH WITH ARTISTS WHO WORK ON A RESEARCH BASIS?
“The idea is to bring artists, whom I appreciate for having this kind of attitude, to Groningen. They are independent, but cannot and will not work alone. They have a kind of project-based and investigative attitude that never stops, which is why they usually haven't become ‘gallery artists’ like me. I didn't want to be one either, but I feel like I have become one. The artists who work on a project basis and on research often do their own thing and therefore do not fit into the system of conventional galleries and art fairs. I find now that I really appreciate these artists for exactly that attitude. That's why I would like to introduce them to my students.”