Welcome…
Edmond van der Bijl, a.k.a. mundo (akamundo) is a freelance designer and artist.  Please feel free to leave comments on these posts! Thanks for visiting the site.

Bio
Edmond van der Bijl is a Franco-Dutch-American artist born and raised in Washington D.C. Edmond’s work is largely based on the idea of maximizing the minimum, and minimizing to the maximum. This theme stems from an acute awareness of excess production and a desire to avoid contributing to that trend by using and/or re-using existing resources.

Artist Statement
General:
Artists challenge the way we do things and offer the world an opportunity to see itself reflected. A body of work, however, is not the product of society as a whole but of a single individual’s perspective. It cannot be said, therefore, that it defines social consciousness: it is merely a tool, among others, that can help identify certain themes and encourage the debate of social issues.

Today, however, art is totally inaccessible to the general public. There are a plethora art spaces as well as established galleries and museums that create ample opportunities for the display and viewing of art. Though these spaces are open to the general public, they do not speak to it. The art world, as “open” as it seems on paper, can be an exclusive and intimidating experience.

Art in the public context is an alternative solution to this dilemma. The idea of public art, however, is not a new one. It has long existed in the form of commissioned works in the lobbies of buildings, or as permanent sculptures in dedicated areas of public spaces. It also exists in less lawful forms, such as is the case with graffiti or “street art”. In short, public art tends to be either in pristine (and again, somewhat inaccessible) environments, or exists as a result of a trespass on the law. The ideal solution to the public display of art is a work in progress, with limits undefined, and shall be a focus of the following investigations.

Specific:
In sculpture, the “common” or “everyday” object (or unit) is reconfigured into a new object. The associations one might have of the unit on its own are challenged by the resulting form. The “new” object not only puts into question its original functionality but also proposes a new one: an object of aesthetic value.

The two dimensional (2-D) realm is less constricted by physical limitations and exists as a depiction of the world-whether it is real or imagined. Where a sculpture made of recycled bottles exists in some way as a literal representation of itself (an object), a 2-D composition is more commonly seen as a window through which to see an object, rather than existing as the object itself.

Main Objectives:
1) Maximize the minimum + minimize to the maximum.
2) Encourage debate and awareness of social issues.
3) Make art more accessible/relevant to the general public.