Kunstfort Kasus: Vincent Knopper
Vincent Knopper is the first participant in Kunstfort Kasus, a residency program that gives an artist or designer the oppurtunity to expand their studio work to (the surrounding area of) the Kunstfort during one year. Knopper studied Fine Arts at the Rietveld Academy and followed the Masterprogram Material Utopias at the Sandberg Institution. In 2019 he continues his research into the history and architecture of the fortress, as well as the programmatic and physical transformation of the historical site into a presentation space. In collaboration with the team and the relations of the Kunstfort, Knopper will design three objects that will be shown during the exhibition seasons. In Autumn he will make a final presentation in which he shares his findings, in combination with an article and a public program.
On one hand Kunstfort Kasus explores the heritage and re-use of objects belonging to the defence line of Amsterdam, and on the other it contributes to the experience and knowledge of the artist. The defence line of Amsterdam is still a major factor in the identity and growth of the city of Amsterdam. The design of the city and surrounding area are inseparably connected to the defence line. With the growth of the city comes new construction, but also re-use of cultural heritage. The world of heritage, especially the one of the fortresses, isn’t a field that often comes in connection to art. The Kunstfort brings both of these together in it’s program: with an understanding of the past and in the practice of the present, it is the imagination that stands up front in looking at the future.