Naar mekaar

Do you think it looks like these coffee pots are chatting to each other? Sometimes, you want to come up with your own name for an artwork. But here’s a few ideas for this one: Coffee and Chat, Hot Gossip, Singing Snakes. Perhaps you can think of a few of your own.

This is a law of physics. It states that in a set of containers which hold a fluid, connected at the base below the level of the liquid, the fluid levels in all vessels will be equal. The containers are connected to each other, which is why they're said to be communicating. 

Klaas has focused on coffee pots and teapots for many years. It's really become hissubject. Perhaps it seems boring to you, spending all that time working on the same topic. But it’s harder than you might think. It really demands something of you. Jan Henderikse has also spent years focused on items collected at markets.

Some people are coffee lovers, while others love tea. When they're around, it's a good idea to brew a full pot of tea or coffee. People sometimes want a hot drink when they're out and about. Then they take a thermos, so they can enjoy a cup of tea or coffee while on the train, watching the landscape rushing by.

In many of Klaas's works, you can see the rough, sketched character of his style. It's as if lines and figures from the design phase are still visible under the paint. Look closely and you might discover a drawing.

How you eat your food makes a difference. Food looks different when arranged on a huge, glossy plate than when eaten from a cardboard box. The same is true of drinks. A plump, rounded teapot has a different look compared to a slimline coffee pot.

Teapots and coffee pots have made Klaas famous. They are extremely distinctive and form part of his 'signature'. That's what an artist's style is called.

Klaas's works are on display in various public spaces throughout the Netherlands. One of his sculptures is located in a residential neighbourhood of Arnhem, another is next to a Rotterdam pond.

Klaas's pots have a decorative aspect, an adjective most artists shy away from. It means ornamental. They don’t like to refer to their art as decoration. Something decorative can be lovely and might make a space cosier or more attractive; a nicer place to be. But some believe that art needs to do something else. They think it should change the way you look at the world, make you think differently about life or about yourself. 'Decorative' is usually popular with a wider audience but not with artists or art experts.