Rhizomebook.com | Jan van der Til | Concepts of work | Curriculum vitae | Support Mondriaan Fund
Concepts of work is a mission statement by Jan van der Til, in which he outlines his ideas, perspectives, and beliefs about his practice through a series of concise statements. Its aim is to critically reflect on his own work while opening the door to new possibilities and directions.
Concepts of Work
Each Book — synonymous here with work — originates as a digital entity. Its material manifestations are to be understood as interpretations, translations, copies, or imitations: not fixed to a singular form, nor limited in number.
A Book constitutes a body of information that can be read, stored, reproduced, distributed, and presented. All technical and aesthetic decisions in its material instantiations are determined in relation to the specific context in which the work appears.
As the meaning of a work emerges through its situated materialisation, only the manifestation is dated. The original, as a rhizomatic and open structure, remains undated.
The work is rhizomatic in every respect. All information produced around or through the work — including documentation, commentary, and metadata — is considered integral to the work itself.
In both the development of the original and the realisation of any material form, environmental care and minimal ecological impact are guiding principles.
The material manifestation of the work is not required to be preserved. It may disappear, dissolve, or change without compromising the integrity of the work.
Copyright is waived if its enforcement would encourage greed, obstruct the free exchange of knowledge or creativity, limit the possibility of critique, or result in hypocrisy.
The original is not for sale and cannot be owned. Only material manifestations — bound to context — may circulate within systems of value.
Deviation from any of these principles is possible, but only insofar as it does not contradict any of the others.
Jan van der Til | Concepts of work | Curriculum vitae / Support Mondriaan Fund