Unnatural Atmospheres that Document Impermanence

A conversation with visual artist Berndnaut Smilde, whose thought-provoking work invites us to reflect on the fleeting nature of time and memory. We were captivated by his stunning photographs, which capture clouds suspended inside iconic, raw spaces, creating a striking contrast between the ephemeral and the permanent. Intrigued by the depth of his work, we reached out to Berndnaut for a chance to explore the stories behind his creations. Each of his ephemeral cloud images is a unique moment in time, evolving with its surroundings and shifting in meaning—from a divine symbol to a passing thought—celebrating the beauty of impermanence, chance, and the delicate balance between the tangible and the intangible.

Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus Diocleziano Aula V, Photo: Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk

We The Cool: In a few words… Who is Berndnaut Smilde?
Berndnaut Smilde: I’m a visual artist, based in Amsterdam. I make sculptures, installations, and photographs. Among other things.

I make clouds inside spaces

WTC: Did you always know that you wanted to be an artist?
BS: Initially, I wanted to study architecture. However, I soon realized that I wanted something more practical rather than technical. Perhaps I’m a bit impatient and wanted to get building right away. So, I applied to art school at the Academie Minerva in Groningen and decided to become an artist. I also concerned myself with architecture artistically, mainly through painting, and this activity gradually evolved into sculptures and installations.

WTC: Your work often explores the duality between construction and deconstruction. How do you balance the tension between both concepts? What challenges or insights arise from this dynamic?
BS: Temporality plays an important role in my work. For example, in my Nimbus series, As the clouds aren’t durable and fall apart the moment they grow, the work is captured in a photograph, which functions as the document of something that took place in a specific location and is now gone. You could say that the work is not so much the photograph itself as the scene that it evokes. Art historian Laura van Grinsven described it very nicely that through the photograph, we are re-living the moment in our minds again, making the cloud even more important in its absence than its presence.

WTC: Your work often centers on themes of duality, such as inside versus outside and temporality versus permanence, illusion, and reality. How do you visually and conceptually explore these contrasts in your pieces?

BS: Duality might also be part of my human nature, as I am always balancing. This moment of doubt also occurs in many of my works, whether through scent, for example when you unexpectedly get a whiff of antiseptic in the air, it’s alarming and maybe brings about a dilemma between a feeling of safety and associations with sickness and death. Or, you could say that my clouds might be a sign of good fortune, but might equally signal an impending threat. Many of my works thus seem to function but are often destined to fail. Like the cloud that grows and grows but disperses again in the next moment. Whether it’s material-based, physics-based, or based on the perspective of the viewer, the prospect is often just a façade in my work, which deals with perfection and the ideal. The work either denies itself, or it’s so delicate that it breaks up and shows its impermanence.

WTC: Tell us about the Nimbus series. 

BS: When the idea began, I just wanted to see for myself if it would be possible to make a real cloud and exhibit it. The catalyst for the experiment at the time was a reduced-size exhibition on the scale of 1:4. I visualized the cloud as the essential element left over after peeling away all other ideas I had for this space. Almost a cartoon-like image of disappointment: An empty museum with a cloud that might even rain on the visitors. The cloud is a great metaphor, and it changes its context and interpretation with each space. The old chapel at the Hotel Maria Kapel art space in the Dutch town of Hoorn, for example, emphasized the divine connotations, but in other environments, it could appear as an element escaped from a landscape painting, a thought, a heavenly place, a concealing element, or simply an in-between state. This fleeting aspect of the work is something I’ve embraced in my other pieces as well. I’ve also learned not to always need to have full control over it and to accept chance. A cloud isn’t durable, it changes, grows, and breaks apart. The only way of capturing it is through documentation, so the photo of it becomes the artwork, a document that took place at a specific location.

Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus MdBK, Nimbus Katoenveem, Photo: Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk

WTC: What artists or movements influence your work?
BS: I’m a great fan of romantic landscape paintings and especially seascape paintings. Andreas Achenbach (1815-1910) is a great example. The in-between moment in these paintings I find fascinating. Not knowing if a storm is coming or fading away, you’re stuck at this moment between hell and heaven, the light, power, and the drama. Also, I like the work of Charles Ross who did lots of experiments with light. Or Pedro Cabrita Reis for the way he defines construction. Olafur Eliason and Gregor Schneider as well to name a few.

WTC: Your work involves using high-speed cameras and meticulously controlled environments to create cloud formations. Can you walk us through the process and what goes into bringing these ephemeral clouds to life?

BS: Sometimes there’s quite a bit of preparation, as you can imagine that museums are airconditioned smoke detectors have to be shut off for the moment and no public can walk through the scene. Mostly It takes a couple of days to create a work and I always work with a professional photographer to capture the cloud. In the beginning, I take a fair amount of time to find the setting I want, elements that should be in the frame, or the light that I want to capture. Then I usually test different setups with the machines and light situations, to see how the smoke reacts in the space and make adjustments. After every cloud, we need to clear the space from smoke and start again. Every cloud and light situation is unique. We photoshoot tens of clouds and in the end select one to be the work.

WTC: Looking back at your body of work, how have your artistic goals and methods evolved over time?
BS: I’ve always worked with spaces, reacting to the architecture or history of a place, mostly with construction materials creating an unnatural atmosphere. These were often temporary sculptures questioning construction and deconstruction, size, temporality, function of materials, and architectural elements. All that remained was usually the documentation. But with the Nimbus series, the documentation eventually became the work.

WTC: Our current issue is about resilience. Can you describe what this word means to you in life and in your work?  
BS: For me, I guess the word resilience would come down to keeping on going and pursuing what you want to achieve.

“I think resilience is a natural reaction to a state of impermanence”

Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus De.Groen. Photo: Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk