Amsterdam Oost artist Berndnaut Smilde has provided the cover image for a new single by British musician Peter Gabriel. Gabriel personally selected the work, titled Nimbus De Toekomst 1, for his release I Belong To The Sky.
Gabriel works with a different artist for each release and reached out to Smilde through management in April. Smilde agreed to the collaboration before hearing the track itself.
Fleeting indoor sculptures
Smilde makes real, short-lived clouds inside architectural spaces using a self-devised technique involving water vapour and smoke machines. Each cloud holds together for around ten seconds, giving him just enough time to photograph it.
The artist first developed the concept in 2012 for a miniature gallery in Arnhem measuring less than six cubic metres. After testing the method, he produced a full-scale cloud in a Haarlem art space that quickly drew international attention and led to an exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery.
Technical hurdles on site
Smilde has staged the installations in dozens of locations worldwide, ranging from a Portuguese palace to historic venues across the United States. Time Magazine named his cloud-making process one of the ten best inventions of 2012.
Setting up each photograph requires disabling smoke detectors, alerting security teams, and protecting existing artworks from moisture. During one installation in the United States, moisture caused a historic wooden floor to temporarily warp before it settled back into place the following day.
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