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In conversation with Jasper Livius

Nederland kent vele topondernemers die de BV Nederland naar het hoogste niveau tillen; ambacht, passie en meesterschap spelen hierin een belangrijke rol. MASTERS gaat met regelmaat in gesprek met deze Masters. Deze week een gesprek met de oprichter-eigenaar van industrieel ontwerpbureau Kappennow amsterdam: Jasper Livius.

Functional

"From a young age I've been making things with my hands. I did art school - drawing, painting. Free art, however, I thought was too free. I liked it better to make something that is functional. That it became lampshades was purely coincidental. I was deforming plastic. But had far too many rolls; my studio was completely full. Through the Internet I asked if anyone wanted the material. That's how I came into contact with a lampshade maker: he could make good use of the plastic for his production. I didn't know there was plastic in lampshades. That triggered me to start making them myself, in 3D. I've been doing that for seven years now. I still work with that lampshade maker. Although I called my company Kappennow - I lived in The Hague for a while - I went from lampshades into lighting pretty quickly.

How so? At MASTERS EXPO 2017, I met Frans Koek from Eindhoven, an institution in the field of lighting. He really liked my distorted lampshades and invited me to come to Eindhoven sometime. 'My staff must want to sell you.' I walk in there all proud with my lampshades, I'm told it was mood lighting. 'And we sell lighting. Your lamp gives nice light, but that's no use to us. We want usable light.' That's when I started offering functional light like spotlights in addition to mood lighting."

Monumental

"The lamp hanging here in the showroom of Vyva Fabrics, a wholesaler specializing in furniture, project and outdoor fabrics, is a typical design of mine. It really is a statement. I also studied Architectural Design/Monumental in Arnhem. That's about applied art in public space. This is actually the same, only with lighting. This lamp is a monumental gesture, a defining element for this building. It is made of aluminum and the fabrics of the lampshades are from Vyva Fabrics, which really makes it the lamp of owner Carol Driessen. Should she ever move, a new building will be built around this lamp. Tailor-made projects like this are enormously intensive; it takes me about four months. I listen to the customer, but I want to be able to follow my own feelings. That mutual trust is very important to me. It has to click. 'Pronounced lighting designs for pronounced people,' it says on my website for a reason. Before I have such a big one produced, I first show a sketch to the customer - otherwise it gets too exciting.

My lamps are made in Holland and are not made in China, which makes them more expensive. Large projects like these are not very profitable, but they do put me on the map. Besides the custom work, there are also regular lamps of mine for sale in the store - a reading lamp, a wall lamp. Even in those designs you will find my signature: the material partly determines the design. There are lots of parts in my workshop; I start working with these and then a design emerges. I often show what the material is: bare steel, copper... Good quality, high-end in terms of parts. And they can also be damaged, because then a lamp comes to life. They are often heavy lamps, literally. No nonsense, always the best execution, no concessions. My goal is to be a household name in this business in five years, that everyone knows you can come to me for an execution of your wish."

Cocky

"Similarly, I created the lamp that hung in the lobby of MASTERS EXPO last December. Stefan Enthoven of Expo Flora, which co-furnishes the fair, came up with a concept: a lamp that can be easily transported and used multiple times. So I made a lamp consisting of eight parts. The finish is according to the customer's own wishes, which I have printed. Currently I'm fiddling with recyclable materials. But to have such lamps printed is still far too expensive. It's just like electric cars: the idea is good, but it still has to be developed. I do delve very deeply into sustainability, although lighting is not a priori ecological: an LED lamp may be sustainable, but the transformer and light source are not.

I am known for my lighting, but also design other furniture. At home I have mostly other people's designs, vintage - I like that. My son attended the Wood and Furniture College and now works intensively with me as a self-employed person. We go to the thrift store once a week. There you see the past and how it was made. And when it's lasted thirty years, you know immediately that it's good quality. We both enjoy giving such furniture a schwung. My son also welds, then he makes a combination of wood and steel, so that it is drawn to the now. Besides my son, I also mentor other young artists, mostly young graduates. I enjoy passing on my experience to them and giving them a place where they can develop. Also economically, so that they learn early what their work has as a consequence for the outside world. After all, they have to live off of it in the end. For that you have to be kind of stubborn, but not too stubborn. Just like me."

MASTERS Magazine

This article is from MASTERS Magazine. In the spring edition of MASTERS, three entrepreneurs shed light on the future: Raymon Pouwels (GO Sharing), Merel van Helsdingen (Nxt Museum) and Tim van der Wiel (GoSpooky). According to the latter, ever-accelerating technological advances offer tremendous opportunities. "There has never been a better time to have a good idea. Technology is in your pocket!" Sports journalist Jaap de Groot outlines the contours of the new playing field of international sport after the resounding success of the World Cup in Qatar. And futurist Adjiedj Bakas also shines his light on the future. According to him, next year will be dominated by the search for the economy of happiness. "We are not only going to look at what makes us money, but what makes us happy," he says. Perhaps this edition contributes to that, with a look back at MASTERS EXPO, a road trip with the new Range Rover and interviews with equestrian Pope Jan Tops, Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner, chef Margot Janse and visual artist Spencer Tunick. Happiness!