Jan de Swart (Video)

Creating The Jan de Swart Video: By Jessie Allen Cooper

"In the mid-1990s, Jock de Swart, Jan de Swart's son, came to me with the idea of filming the Eagle Rock, California art house he grew up in. When entering the property it was obvious that every inch of the surrounding land was about the art. In Jock’s words, Jan would get up in the morning and create all day and night only stopping to eat and greet friends and collectors that would come to visit. As a woodworker myself, I was highly impressed by the tools he used and in some cases created himself by altering and inventing new parts that he would add onto tools to create his visions, such as lathes and an assortment of different wood, plastic, and metal styling tools."
"I lived with the work for several weeks while filming this short video that was shot by my good friend Jeff Haymes cut by Curt LaFurney with Post Production Supervised by Brian S. Hanish. From my perspective, Jan's work was delightfully creative with a degree of unparalleled sophistication. Aside from his insightful and intuitive notion, much of his art embodied a sense of functionality. From a creative and artistic perspective, it felt like his art was inspired by the school of found art, that is, everything around us could be a part of the art or influence the making of the art. All of the furniture in the home was created by Jan. He had even created an elaborate game that was featured in the living room of this lovely art house. "

Jan de Swart website
Jessie Allen Cooper © 2016
Music: Julianna, Tomorrow, from Moment in Time