De publikatie over het leven en werk van Ferdi bestaat uit een cassette met 2 boeken, formaat 22x17x6cm

Het eerste deel, Ferdi Facsimile, is een heruitgave van ‘Ferdi, a monument

in print’, een op eigen offsetpers en met de hand gedrukt boek door

beeldend kunstenaar Shinkichi Tajiri na het overlijden van zijn vrouw Ferdi in

1969, op 41-jarige leeftijd. Dit bijzondere document bevat bijdragen van vele

vrienden in binnen- en buitenland uit de kunstenaars- en schrijverswereld.

Destijds gepresenteerd op de eerste overzichtstentoonstelling van

Ferdi’s werk in het Gemeentemuseum te Arnhem, 1 jaar na haar overlijden.

Oorspronkelijk op A4 formaat gedrukt in een oplage van 500, is het

nu als ‘een boek in een boek’ herdrukt. Een hardcover, full-colour uitgave,

364 pagina’s.

Het tweede deel, Ferdi Hortisculpture, is een publicatie over haar leven

en werk, nu in retrospectief met nieuwe teksten en niet eerder gepubliceerd

beeldmateriaal, samengesteld door haar dochters Giotta en Ryu Tajiri.

De tekstbijdragen zijn o.a. van Mirjam Westen, conservator Moderne Kunst,

Gemeentemuseum te Arnhem/ Frank van de Schoor, conservator Moderne

Kunst, Museum Het Valkhof te Nijmegen/ Sylvia Nicolas, kunstenares.

Foto’s van o.a. Eddy Posthuma de Boer, Ata Kando, Frans Zwartjes, Bram

Wisman, Ad Petersen, Leonard Freed en Ed van der Elsken.

Een hardcover, full-colour uitgave, 176 pagina’s.

Ferdi Hortisculpture

2 kunstboeken in cassette ISBN 978-90-809629-4-1

Uitgeverij

TASHA BV, Giotta Tajiri, Ryu Tajiri and Shinkichi Tajiri

Postbus 8320

5990 AA, Baarlo

Tel. 077 477 39 76

E-mail giotta@hetnet.nl, rtajiri@xs4all.nl, tasha-bv@hetnet.nl

Ferdi Facsimile, is een heruitgave van ‘Ferdi, a monument in print’, een op eigen offsetpers en met de hand gedrukt boek door beeldend kunstenaar Shinkichi Tajiri na het overlijden

van zijn vrouw Ferdi in 1969, op 41-jarige leeftijd. Dit bijzondere document bevat bijdragen van vele vrienden in binnen- en buitenland uit de kunstenaars- en schrijverswereld.

Destijds gepresenteerd op de eerste overzichtstentoonstelling van Ferdi’s werk in het Gemeentemuseum te Arnhem, 1 jaar na haar overlijden. Oorspronkelijk op A4 formaat gedrukt in

een oplage van 500, is het nu als ‘een boek in een boek’ herdrukt. Een hardcover, full-colour uitgave, 364 pagina’s.

Ferdi Facsimile

TASHA BV

treated, installed on the press and printed. Next, I started printing drawings from paper offset plates.

After having printed one colored page I would clean the machine and add another color ink and

a new paper plate with a slightly different image. Printing over the previously printed page I found

I could create different colored variations. This was a normal procedure in printing but since I was

untutored I had to find it through trial and error.

Hundreds of photographs were received. Baby, childhood, school pictures and the first pictures

of her early days in Paris. With the repro camera I had purchased came a little book of instructions.

With my basic understanding of photography I soon understood on how to make a half-tone litho.

Printing plates were another process that had to be tackled employing the vacuum table and a

mercury lamp. After more days of experimentation I found that I could print a reasonably good

half-tone photo and colored illustrations. After these simple and basic experiences I decided to start

printing the book. Note: When I started to print the book, inexpensive computers and graphic

software (Quark Express, Photoshop, etc.), were not available. Therefore everything had to be done

in the cumbersome old fashion manner of ‘cut and paste’.

In the month of March 1969, I approached Pierre Janssen, director of the Gemeentemuseum,

Arnhem, and said I would like to make a retrospective exhibition of Ferdi’s work in February 1970,

a year after her death. I mentioned that I would present a memorial book of her life and work which

I would print myself.

The limitation of having only one inking roller on the press presented problems with producing

very dark rich black images. A plate which needed to be heavily inked would sometimes refuse to

release the paper sheet and the press would have to be stopped and cleaned. Often it meant having

to print by turning the press by hand. As soon as I started printing pages with more than one color

I began to accumulate a lot of misprints. Also the press had a tendency to chew up paper when

everything was not correctly set. Happily, I had ordered an excess of paper.

In October, 1969, I started my Multi-Media classes at the Hochschule der Künste, West Berlin.

It meant commuting twice a month to Berlin. Five days at school, nine days in Baarlo. This greatly

reduced the time I had for the book and the deadline I had set for the book appeared stressfully

close. Often I would prepare several one color plates for my assistant Karl, who would print while

I was away. The printing was finally completed in December.

Once all the 360 pages of the 500 copies were printed, it still remained for them to be

mechanically ‘gathered’ and sent to the bookbinder. Two silk screen prints, one by my eldest daughter,

Giotta age 10, a drawing of a ‘Hortisculpture’ for the front cover, while her sister, Ryu age 8, made a

‘Ferdi lamp’ for the back cover. The hard covers were laminated between two sheets of plastic.

After 10 months the book was finished in time for Ferdi’s retrospective exhibition. At the opening,

about 100 books were freely given to the various contributors while another 250 were sent to

other contributors, to museums and institutions. The remaining ones were for my daughters.

Part 2 – Autumn 2004 to Winter 2008 In 2004 the Friends of the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht,

bought the major work of Ferdi’s Hortisculptures series, ‘The Damsel-Dragonfly 1968’, from Giotta

and Ryu. They decided to set the money aside and eventually print an updated book to include

Ferdi’s posthumous exhibitions and arrange an exhibition to accompany the new publication.

Since Ferdi was born in Arnhem, the Gemeentemuseum was contacted. They showed interest

but when further communications were not forthcoming, the venue was changed to the Valkhof

Museum, Nijmegen, which had shown immediate interest at the outset. Curator Frank van de

Schoor set a date for February 2008.

For the new edition it was decided to make a 72 page facsimile of the original book and

a separate, larger, 160 page updated version with Ferdi’s posthumous exhibitions plus photos of

the additional members of the family since Ferdi’s death in 1969. These would include Alan Teruo

Roberts, husband/father to Giotta and their daughter, Tanéa Ferdi Tajiri, 29 Sept 1992 and son,

Shakuru Shin, 13 Dec 1994. Also added would be the late husband of Ryu, Maarten van der Ploeg,

14 Oct 1958 -19 Feb 2004, who died of cancer.

I chose my 72 pages and started to scan. As I completed my part, Giotta and Ryu suddenly

decided to scan the entire original book - approximately 355 pages - and place all the scans on 6 pages,

fully crammed, with postage-stamp-size reproductions. It seemed a brilliant idea until we made a test

of a few pages and realized that the photos and illustrations would survive the reduction in size

but the very tender, touching, texts of reminiscences, poems and tributes to Ferdi would be

completely illegible. A final decision was made to reproduce the entire original edition in a smaller

(16,5 x 21 cm) format.

The two volumes, totaling about 540 pages and 6 centimeters thick, would be presented in

a cassette.

Shinkichi Tajiri

Baarlo, Februari 2008

1969

Col

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1955

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Preface to the present edition Part 1 – February 1969 to February 1970 On 2 February 1969,

Ferdina ‘Ferdi’ Jansen, my second wife and mother to our two daughters, Giotta Fuyo and Ryu Vinci,

died. Some weeks later I placed a bronze sculpture, with 4 attached knots symbolizing the family

unit of father, mother and two daughters, in the village cemetery. On the base, in raised letters, was

simply stated, ‘FERDI’ 10 Oct 1927 – 2 Feb 1969.

Reflecting, afterwards, on this memorial I felt that it gave no insight into the person who was

buried there. Who was she? What had been the hopes and aspirations of her brief 42 years and

how much had she experienced and accomplished? I decided that a book, a ‘Monument in Print’,

would better serve this purpose. I knew nothing about printing so I asked various acquaintances in

the printing profession and was advised to try offset printing.

I bought a second-hand A.B. Dick A4 Office Offset Press. A table model which measured 50

cm high x 70 cm in length. It was a simple machine with one ink roller, used for printing business

letters and simple illustrations. I also purchased a new GAF Repromaster Helioprint reprocamera

to make the lithos, a ‘used’ vacuum table and a large mercury lamp.

I began by writing 50-60 letters to friends and relations, who had been close to Ferdi asking

for reminiscences; poems, interviews, reviews from newspapers/art periodicals and illustrations.

As the diverse material was received I started to make a simple layout. Soon it became apparent

that the book would be about 360 pages and I planned to print 500 copies. I ordered 210,000

loose sheets of white, 90 grams, A4 paper, paper and metal printing plates and pots of ink.

Since I was still unfamiliar with the process of printing I decided to start with the simplest pages

to reproduce, i. e., the text of letters, etc. These could be typed onto a paper printing plate, chemically

This is a facsimile of the original book, FERDI, printed in 1970 by myself

under the name of X Press, Baarlo. That edition comprised of 500, signed

and numbered, copies.

All the scans for this edition were made by Giotta and Ryu Tajiri. We left

the scans untouched with all their misprints and uneven printing quality

to preserve the characteristics of the original edition.

Shin

kich

i Taj

iri –

A.B

. Dic

k A

4 O

ffice

Offs

et P

ress

Ferdi Hortisculpture, is een publicatie over haar leven en werk, nu in retrospectief met nieuwe teksten en niet eerder gepubliceerd beeldmateriaal, samengesteld door haar dochters

Giotta en Ryu Tajiri. De tekstbijdragen zijn o.a. van Mirjam Westen, conservator Moderne Kunst, Gemeentemuseum te Arnhem/ Frank van de Schoor, conservator Moderne Kunst,

Museum Het Valkhof te Nijmegen/ Sylvia Nicolas, kunstenares. Foto’s van o.a. Eddy Posthuma de Boer, Ata Kando, Frans Zwartjes, Bram Wisman, Ad Petersen, Leonard Freed en

Ed van der Elsken. Een hardcover, full-colour uitgave, 176 pagina’s.

FerdiHo

rtisculpture

Hortisculpture

“Let me start by telling you

what I’m working on at the

moment. I want to create an

environment. My studio has to

be full of my work – flowers,

plants, fantastic shapes that

grow into the space, huge

forms that relate to life. You

can’t explain it, you have to

feel it, be there. A soft world

where you can walk, stand,

lie, fall: a place full of colour

and warmth you can dive into.

I’m not running away from

this reality. I’m creating a new

reality for myself.”

Ferdi, 28-2-1968, Castle Scheres, Baarlo

TASHA BVPublished by TASHA BV, Giotta and Ryu Tajiri

22 23

Labia Virginica GrandifloraFerdi’s studio in Baarlo, photo Leonard Freed 1968

Labia Virginica Grandiflora iron, gauze, foam rubber, silk, christmas lights, height 165 cmphoto Peter Cox

46 47

Wombtomb foam rubber, ‘Borg fabrics’ fake fur, length 225 cm1968 Giotta, Ryu and Ferdi, photo’s Ad Petersen

38 39

Plastic Fantastic Lover foam rubber, ‘Borg fabrics’ fake fur, height 128 cm, length 225 cmphoto Egon Notermans

Green Green Grass of Home iron, bamboo, foam rubber, ‘Borg fabrics’ fake fur, feather cushion, silk, height 200 cmphoto Peter Cox

26 27

124 125

elements in defi ning her creative identity. Her attitude articulated an artistic self-awareness of herself as

an artist at a time when women had to fi ght for a place in the art world. She had no desire to establish

herself as a woman artist. Her exploration of the visual eloquence of prime natural forms was too

personal and all-embracing for that. The predicate ‘feminist art’ would have been far too confi ning for

her concept. In April 1968, Ferdi stated “My subjects are not specifi cally feminine. I am a woman,

and perhaps produce what a man would not. There is no such thing as feminine art, only art created

by women.” ■ Ferdi had in haar persoonlijkheid, haar verschijning en haar kunst een uitgesproken

symboolwaarde voor de bloemrijke jaren zestig, met zijn nieuwe kleuren, onconventionele materialen

en thematische verbeeldingskracht. Ze had een intuïtie voor de goede sfeer, het aansprekende

environment, de juiste attributen. Uitgesproken kleding en aparte sieraden waren belangrijk om haar

creatieve identiteit te onderstrepen. Uit haar houding sprak een artistiek zelfbewustzijn als beeldend

kunstenares in een tijdperk, waarin de vrouwen hun plaats in de kunstwereld nog moesten bevechten.

Zij had geen behoefte om zich als vrouwelijke kunstenaar te profi leren. Daarvoor was haar

ontdekkingsreis door de beeldkracht van de oervormen van de natuur te persoonlijk en veelomvattend.

Het predikaat van feministische kunst zou haar concept te veel inperken. Ferdi deed in april 1968

de volgende uitspraak: ‘Mijn ontwerpen zijn niet

specifi ek vrouwelijk. Ik ben een vrouw, dus maak

ik wat een man misschien niet zou maken.

Er bestaat geen vrouwelijke kunst, alleen kunst van

vrouwen.’ ■ Ferdi had a mission. She was

extremely aware that her art was a campaign

of conquest. In a sense, the Hortisculptures were

for Ferdi what the Ring was for Bilbo Baggins:

irresistible yet hallucinatory at the same time.

In the memorial book, Marike Schreuder wrote:

“When we speeded to the Stedelijk Museum in

her Porsche, where an exhibition of Tajiri’s work

was to open that afternoon, she almost lost her

voice trying to drown out the rumble of the

engine: I want my fl owers to be remembered.

1969 ‘Ferdi’, by Karel Appel,mixed media, 2m x 2m

1969 Memorial for Ferdi, bronze by Shinkichi Tajiri

1970 Catalogue ‘Ferdi 1927-1969 Hortisculpture’, retrospective show, Gemeentemuseum Arnhem

1970 ‘Ferdi’ a monument in print, 354 pages printed by Tajiri, 500 copies

76 77

Photo Eddy Posthuma de Boer1954

Photo Eddy Posthuma de Boer

Photo Ata Kando

Photo Ata Kando70 71

There are people who ask me, when I show them

one of my ornaments, “How do you make such

a thing? What did you have in mind?”

The first question I find difficult, the second

always makes me somewhat fretful. My usual

answer is: I had not really envisaged something

specific. I just start to work, and then see what

develops. I do understand this to be a rather

disappointing answer, but so it is. Besides, it is

exceedingly difficult to describe exactly in detail

how your work developed while making a specific

ornament. While you are busy you get new

ideas. Working stimulates your creativity and

inventiveness in a kind of dialogue, expanding

your ideas.

Creativity has to be pliable. Iron is not always the

obedient material upon which you can precisely

impose your will. It sometimes has a mind of

its own. I’m fascinated by the idea of observing

the direction it takes, and stimulated by the

possibilities that develop along the way while

trying to shape it into a whole.

I realize that this explanation sounds somewhat

enigmatic. In this instance, I wanted to make

a pendant. My starting point was two pieces

of coloured glass that I wanted to incorporate

into the work. I started to wrap the first piece

of glass with the help of a band of iron, which

I fitted around it, and in that strip I welded

a pattern. The second piece of glass I encased

Er zijn mensen die mij, als ik een van mijn uit ijzer

en glas vervaardigde sieraden laat zien, vragen:

Hoe maak je nu zoiets? Wat heeft je voor ogen

gestaan toen je hieraan begon?

De eerste vraag vind ik moeilijk, de tweede

maakte me altijd een beetje kribbig. Meestal

antwoord ik: Helemaal niets heeft me voor ogen

gestaan. Ik begin gewoon maar te werken en dan

zie ik het wel.

Ik begrijp best, dat dit een teleurstellend

antwoord is. Toch is het zo. Bovendien is het

verschrikkelijk moeilijk precies in details te

vertellen, hoe je te werk bent gegaan bij het

maken van een bepaald sieraad. Terwijl je bezig

bent, krijg je nieuwe ideeën. Je creativiteit en ook

je inventiviteit worden door het werk gestimu­

leerd en verder uitgebouwd. Die creativiteit moet

buigzaam zijn. IJzer is niet altijd een gehoorzaam

materiaal, dat je precies je eigen wil kunt opleggen.

Het gaat soms zijn eigen weg. Mij fascineert het,

dit metaal op zijn eigen weg te volgen, te

beïnvloeden en de vormgeving van het geheel

aan te passen aan de mogelijkheden, die zich

‘onderweg’ voordoen.

Ik realiseer me, dat deze uitleg wat raadselachtig

moet klinken. Aan de hand van de afbeelding wil

ik proberen mijn werkwijze wat concreter toe te

lichten. In dit geval heb ik een hanger willen

maken. Mijn uitgangspunt bestond uit twee stukjes

gekleurd glas, die ik beide in de hanger wilde

verwerken. Ik ben toen begonnen met een

omhulsel te bouwen voor het eerste stukje glas. 1953 Ferdi, Sucy-en-Brie, photo Mottke Weismann

�

Foreword

Lily van Ginneken, former director of Stroom HCBK inThe Hague, organised

a solo exhibition of Ferdi (1927-1969) in 1992.This presentation inThe Hague

consisted of Hortisculptures (three-dimensional organic objects), iron works

(welded jewellery), photographs and a short film by Shinkichi Tajiri. This was

the first retrospective since 1970. In addition a beautifully small book, designed

by Irma Boom, was published. The exhibition and new publication set things in

motion again. More shows were organised in the Netherlands and Belgium.

In 2004 the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht acquired Ferdi’s largest

work the ‘Damsel-Dragonfly’; a prominent piece from the ‘Hortisculptures’

series to the already existing collection of Ferdi’s works in Maastricht.

This acquisition finally led to a new publication entitled Ferdi Hortisculpture

and a new edition of Tajiri’s 1970 ‘Ferdi’ book.

To commemorate our mother, Ferdi’s 80th birth date we decided to make

a brand new publication, ‘Ferdi Hortisculpture’, with (new) texts by Mirjam

Westen, Frank van de Schoor, Sylvia Nicolas and Dick Hillenius. Furthermore a

lot of unknown visual material, black and white and full colour, has been added.

The Ferdi Facsimile is based upon the 1970 ‘Ferdi’ book, referred to by

our father Shinkichi Tajiri as a ‘Monument in Print’. The facsimile revives the

original book (edition 500 copies) with beautiful photographs and personal

contributions from international friends.All copies were made by hand on

a small table-size offset printing press. The new edition consists of 1800 copies.

Both books are presented in a specially designed cassette.We hope that both

publications will broaden the interest in Ferdi’s body of work and truly hope

that her fascinating personality and constantly changing visual appearances

will be inspirational to a new generation of artists.

We would like to thank Frank van de Schoor, curator of the Museum Het

Valkhof in Nijmegen for organising a new retrospective revolving around

Ferdi’s intriguing works of art.

Giotta and Ryu Tajiri 2008

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this publication.

The Museum HetValkhof and curator Frank van de Schoor.

The writers: Sylvia Nicolas, Frank van de Schoor, Mirjam Westen and

Mrs. Hillenius for the text by Dick Hillenius.Thank you Sylvia for your vivid

description of Ferdi.

The photographers: Knut Andreassen, Kors van Bennekom, Dolph Cantrijn,

Violette Cornelius (courtesy Florian Huckriede), Peter Cox, Ed van der

Elsken (courtesy Anneke Hilhorst), Leonard Freed (courtesy Brigitte Freed),

Ata Kando,Thomas Kando, Rob Kollaard, Renier Linders, Egon Notermans,

Ad Petersen, Eddy Posthuma de Boer, Ed Snuister, Erhardt Wehrmann, Bram

Wisman, Eli van Zachten (courtesy Maria Austria Institute), Frans Zwartjes.

We are very grateful to Ferdi’s dear friends who have warmly embraced us

and shown their generosity in sharing their photo archive with us.

Thank you Ata, Bram,Ad, Eddy, Frans, Brigitte,Anneke and Florian for your

invaluable contribution. Brigitte’s late husband Leonard made photos in 1967

of Ferdi’s studio. This was a wonderful gift, for it captured the atmosphere

of her workspace.We had no idea this material existed and it enriched the

chapter of ‘Hortisculptures’. Thanks to Egon Notermans and Foto Studio

Zebra for the beautiful updated colour photographs and their continuous

involvement and advise.We are grateful to RickVercauteren for his positive

input and advise. Last but not least, we would like to thank Huub van Gerven

for his beautiful design and commitment to this project and his sensitivity to

our wishes.

Furthermore we thank the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam,

the Filmmuseum and the Maria Austria Institute in Amsterdam for their

cooperation.

Gratitude is extended to the lenders -both public and private- the

Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht, Gemeentemuseum,Arnhem,Tony Sijmons.

4Cover photo Eddy Posthuma de Boer