Selected by Samir Bantal

In 'Eyes of Gold', we invite some of our favourite tastemakers with a golden eye to select three works from the Bisou collection. Each guest explains their choices and shares how these pieces might live together in their space.

Tell us a bit about yourself

My name is Samir Bantal and I live in Rotterdam with my wife and two boys. I moved back to Rotterdam after 12 years of Amsterdam. I’m an architect and head AMO, the creative think-tank / design arm of OMA - Office of Metropolitan Architecture. 

AMO’s work is rooted in the thinking process behind architecture, but not necessarily leads to a building. We’ve been working on a new identity for Europe, the fashion shows for Prada for more than two decades and many exhibitions and research projects. I currently work on a number of architectural projects, such as an art vault, a car museum some interior projects and the global retail identity of Stone Island.

I like working in disciplines outside the typical ‘architectural’, ranging from a sneaker I’m designing to developing exhibitions like The Countryside project, which tries to answer the question: What if the real story of our century is unfolding not in cities, but outside them? 

You’ve selected three works from Bisou, what drew you to each?

Faan Olgers, 'FOV 978'

Each piece has a certain ominous feeling to it and in a way feel very architectural. I had just moved to Amsterdam, when I first saw the work of Faan Olgers in a gallery. I was intrigued because I was convinced this artist was an architect. The sculptures were objects that seemed to be read as surrealism in the form of architecture.

Pascal Duval, 'Tears from Heaven'

Pascal’s work typically has this unrestrainedness that’s expressed in shape and color. But this art work shows a certain categorization as he neatly lays each ‘diamond’ next to each other, knowing there will never be a similar one. 

Maria Bodil, 'Homage 6'

Homage reminds me of René Magritte’s, La reproduction interdite, where the subject turns his back to the viewer too. The geometrical haircut splits the space around her head like an arrow.

Obviously, this is me reading things into a work of an artist, which could be completely unrelated. That’s both the power and vulnerability of art. 

Would you display these together, or would they live in different spaces?

They could be together as they each use a different medium, sculpture, painting, photography, but I might think of them in separate spaces. They could refer to each other in a way, binding the spaces together.

Is there a piece from this selection you'd love to ask the artist a question about?

I’m hesitant to ask artists to explain their own work. I value the mystery of what remains unanswered. Still, I’d like to ask Pascal: Whose tears fall from heaven?

The title of this work, Tears from Heaven, is drawn from Tom Waits’ song Diamonds on My Windshield, from his 1974 album The Heart of Saturday Night. What first drew me in was its blues-inflected melancholy, the sense of a solitary drive through the rain but beneath that mood lies something more: a reflection on fleeting beauty, on temptation shimmering briefly in the darkness.

This piece was created for the exhibition Fools Gold, a show concerned with the illusions we encounter in life. Things that appear valuable, yet ultimately prove empty, or lead us down paths shaped by greed. When I work towards a show, I often create playlists as a way of entering its emotional landscape. This song was among the very first I added.

I’ve been listening to Tom Waits since I was young, especially his earlier work. I was probably the only kid in my class doing so. What I’ve always loved about his songs is their ability to transport you to a specific moment, as vividly as a film. Blue Valentine remains my favorite album for that reason.

Perhaps, then, the tears falling from heaven are tears that belong to us, the ones in pursuit of happiness, who sometimes discover that it is far less easy and tangible than money or gold.