Leonard von Brenndorff

Contained Memories

Collective Work: Blanca Borrell, Leonard von Brenndorff, Valentin Idel

Poplar tree trunk, poplar bark, exposed aggregate concrete block, fired bricks, steel objects, and a 9.36-minute narrated soundscape. March 2026.

The work was exhibited as part of the Context Programme of REWIRE Festival in The Hague and later documented with a subtitled video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wR5IdVKZLk

Only Wrongs

Conceptualized and written by
Leonard von Brenndorff
© 2026 Leonard von Brenndorff

Editors: Delany Boutkan, Ludwig Engel, Maria Mazzanti
Copy Editor: Sara Hoss
Series Editors: Ludwig Engel, María Mazzanti, Julian Schubert
Art Direction: Something Fantastic AD
Typeface: Arial

Space Issues is initiated by Something Fantastic and Ludwig Engel
Published by Space Issues
Sandberg Institut Gerrit Rietveld Academie
Fred Roeskestraat 98 1076 ED Amsterdam The Netherlands

1st Edition 2026
Printed in Germany
ISBN 978-3-69354-003-9

Crossings

3 part installation on different locations at the Rotbach river, western Germany. Stainless steel and handrail rope. 1500 x 1300-3300mm. January 2026.

Crossings is part of the project Only Wrongs, that deals with the aftermath of the 2021 floods, also known as the Ahr valley flood. While Only Wrongs emerges as narrative and research through writing, Crossings translates the story back into space.

Twins

Spruce wood with nails, as found, and its artificial twin, 3D printed with bio resin. 210 x 80 x 80 mm. November 2025

In a world where everything has been built, the need for an object (in this case a hook) results more in finding rather than making. The question remains whether finding, too, is inevitably a form of extraction. What can be given back? Twins is an ongoing series documenting acts of taking and giving. However well intentioned, the grey replica of the actual wood is nothing more than an inadequate ghost. The work therefore frames “giving back” as an impossible task, resulting from the fact that we have chosen to inhabit a different world from the materials we engage with.

Silent Servant

Object from oak wood, dirt and woodglue. Surface treated with iron, solved in vinegar. 380 x 220 x 170 mm. November 2025.

This object was made from wood meant to be burned in an oven. By quite literally sweeping up what was left, something surprisingly functional emerges. With two grooves at the back, the object can be hung on a wall vertically or horizontally, allowing it to transition from side table to shelf.

Portal

Portal sculpture from Aluminum. Fragmented into 7 pieces that also serve as stools and benches. 500 x 1500 x 2300mm. June 2025.

The Portal emerged as a response to a research into spaces of faith and prayer rooms in the Amsterdam. Drawing also on past personal experience with christian churches and present day routines within the collective "Minha Galera", this work is meant as a facilitator to open up space for collective rituals, without the restraints and violence often found in architecture for prayer/faith. The work travels and was exhibited and activated most recently at Conceptual Biennale Berlin, San Gimignano Lichtenberg.

Stumps

Photo essay on a sawmill in Bergisches Land, Germany. Collection of 31 stumps and a story. 160 x 105 x 7 mm. May 2025.

Stumps examines the harvesting and production of wood. Starting from the first-hand experience of purchasing an oak log, the work unfolds as a hopeless yet mesmerizing search for the stump from which it once grew.

Traces

Collection of 5 objects made from fresh/wet oak wood. Various sizes, from 60 x 100 x 600mm up to 160 x 500 x 1300mm. May 2025.

Traces breaks with traditional carpentry rules and so-called industry standards, shifting the perspective from wood as a material or resource toward living matter. The objects still recall the functional interiors they try to break away from—chair, side table, or shelf. Yet as moisture and grain are treated differently, they become heavy, unpredictable, and pointed, confronting the user with their own agency.

Branches

Table and Coat hanger made from Aluminum, Elder tree branches and natural latex, various sizes. Branch lengths from 1200 to 2000mm. October 2024.

Branches approaches wood from the perspective of scarcity and immediacy. While high-quality furniture timber is becoming increasingly expensive and often tied to exploitative industries, branches can be found everywhere. They are free to take, and trees naturally shed them from time to time.

Splits

Side Table from oak wood and aluminum, 450x650x650mm.
Video Installation 40 Sec Loop w/ audio of splitting wood. January 2025.

Splits is an exploration of the technique of splitting wood instead of sawing it. Splitting was once widely used as a preparatory step before hand planing. Today it is still best known as the traditional way of producing roof shingles. Because it requires considerable knowledge about the particularities of the wood as well as the specific tree it came from, the technique is gradually being lost. Splits embraces the pace of the wood and extrapolates the process of care, as shown in the video installation. The video shows a knife and tweezers, operated by hands in white cotton gloves, meticulously tending to the broken fibres.