Arriving in Holland, handing over my passport at the ferry terminal from my car-'Landscape Escape'. I began by taking the theme of travel literally and arrived on my own mode of transport wearing a pith helmet. I was on my way to Vlaardingen where I was displaying the car in my chosen venue.- 'The Kringloopwinkel'. In the background are the Dutch army in hi-viz jackets. This was at the height of a foot and mouth crisis in Britain and they were searching for dairy products to confiscate. I also had to drive the car through a tire disinfectant wash.
Photo: Eric Van Straaten.
‘Reisbureau Mareado', 2001, was an art exhibition in a town not far from Rotterdam, Holland called Vlaardingen. (The organisers now work under the name 'Mooi Werk'). There was an emphasis on social engagement which led to some inventive and ambitious ideas on how to make the work more accessable. The eleven chosen artists were invited to install their work in a variety different locations across town. None of these locations were art venues. The different elements of the event were brought together under the theme of 'travel'.
One of the travel agents outside the `Reisbureau' offering a travel brochure. Photo: Eric Van Straaten
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A party of school children enjoying their trip in the back of a Landrover on their way to their chosen venue. Photo: Eric Van Straaten
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The different venues were sometimes miles apart; spread around the town and surrounding area. To draw them together the organisers had a Porta-Kabin office with an aeroplane wing structure on the roof covered with the sail of a boat. This acted as a centre of operations and was positioned in a prominent part of the centre of town by the harbour. It was called the 'Reisbureau' or travel agency. Instead of a customary 'programme catalogue', the booklet containing all of the information for the exhibtion was referred to as the 'travel brochure'. On entering the Reisburo, the public were shown a list of destination options. These were the eleven different artist's venues.
On purchasing a ticket for a nominal fee, the customer was escorted outside the travel agency to a fleet of ancient vehicles on loan from a local garage owner who was also a classic car enthusiast. The choice of transport included a couple of old Landrovers, a Volkswagen camper van, an old British ambulance and, for V.I.P. guests, a thirty year old Opel Diplomat (Kapitan). It had a broken starter motor and so in keeping with the egalitarian nature of the project the V.I.P. often had to get out and push. The vehicle drivers were even known to employ a sort of 'cultural kidnapping'. In an attempt to introduce members of the public to contemporary art they would often stop and pick up random individuals in the street who were sometimes totally unaware of where they were being taken.
On purchasing a ticket for a nominal fee, the customer was escorted outside the travel agency to a fleet of ancient vehicles on loan from a local garage owner who was also a classic car enthusiast. The choice of transport included a couple of old Landrovers, a Volkswagen camper van, an old British ambulance and, for V.I.P. guests, a thirty year old Opel Diplomat (Kapitan). It had a broken starter motor and so in keeping with the egalitarian nature of the project the V.I.P. often had to get out and push. The vehicle drivers were even known to employ a sort of 'cultural kidnapping'. In an attempt to introduce members of the public to contemporary art they would often stop and pick up random individuals in the street who were sometimes totally unaware of where they were being taken.
The following is a list of artists and destinations on offer to the potential traveller.:-
Dike Hof: An intervention with a scrap metal barge moored in the harbour.
Ton Van Dalen: A series of concrete interactive structures all over town.
Hans Rikken: Daily choir recital and performance walk around the cemetery where the artist had his studio.
Adriaan Nette: A walking, story telling performance around the town centre.
Adriaan Rees: A video in a Chinese restaurant retracing the owners journey from China to Holland.
Moritz Ebinger: A painting of Che Guevara's boat`the 'Grandma' in the dock yard. (and later an art event on a boat trip to an uninhabited island nature reserve to do with the Cuban revolution. The venue was changed after the foot and mouth outbreak).
Rinke Baaima: `Mobiel Meubel' A Sci-fi looking vehicle in the shopping precinct.
Tanja Boxman: Installation in a glass control box at a nearby oil storage facility.
Kees Luisuis: A film projection installation in a caravan down by the river.
Eric Hulsman: A series of steel fish sculptures that were submerged at high tide on the mud on the river bank.
...And my venue was a giant second hand warehouse or `Het Goed Kringloopwinkel'. It was so big it was divided up into different departments and catered for every conceivable domestic need. From clothes and furnishings to kitchen utensils and electrical appliances. My friend and 'Mareado' organiser 'Eric van Straaten' described it to me as...
"....the place where newly divorced middle aged men go to buy a new life".
Dike Hof: An intervention with a scrap metal barge moored in the harbour.
Ton Van Dalen: A series of concrete interactive structures all over town.
Hans Rikken: Daily choir recital and performance walk around the cemetery where the artist had his studio.
Adriaan Nette: A walking, story telling performance around the town centre.
Adriaan Rees: A video in a Chinese restaurant retracing the owners journey from China to Holland.
Moritz Ebinger: A painting of Che Guevara's boat`the 'Grandma' in the dock yard. (and later an art event on a boat trip to an uninhabited island nature reserve to do with the Cuban revolution. The venue was changed after the foot and mouth outbreak).
Rinke Baaima: `Mobiel Meubel' A Sci-fi looking vehicle in the shopping precinct.
Tanja Boxman: Installation in a glass control box at a nearby oil storage facility.
Kees Luisuis: A film projection installation in a caravan down by the river.
Eric Hulsman: A series of steel fish sculptures that were submerged at high tide on the mud on the river bank.
...And my venue was a giant second hand warehouse or `Het Goed Kringloopwinkel'. It was so big it was divided up into different departments and catered for every conceivable domestic need. From clothes and furnishings to kitchen utensils and electrical appliances. My friend and 'Mareado' organiser 'Eric van Straaten' described it to me as...
"....the place where newly divorced middle aged men go to buy a new life".
The 'Het Goed' Kringloopwinkel, Vlaardingen (out of hours).
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Inside the Kringloopwinkel
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I had made a lot of work in the past before this project from domestic appliances and found objects. Often I would visit second hand shops in search of materials. Though it might seem a natural fit to show my work in this sort of environment its actually quite difficult. When you put my work in a huge space full of other people's stuff that you have little control over; the 'Junk' that I've painstakingly converted into 'art' clashes visually and conceptually with the stuff around it. It can become easily lost in this abyss of things. The fact that all of these things were at some point 'got rid of ' by someone also has obvious negative connotations. The 'down to earth' accessable nature of the space heightened the danger that the work would not be taken seriously. The difficulties gave me a lot to think about but also offered an interesting challenge. It was certainly more challenging than sticking art in an art gallery.
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To make the work stand out, all the pieces I chose to show in the 'Kringloopwinkel' played music. Each one used a record player that was activated by a movement sensor. In this way the sound elevated these artworks, made from second-hand materials, out of the visual cacophony of other second-hand items for sale that surrounded them.
The 'Kringloopwinkel' was so large and the artworks spaced so far apart; that the sound from one record player did not distract from another. However, as customers moved around the shop accidentally triggering the separate artworks; it was possible to hear them all in the distance as the strains of the different pieces of music drifted through the cavernous space. 'Landscape Escape' (pedal car) The pedal car also had music. A record player was installed in the trunk while a speaker was placed behind the grill at the front. On the wall, spot lit by the cars head lamps, are a couple of images of the car 'en route' to Vlaardingen. One is the picture from the top of this page- Me handing my passport over to the Dutch border guard. For more information on 'Landscape Escape' This link will take you to the 'Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape, Escape' page on this website. |
'Landscape Escape' next to some brightly coloured second hand baby clothes. Press play below to hear the music that came from inside the car.- A famous Dutch tune sung in English. Photo: Eric Van Straaten
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Links for the 5 other artworks hidden in the 'Kringloopwinkel' and 'Mareado' publications.
