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Den Bosch neighbourhood near the station.
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June 1st Den Bosch art event Leidi, a fellow web designer at work is also active as an artist. Nova Zembla is an artist collective in Den Bosch she has been part of for the last 10 or so years. Their location near the station has been reclaimed by the city council and the artists now have to move to another location and as a farewall to their old studio and gallery space Leidi organized an exhibition and performance event. |
An artist talks about this project, (m)utual (m)utilation (the letters above the entrance to the Nova Zembla studios.
The highlight was the meal! It was not only delicious but beautiful and fun! A table was laid in most studio spaces where you took your plate of amazing food! I found everyone so open and warm and had a great time.
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The Give Away Shop in Leiden This shop is run by a collective who refer to themselves as anarchists. I'm not really sure why or what they do as well as run a shop where money is not involved but I think the shop is great. We often visit on a Saturday either taking bags of stuff or taking a few things away. |
The Give Away Shop is on the right and the bridge leads to Haarlemerstraat, the main shopping street in Leiden.
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De Weg Geef Winkel/The Give Away Shop. June 15th |
June 8th Today Toroa found a skateboard in the "Give Away Shop" which needed minor repairs. The building like many old buildings, is a squat and at the moment the collective is in a battle with the city council to remain there. Then we went to the CBK (just up the street) to an afternoon of artist networking. Unfortunately, they finished an hour earlier than stated on the programme so there was nothing to see. 
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Tama in the CBK in a green crocheted chair by Jacqueline Heerema (www.jacquelineheerema.nl) 
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Cultuur Vlinders
(Culture Butterflies) This time I went earlier to the artist networking afternoon and was in time to hear 4 lectures, of which I found one that was interesting. That speaker, who worked with the comfort and functionality of architecture, furnishings, etc, was interested in the question of what makes something pleasant (as opposed to not just physically comfortable). Partly it's a question of aesthetics but also, I think, one of culture. The only pity was that none of these sorts of questions were raised in the discussion afterwards. Most of the discussion focussed on statements about what was or wasn't art or science in the view of the artists there. One the whole, I found the whole event pretty disappointing. On the left is a project called "Ik naam haar Roos" (I call her Rose), a project where Jacqueline Heerema crochets and gives workshops where others crochet, this chair form out of green. Also in this week, I met the other 5 artists who were also selected to go to Oxford for an artist exchange in October. They were all very friendly but it obvious that I was considered an outsider to this group. I couldn't and still can't work out why. |
| Either I said something "wrong" or that they really don't consider that I have anything to say or do, because they hadn't heard of me before. |
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June 16th - my birthday cake |
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Toroa's Report: Today is mama's birthday and I baked her a 'cake'. It was made of sticks, bananas and something else. We put a candle in it and then I lit it. The stick kept catching fire. We took the candle out and washed it. Mama took one bite and got a toothache. It was full of chocolate witch is full of sugar so Tama ate lots of sugar. Because he ate lots of sugar he jumped around. He also keeps whistling that annoying tune. He also keeps 'punching' his bag in the 'garden'(Tama made a bunch bag out of a pillow which hangs on the balcony).
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Tama's Report: Today it is Sunday. Yesterday it was Sonja birthday. My birthday present was a piece of music. I played it today. It is could: "rising slowly". It is my sixty-first song. Sonja's birthday-cake was banana with chocolate and hagelslag. Hagelslag is a typical Dutch thing. It is meant for on a sandwich. Sonja has to take some to work too. At my work I was given a collection of musical instruments! |
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June 18 - 20, Toroa on a school camp Tuesday I left for school camp, we stayed there for three days. On the first day we set up the tents and explored the camping site after cycling 10 km to get there. At one o'clock we went on an adventure quest following instructions in groups of 4 or 5. We ended up at a lake and went swimming. It was fun and cold. After dinner we went on another adventure trail. At night we played games in the tents. |
Drawing by Toroa of a raft they made at camp. As it fell apart, everyone (except for Toroa) jumped ship.
Toroa came back looking extremely happy and glowing (He had spent the before on a boat in only his swimming togs and was sunburnt all over). He also claimed that he had grown muscles on his legs. It sounded as if he had a great time sleeping in tents and cycling there and back. June 21st: Toroa's Report: Today mummy and I went to the Floriade. It's on once every ten years. It's a giant garden with art in it. It was dead boring because everything was so artificial. There was a thing I liked; it was a flight simulation of a helicopter. |
Floriade from the northern entrance: On the left was a hill above a just as artifical looking lake and clusters of buildings or glasshouses all rather like this view itself. A bit of something, then just mowed grass or concreted path then another something and so on. I was amazed that everything seemed to be just slapped next to each other without much thought about the whole.
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Two Views from the hill proudly called "Trotters Hill" as if it was a landmark of some import.
Looking at the waterways. |
Looking at the bridge that crosses the highway and connects two parts of Floriade.
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At the top of the hill under the dome in the sculpture by Auke de Vries.
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The paintings and prints on one side of the bridge were colourful with the arched arrangement and the other half of it was just a plain walkway.
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This promenade was really tacky with sparsly arranged trees. Toroa declared sexism, because the male figures were naked while the were partly covered with a cloth. In the distance is that hill again.
Can you believe it! This photo doesn't show how plastic-looking the statues were.
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Toroa recovering from a hit of 'taste'. The board is a quizz where you have to work out what are the right colours for the right seasons. Toroa put each end on his forward and got a slight buzz.
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From a distance these 'sails' looked promising, but, like most stuff there, it was just an uncreative medium for advertising a product. The houses on the left had two computers inside which were placed so the light made it very hard to see the screens. Each had a 'memory' type game which when you made all the matches of the uninspiring images played a simple tune.
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Even interesting looking buildings such as these were disappointing. The round walls displayed advertising for city amenities. Seconds later Toroa and I walked out again amazed that people could find such uncreative video projections of any interest.
Here I am resting on some plastic cows feeling sick from the kitsch all around. Toroa and I ate our lunch here while others (below) chose more 'tasteful' surroundings.
This view is a typical Floriade view. I couldn't believe how this exhibition could possibly be advertised as being about sustainability!
Toroa and I only ventured into one of the covered exhibitions spaces. One was enough! |
Most exhibits were not as 'creative' as this one. Most just placed a plant in a plain pot on a piece of unpainted concrete or hung at intervals of wall.
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Made out of canework! |
And here is a view of the 'natural' dutch landscape looking towards the village of Hoofdorp.
So we endured Floriade for about 3 hours and were home well in time for Toroa to get ready for music camp. 
Tama was very excited about going on camp and told me that he was even more excited than he was ready for it!
Here he is with his compass infront of the latest art project I'm working on, which now covers the walls of our living room. This is for a performance / installation in London in July.
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June 22nd: - "Parking" art performances in the Hague
Here this plain (the white building on the right in the distance is the city council building) was the central location for numerous performances and installations. The sculpture on the car was possibily a last minute addition or perhaps just someone who came along with her work. Initially it was intriguing but after a while I realised that just being there on the top of the car was all there was to it. Leidi found me in the plain and after deciding that the sauna would probably make us sick (It was extremely windy and the door was just a cloth that blew around in this), we went up to look at there was in city centre. We also gave the offer of brushing with sperm flavoured toothpaste a miss. A number of people walked around with spiky hair pieces, another performance. Here the duo Gil & Moti (Rotterdam) offered hair styling and then added a polaroid of their creation into transparent pockets so they were also a walking installation. The work I liked the best was by HW Werther (Den Bosch), who had hang 100 coloured balls on string on posts on the streets. Each had a tiny tube attached inside which were instructions. It was called "Kleine choreografie voor de geest" (Small choreography for the spirit), and some instructions asked you to notice your surroundings, or the horizon, etc, and then to walk with this in mind but without drawing attention to yourself. Another asked you to notice hand movements of those who passed you in the street and to copy these but again without drawing attention to yourself. A third I read, asked you to examine the lines of your palm. You were then asked to wear the ball and carry it around and it was nice to notice some people wearing these. Another work that possibly was interesting was "Cabrio", a low-cut car which could drive in under barriers. It was 60 cm high. However the whole point of it seemed to be that you could get away without paying to park and seeing it circle around the plain and then leave, did little for me. In the binnenhof (where the Dutch government sits) Marjorieke Glaudemans and Karen Lancel (Amsterdam) were seated along with scaffolding that symbolised a 'no man's land'. There's more about their project at: www.nomansland.nu 
On our way back from Quartier where there was an interesting exhibition of Canadian and Dutch work, we walked through the Voorhout where the summer sculpture exhibition was on. I liked this wooden church with the scattering of castle-like shapes beyond it. The church was made out of wood and all the decorative elements were made out of hardened foam-filler. It reminded me of cake decorations and the unpainted wood seemed simutaneously quaint and austere.
We had also seen the horse-racing projection in the Artotheek, but it did little for me. 
We then caught the "Fame" performance and that was fun.
Anna Carlson (Götenborg, Sweden), taught a group of volunteers movements to the song which they then did on the street, 3 or 4 times during the day in different locations.
It looked as if, for the 3 or so minutes of the song, that they took over the streets and interrupted the shoppers' routine.
Here is a repeat in the Spui plain at 9 p.m.
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 Leidi in her new outfit. The pink and white heart-shapes are real lollies. |
While sitting in a playground I found a black t-shirt and handed this in for the "Onherstelbaar Verbeterd" (Irrepairable Improved) (José den Hartog (Lynn Buma) and Myrte Memelink (Lisette Stuifzand)) project. Here they took your clothing and re-created it.
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This was an 'eat event'. The location was nice. We walked through an opening in a graffitied fence to this derelict building and sat at tables on the first floor. I liked the shoulder high weeds and live music was a nice touch and food was OK and the company was fun.
Below: Left to Right, Rachel, Henri, others, Leidi and Jessy. |
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 Music Camp June 21 - 23rd:
June 24th: Tama informed me that he was measured that day at school. He is now 1265 cm high and weighs 25.5 kg. At work I'm working on some interactive things for the next 'book week' (in October). Tama and Toroa played the pieces they had performed at the music camp concert, at the feast. |
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June 29th: Tama did this drawing this morning in a paint program. 
I gave him his first ballet lesson on the 26th. He is going to come with me attempting to do some ballet steps while I move on crutches along the row of images for the performance in London. It is all coming along well and I'm excited about the performance. Sen and I have changed the name 3 times now. Currently it is called "Movement for mother and child". Choose another month |