May 23, 2012

Art or vandalism? Jurjen Semeijn turns public objects into furniture

Filed under: Art by Branko Collin @ 9:02 am

Artist Jurjen Semeijn says this about his Street Furniture project:

This is a series of unique pieces of furniture as art created from materials found and appropriated around the city of Amsterdam. On the spot where the materials were found these seemingly worthless road signs, fences and planters were freestyle (yes, without any plans) sawn, drilled, cut, screwed and put together as quickly as possible, turning them into extremely valuable pieces. Eventually they were left for lucky collectors to find.

Each object is accompanied by before and after photos, the time that it took to create the piece, and a list of the tools and machines involved (typically a saw, a measure, a felt pen, a screw driver, some screws, and ‘imagination’). Semeijn calls this type of forging art ‘guerilla upcycling’.

(Via: Trendbeheer. Photo: Jurjen Semeijn)

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May 17, 2012

Glow in the dark canals

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 4:04 pm

Presented at the last PechaKucha in Amsterdam on 24 April, Italian architect Carlo Morsiani has come up with the idea of using luminescent bacteria to turn Amsterdam’s canals into glowing turquoise water, illuminating the canals and purifying them at the same time. The mock up is very attractive, it makes the canals look like those hotel swimming pools with the underwater lights.

In theory, the combination of two bacteria (Shewanella) converts electricity into motion, and the second (Photobacteria) consequently emits light in moving water. This bacteria is implemented to design lighting elements at different scales — from entire canals to window elements.

Morsiani says his project is easy to explain yet difficult to achieve. And I have so many questions. Knowing that canal water ends up in the sea, is this a good idea? Will it really purify the water? Won’t it upset fish and plant life? And the $64,000 question: who’s going to pay for it? I would start with a much smaller project first to test the waters.

(Link: popupcity.net, Photo of Herengracht, Amsterdam by zamito44, some rights reserved)

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May 14, 2012

Silver coated bag shields you from phone calls and e-mail

Filed under: Art by Branko Collin @ 8:46 am

Amsterdam based artist Sarah van Sonsbeeck came up with the Faraday bag, which is according to Bright magazine made of “silver plated polyester which will protect the contents against electromagnetic data, including wifi and mobile networks”.

No idea what that means. The artist herself explains that “my world is less silent because of […] technological advancements. That’s why I created portable silence.”

The bags were made in a limited edition of 100 copies which sell for 129 euro each.

If that is a bit too steep for you, several department stores sell cooler bags that may produce the same effect for a couple of euro or even less. Van Sonsbeeck’s website does not tell whether the Faraday bag runs afoul of local anti-shoplifting legislation that states that it is illegal to carry a prepared bag with the intent to shoplift—that is, bags that cause exit scanners to fail to detect RFID tags. Distrifood.nl reported in 2008 that 60% of all shoplifting is done with shielded bags.

(Illustration: Sarah van Sonsbeeck)

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May 12, 2012

Portrait of a red cabbage

Filed under: Art,Food & Drink by Branko Collin @ 12:02 pm

Margaretha de Heer painted this red cabbage sometime during the seventeenth century (she lived from 1600 – 1665 in Groningen and Leeuwarden).

The painting fetched 61,000 euro at an auction at Christie’s in Amsterdam last Tuesday, three times the price that was originally expected.

Historiek.net says the auction house had several explanations for the high price. For one, it is the only antique painting depicting a red cabbage. For another, it was painted by a woman, which seems to have been unusual in the age of guilds.

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May 10, 2012

Van Gogh Museum buys its first Van Gogh in five years

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 3:49 pm

For the first time in five years the Van Gogh Museum has purchased a work of art by Vincent van Gogh. For the sum of 1.5 million euro, it scored a watercolour entitled ‘Knotswilg’ (‘Pollard Willow’), a particular work from Van Gogh’s The Hague period (July 1882) that has not been on display very often. The museum is proud to add it to its collection, as it didn’t have any works from that specific period.

A spokeswoman for the museum explains that while paintings are continuously on display, works on paper are sensitive to light, so they are showcased for a few months and then put in the depository to be shown again later, making them more special. The watercolour already shows some discoloration, but then that’s quite common.

(Link: www.at5, Photo of Van Gogh Museum poster by Elias Rovielo, some rights reserved)

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April 11, 2012

Stolen Greek icons found on Dutch website

Filed under: Art,Religion,Technology by Orangemaster @ 1:33 pm

The Greek authorities discovered icons stolen from a church in Greece in 2009 on the website of a Dutch art dealer who claims he didn’t know they were stolen.

The seven Greek icons, with values ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 euro, were seized by the police in April last year, placed in the Rijksmuseum for safe keeping, and handed over to the Greek Ministry of Culture on December 5, 2011. They date from the 18th and 19th centuries and play an important part in the country’s cultural and historical heritage.

The police explain that works of art are usually sold many years after they have been stolen, and so this discrepancy probably makes it sound like the dealer could be telling the truth. I’ve been told there are international sites to check and see if works or art have been stolen and then I would imagine that the dealer was not very knowledgeable in icons or is not telling the truth.

Even Wikipedia has a page of stolen works of art, with a few Dutch ones as well.

(Link: Trouw.nl, photo: politie.nl)

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March 26, 2012

Keukenhof flower gardens opened with Polish theme

Filed under: Art,Music,Nature by Branko Collin @ 1:48 pm

Last Thursday the Keukenhof bulb gardens in Lisse (between Amsterdam and The Hague) opened its doors for its yearly exhibition.

This year’s theme is “Poland, Heart of Europe”, which is celebrated amongst others with a 50,000 flowering bulb portrait of composer Chopin.

The park will remain open until May 20, and expects to receive about 900,000 visitors.

If you would like to know what Keukenhof is about, Flickr is your friend. (Although that stream also shows photos of flower fields that have nothing to do with the Keukenhof.)

(Photo: Keukenhof.nl. Link: Los Angeles Times.)

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March 25, 2012

Drawings by Niels Kalk

Filed under: Art,Comics by Branko Collin @ 1:55 pm

If you look closely, you may recognise a famous duck.

Niels Kalk lives and works in Berlin, but is from the Netherlands and studies at the Minerva Art Academy in Groningen. In 2004 he drew a four-pager for Zone 5300. His Flickr collection is extensive and also shows off his love for collage.

(Link tip: Remco Polman)

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February 16, 2012

A warehouse full of works by Karel Appel found in the UK

Filed under: Art,History by Orangemaster @ 2:03 pm

Reported as missing or stolen long ago, more than 400 works by Dutch painter, sculptor and poet Karel Appel were found in a bunch of crates, in a British warehouse.

The artist, who died in 2006 at age 85, was one of the founders of the Cobra movement. Just before he died in 2006, he designed a postage stamp for an exhibition on visual artists entitled ‘Kunst’ (‘Art’), the last work of art he ever made.

Now we wait and soon find out what kind of goodies we missed.

We once wrote about a film, The reality of Karel Appel, which also featured some music by Appel.

(Link: www.bbc.co.uk, Photo of Karel Appel, Elephant by Comicbase, some rights reserved)

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February 14, 2012

Travelling rubbish museum supports cleaners’ plight

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 11:50 am

Street combing is cool, but then so is calling rubbish art and exhibiting it at big venues, including the city hall of Heerlen, Limburg. Starting today, visitors there can have a look all kinds of things collected by cleaners who are trying to attract attention to issues such as being paid for sick leave and getting more respect.

This travelling exhibition already seen in The Hague, Groningen and Utrecht tells stories about some 1,000 found objects such as a gold bracelet, a can of cola, a teddy bear and a syringue. The idea is that cleaners reflect our society and are indispensable, while they are not treated fairly despite the relatively well-organised Dutch labour system. Cleaners all over the country have been striking as well to get their point across.

(Link: www.limburger.nl)

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