At the end of the avenue
Where a squirrel stands on the chimney
There is that wonderful place that is the heritage of Herman van Veen
A world of image and imagination
Theatre and art
For decades a world I may be part of
/
What do you do when life falls apart
Where do you hold on to
I turned
Inside
Found
Memories
That great first love
A carefree childhood
The most beautiful words she wrote to me
And he bringing a newspaper every day
Layer by layer
To the core
Until there’s a fit
Until what’s personal becomes universal
Often my mind wandered to him
He who died way too young
Who thaught me how to see better
Always challenged me to think better
And that details matter
I learned about the fall
That it’s not forever
That there can be a sudden new fling
Arms when life is at its coldest
Just a sigh of summer
A sign of hope
That tears dry
And courage is found again
‘Still have all my fingers’
Those words I held on to
Words that became images
That I wove together with memories into a story
That sweet summer evening
That I was given the gift to be in her home and city
Of such a like-minded soul
There was that unexpected challenging invitation
A beginning that led to the exhibition of
WAT ER SPEELT
(WHAT’S GOING ON)
Now on display, till January the 31st 2023 at the Kapschuur Gallery
Herman van Veen Arts Center
/
WAT ER SPEELT
Graphic Poetry / Akkie Bosje
Words / Herman van Veen
Opening hours 11 – 17
Every day, besides Sunday
15 October 2022 until 31 January 2023
Dearest Herman van Veen thank you for the words. And the adventure you took me on long ago, with your enchanting voice and mind. Always different. Always at home.
Thank you Puck Füsers, who’s poem I was allowed to use for one of the artworks. She who articulated the darkest dark I knew so beautifully.
Dear Ingrid Verbraeken thank you for your care, your style, class and lots of laughter. Such a gift working with you. Infinite thanks for seeing me.
Thanks to my dearest son, all the dear friends and family. Everything would have been different without you.
Photo Ingrid Verbraeken
Hair blowing in the wind.
Cycling down from a bridge.
A hopping shopping bag.
A colored flag,
detached.
A raincoat that is too big.
The clattering mailbox,
probably good news.
A waving ponytail.
Running.
Screaming seagulls.
A fragment of piano,
through an open garden door.
A siren,
somewhere in the distance.
Strolling.
No calendar.
No plan for the day.
See unexpected things.
Small things.
Forgotten memories.
A sweet idea on the go.
A wonderful initiative,
a glimpse of the ideal world.
Exchanging thoughts that differ.
Exploring boundaries.
Dare to do something that seemed impossible at first.
A new brush.
A white sheet of paper.
I am poetry lover.
Been that as long as I can remember
Small bits of texts from songs,
that’s how it started.
I guess.
Words put beautifully together
In a different rhythm.
Making you think,
wandering
or wonder.
Like these 5 sentences.
Swim in the sea
Go on roadtrips
Count the stars
Find true love
Be Free
A few years ago I had an exhibition
Quite cool, I know.
And uncommon territory.
So I said yes.
These 5 sentences where my starting point.
The artworks became very introverted pieces.
Maybe even a bit dark.
I called it Courage.
Totally reflecting my personal story at that time.
I locked the artworks away.
Accesible,
but hidden.
These 5 sentences,
however,
are always around.
Do you know that feeling when something
you’ve kept for a long time can
suddenly
be like new again.
Like seeing it again for the first time.
These 5 sentences,
these 15 words,
did that to me today.
The words suddenly had no darkness around them.
No longer an introverted journey.
But words that feel like summer,
colourfull,
a trip to new places.
Words of brave new stories.
The ‘crossover collective’ is a social machine that focuses on an ancient form of communication as social activity: collective embroidery. The machine was designed by Floor Nijdeken and on show during the tradeshow ShowUp, which was held in Amsterdam at the 2nd and 3th of February.
Like this focus on transfering knowledge or ‘heritage’ by interaction. Besides the fact that a lot of knowledge is getting lost by solely learning from books and nternet, there is less passing through of knowledge and inspiration by the seniors in the trade. Our society is also changing and people hardly communicate in real social exhange anymore. A lot of spotaneity is getting lost, which to me is one of the fun parts of life. Sitting together at this machine and sharing skills, stories, knowledge, having fun and having a little part of you left in an embroidered carpet. Couldn’t agree more with his slogan ‘collect memories, not things’.
Just some true words. Get lost, a little. Even if it is just for the weekend.
Picture via VosgesParis
Intruiging photo’s by Chino Otsuka. A Tokyo born photographer, living in Britain since she was 10. In her work she deals with a repeating theme; “What makes a place a home and where does a sense of belonging comes from?”. In a lot of her projects she uses self-portraits to explore the themes of belonging, identity and memory.
These pictures are a great example of this theme she is working on. By placing herself back in a picture that was taken when she was a child. I wonder how she felt when she was back at the place where these pictures were taken. Was there some disappointment or will ‘the journey back’ make the memory stronger. Clever way of using memory as a narritive element to tell her story.
“If,
again
I have a chance to meet,
there is so much I want to ask
and so much I want to tell”
Imagine Finding Me / Chino Otsuka
Fotostudio De Jong is a documentary tv-program about photography. The show is presented by Wilfried de Jong, who is in this series constantly on the lookout for stories behind a photo and he gives his reflections on the images he finds. This show, which has a magazine-like format, is presented from his little photo gallery in Rotterdam. This program is such a great addition and reflection on todays society. A society which is more and more constantly captured in images and where photography has become accessible for everyone.
‘Instagram makes the world a smaller place’ _ The Instagramman / Eelco Roos / Croyable
Just love everything about it. First, and for most, the attention for all kinds of photography: ranging from interviews with photographers about one strong picture, pure professional technical photography, young photographers at the beginning of their career, news photos, poetry, art and archives. The styling of the studio and the graphics are spot on. There will be 8 more episodes to watch. VPRO / Saturday, Nederland 2, 21.15 – 22.00 p.m.
“A good photo stops time and lets fantasy in”
_ Wilfried de Jong
Instagram picture of Wilfried by Stephan Vanfleteren
Another inspiring designer story from the Herman Miller series ‘Why design‘. Nothing to add to the words of Don Chadwick ‘It’s our function as designers to see things other people don’t see’. So true.
I’ll have to wait…
I’ll come down
After a hectic, fun month and a lot more exciting stuff is about to happen. The styling and photography of Lab 71 with its calming, soothing fairytale atmosphere is the eyecandy that’s perfect for today. A little peace and quiet time. It’s so nice to walk through Frieda Mellemas’ world. A world that brings her contemplations and daydreams alive into touchable, striking images.
Subscribe to the non-regular Studio Chronicles
For your dose of optimistic stories with and about design