Fringe Fest Sweden 2012

'Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards'

Søren Kiekegaard

From Amsterdam to Stockholm

The new  year is among us for over a week now and I've just started looking back at the old one. The month of December tends to make people more reflective, appreciative and therefor sentimental? The sun sets and rises again, like all other days of the year. But the closer we get to the end of a certain calendar the more excitement we radiate into the air. Well, it did not happen to me. Nor did I create such a mood. That is to say not until I received a 'special' card. It sat on my desk for a week. Waiting for me to be ready for its message. And when I did open up to its content it mirrored the enormous scale of the previous year. Each shard had its own tale; it's own experience with a choice. Do I look back at it with feelings of joy or feelings of anger? There is no good or bad, its just a choice of preference. For I cannot recall a year that is packed with so many crossed boarders, creative struggles and adventurous celebrations at the same time! This Water Dragon year is top-notch!

One of the highlights is the participation of my 'Pony Performance' at STOFF Fringe Fest in Stockholm. And not just the performance nor the festival itself, but the actual journey towards Stockholm was magnificent! To drive up there in a camper van stacked with  over 200 toy horses, made possible with the financial support of many private funders who absolutely believed the necessity of this performance to be seen abroad was, well a dream come true! And to have access to other artists and see other performances, installations and exhibits was the icing on the cake. Have a look at the recap of the 2012 STOFF edition in the video above. The year of the Dragon will last only for another four weeks so make 'm count!

Nothing I Do Is Good Enough For You

Maybe I should have looked up what the term 'showcase' means. I arrived at the Old Church holding my painting 'the Coronation of the Shepherdess' firm to my side. People setting up their work everywhere. Adjusting lights and fighting with frames. As I found my spot I began to grasp the enormous amount of art that I was surrounded by. I wasn't impressed by what I saw. Maybe I'm used to being overwhelmed by art fairs. And the feeling they give me that escape is futile, an endless space filled with stalls that want  to impress. They drive me crazy! And here I was, one of them with a work to add to the list. I felt the exhibit was curated with a non cohesive order. But I couldn't stay in that set of mind for long so I corrected myself when I took a photo of the painting.  It was then when I realized She was in a Church! And not just any Church but the Old Church (1306) in Amsterdam in the centre of the Red Light district! To me that was a fantastic experience on itself. And for the first time with a work that does not so much overwhelm the viewer with details and impressions but a work that sits quietly to be discovered by the right set of eyes. I attached some additional information to the wall next to her and went home to warm up. December in a cold Dutch church is not a place where I'd like to be for long. I returned in the afternoon to spend some more time and chat with other artists.

Weird Is The New Normal

It's the time of year when life continues into a less visible state. When the trees bare no leafs. When the flowers and meadows have flourished and return to their source. In the back of my apartment building there is a huge courtyard paved with stones. Children used to play here but they have left. This summer I saw nature reclaiming its territory. Weeds slowly covering stone by stone. With no interference by any of the buildings occupants, it became a spectacle for my eyes. Within a year half of the courtyard has been taking over by all kinds of plants. I look at it with wonder for now all growth is subdued and retreats. But the best part is that I was able to catch a glimpse of its power at its peak! One moment, early in November when the last rays of autumn sunshine touches nature with hope for the new year...

JUSTIFY

It's good to make a lot of pictures
and to gather words of interest for
when you combine them they
create something NEW.

Welcome back again, I must say it feels nice and fresh to return to this blog. While I'am also aware of a certain distance. Something in the back of my mind is reminding me not to spill the milk... Let me therefor explain that my intention with this blog has changed a great deal. My years at the Rietveld have come to an end and I have nothing more to prove. For nowadays things just are or aren't present. The 5 years of DOGtime, that felt like a pressure cooker are slowly leaving my system. After the graduation show I needed to reboot my systems and I unplugged myself from everything that was tagged as art. It was ME literally saying; NO NO NO NO NO. It felt delicious. A liberation, a wave of possibilities and yet it was my choice to remain as silent as possible and not to make a single move. Maybe its my zodiac Cancer sign that makes the need to retreat such a valuable experience. Whatever it is that i'm hunting for I always find it, one way or another.

Cavemen experiment

My intention for this blog has always been a voyeuristic need to let people in on my process, my quest, my need to make and create. I think we should all stop every now and then to ask ourselves if we enjoy what we are doing? And if not, don't continue until it makes itself present. Once's intuition is a great gift but it whispers, so we have to empty our noisy lives to check on it. The next thing I would like to see is to change the banner of the blog, I'm fond of the words Work - Play - Thoughts but maybe they should be rearranged? Maybe by order of importance, then I would definitely start with PLAY! For all we ever do is play. It's the best remedy to every problem. Our brains, our worries and fears might want to overrule our pleasure but PLAY is the finger that releases all tension from the filled balloon. Don't let it get to you! We play as children to explore the world around us, to see relations and to exchange different points of view and as grownups we call it sport, music, art, sex and war. But its all the same really. So wherever you are while you read this, whoever you might be, go out and play! NOW....

Cavemen experiment 

From Amsterdam To Sweden

Screencap taken
from the Voordekunst.nl
webiste

In the last week of my project at Voordekunst.nl the crowd funding for the Pony Performance got to another gear. I had to contain myself not to check up on the percentage every hour! New sponsors saw the necessity to make a contribution, and people who already made a donation decided they wanted to adopt another pony. Eventually the project achieved 106% which made me jump out of my seat.  In my Bachelor thesis I explored the subject of categorization, the human desire to   have a certain order, system or trying to find some sort of logic by making groups of likewise 'objects'. Collecting has been in fashion by members of the Royal Family and other high placed people a kind. They were founded by the need for more knowledge, to impress  and/or to entertain. But whatever their purpose or source they always placed the accumulator of these 'objects' in the centre of their universe. I found the possibility to open up the My Little Pony collection for adoption, therefor involving other people besides myself refreshing and at the same time daunting. And I must stress that I experienced the first few weeks, when there were no adoptions at all very nerve racking. It all worked out well. The pony Performance was going to join Stockholm's Fringe Fest STOFF 2012! I realized that it was actually happening when all the Pony items were placed into large boxes and they were safely locked into the campervan. I put on a cd, punched Stockholm / Sweden into the GPS system and started driving.

Kulturhuset is an enormous building in het heart of Stockholm. Dominated by the Crystal fountain (vertical accent in glass and steel) by Edvin Öhrström and the adjoining Sergels Torg (Sergel's Square) makes it the No1 spot
where people go for culture, art and entertainment.

Fortunately the elements worked in my favor, there was no deadline meaning I could combine traveling and sight seeing at the same time! The weather was in one word fantastic, blue skies since I started packing in Amsterdam. Nothing but sunshine that granted breathtaking sunsets every single day for over 9 days! Okay, there was a dash of rain on one day but that is as far as it goes. From Germany to Denmark and arriving in Sweden. The first impression of Stockholm made a big impact, you have been driving through endless nature for days and suddenly you are in the middle of a city filled with buildings that exclaim Royalty, luxury and Art Nouveau. The Kulturhuset in the city center would host the STOFF event. It reminded me of the Gerrit Rietveld university, lots of concrete and huge windows to drown you with daylight. And there it was written on one of the windows: Stockholm was transformed to STOFFHOLM that would take over the city with performances, installations, videos and other art forms during Aug 22 - 25. There on the third floor I would be performing twice...

Kulturhuset STOFF Fringe Fest 2012

We've Placed Your Call Into A Queuing System

Seven whole days...

Example of the Pony Performance
Catalogue 

Yes Folks, this is it! The final week for donations to get the Pony Performance to Stockholm has begun! A visit to the voordekunst.nl website made me realize that 24% has been collected. THANKS FOR ALL DONATIONS! But that is not enough to bring the performance to other venues.  Further research will stagnate at this stage. Lets not focus on those elements for now. Im very happy to inform you that serval ponies have been adopted!

Example of the
Pony Poster Adoption with
 the focus on Pony item Bowtie. 

The collection has  expanded with the arrival of the 3 Great Hair-Do Ponies, a Princess Pony and a Show N Glow edition! The first try-out prints of the Pony Performance Catalogue have been received as well. They look fantastic but are still incomplete, for the journey to Stockholm will be included. A wide range of topics will be addressed and the theoretical research; the human need for puppets, dolls, dummies, wajang dolls and even sex dolls will be present. The catalogue will be delivered to sponsors by the end of September and will be bilingual. It has become a work of its own and even dives into the history of collecting and how we archive and order the world around us in the present. To get a visual on future developments of the Pony Performance I've begun making a maquette for other venues such as the PARADE in 2013! The money that will be raised on voordekunst.nl will also enable me to expand the Pony Performance. It is a continuation with a  new goal: to have all the ponies adopted! In that sense the collection will change its attention from ME the accumulator to the WE,  a group of people represented in a collection, this is a significant switch! People with a Paypal account or who don't want to use the Dutch site voordekunst.nl can transfer any desired amount to: www.dennis.verbeke@live.nl  If you mail me a comment or remark I will add this to the list of comments made by other sponsors. 

Maquette for the Pony Performance
at PARADE 2013 Amsterdam

Don't think that your donation doesn't matter, it will make a major difference! I'am very grateful to feel your support for this project. It will be experienced by more people who might start to wonder how we deal with gender and sexuality. That the Pony Performance stands for diversity, tolerance, acceptance, our dreams, obsessions and our patience. Boys with a sturdy attitude are still considered the norm, but who wants to be the ordinary, lets reach for the EXTRAordinary! Thanks for your support! See the video for the crowd funding art site Voordekunst.nl. My project is still online there (page 4) at Lopende Projecten.

What Is Now Proved Was Once Only Imagined

Overview of the 3 works I have on display
during the graduation exhibit

In the appendix of my diploma the teachers added a little note saying they experienced the process and presentation of my work open and direct, making it a very daring contribution. I smiled and signed the documents making a mental note to look up the word 'daring'. These little words are very important, and I prefer to fully grasp their meaning. So I looked it up... this is what the dictionary has to say about daring...

 DARING:

1. A challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy. Synonyms: Dare.
2. The trait of being willing to undertake things that involve risk or danger. Synonyms: Boldness, Hardihood.
3. Radically new or original. Synonyms: Avant-garde.

The blown up photograph from my performance with my head in a box of earth,
it made people stop in their tracks 

I'm glad that I looked it up. Because even though I show two photographs that are registrations of a performance, every piece that is on display demands a specific approach. Making it for some people hard to believe they are made by one person. There is my thesis subject again: The Human Need To Order The World. All the pieces come together, the puzzle provides an overview of my visual langue. I never imagined that my graduation exhibit would look like this; an intricate web of connected bulbs of interest. 

Artist Statement: 

Close-up from the Bisons head

Everything around me is tension, attraction and repulsion. I prefer to work with these energies for they provide a challenge for myself and the viewer. Once a boundary is crossed it relocates itself and needs to be examined again. My work explores multiple media and is eclectic by nature. It might be recognisable by its tangible discommode or its excessive adoration for the Happily Ever After. But in that interdisciplinary universe I work with recurring themes concerning; sexuality, human interaction, obsessions and corporeality. The body is the vehicle we temporarily claim as our own. Making use of its characteristics as a natural material is a way of research that stagnates my endless stream of thoughts. Therefore creating a moment where being is bewildering, using experience rather than thoughts.A performance might lead to a series of pictures that over time may become a sculpture.


Making art is like a battle, an endless fight with myself and my ideas, my needs and desires. Yet its process is the most rewarding and exhilarating thing I can think of.
Dennis Verbeke 2012

First Floor

For the first time DOGtime students have their
portraits on the wall of their exhibit space.

Anneke, Claudia, Pieter and myself hold up residence at room 108 on the first floor. Our works vary from 'maze' like living room installations to 3d collage settings, to interviews and documentary style films to sculptures, slideshows and blown up photography. It took some time to get familiar with the right way to approach visitors. Or how I could round up a conversation. Keeping a steady informative and entertainingly flow is something I had to get myself familiar with. Little by little I seem to catch up on the game...

Not To Stare Up At Me

After the results from the
final exam had been discussed
we all received a rose.

Time is a strange thing these days, it accumulates at one moment, giving me the impression of a timeless vacuum and the next moment it goes by so rapidly that hours seem to slip through my fingers! My body got rid of all tension and stress when the teachers told me that from now on I was an certified artist. A new Bachelor to add to the 2012 Graduation List! The energy of our class went through the roof of the glass building. Smiling faces all around, cheering, congratulating and phoning friends and families at home. 

Simone with her 3 year old daughter Rosie having
a great time at my picture

The next day was the Official Opening, with several speeches, VIP tours, newspapers and television crews all over the place. The sun outside was blazing. Making me aware that summer had begun. Everybody seemed to be in an exhilarating state of being. The aisles were packed, people with flowers everywhere, flashes of cameras and people posing. I never thought it would be such an insane event. I guess you reach that state automatically when you look in the eyes of the ones you love who have come to share the joy and to express their pride. 

My mother striking a pose with me

I Can't Stand The Rain

This fourth day was a tricky one for me. It's edges were marked with thoughtless acts and impatient behavior. I guess the amount of work caught me off guard. All of a sudden my motivation dropped. I perceived advise and help from teachers as an attack, an intrusion. I was aware that a lot of things needed my attention. But that doesn't give people the right to point them out all the time. Give me a brake and have some faith will ya! But this is not the private domain of a studio, this is common Rietveld territory and all hands on board are determined to make it a success. My guiding system told me I was in troubled water. So I sighed, rolled my eyes made a few bitch comments and was left alone. Alone, except for Maartje. She proved to be a breath of fresh air that I was longing for. She took a bucket, started mixing the mortar and sat by my side. We nailed the column right there on the spot! I will not show you pictures of the result, for I don't like spoilers. You must come see it for yourself....in  4 days...

I Salute You For Your Courage

Working on the column for the Bison 

None of this would have happened if you didn't make me aware of my abilities and your keen ways to address my creative obstacles. Even in these moments of your absence, I feel you're presence like you are my blood. I'm grateful for all that you bring to my world. All these little bumps in the road, how they make way for the new canopy to grow. Everything continues, expands and adds up to this particular time and space. I'm working with the elements of a tiler, a sculptor, a photographer and through it all I sing, burn incense and dance as a performer. I hope my graduation delivers a visual language where the common ground for my projects is tangible. An invisible web that needs to be further explored! My graduation is in no way an end, it's a new beginning!