Living Unit

Living Unit I56A6630

Living Unit

In a prison not in use anymore in Utrecht currently there is an exhibition named “Hacking Habitat“. Various artists give their vision on the trend to curtail all of our privacy nowadays.
Living Unit is the unit where Dutch artist Maarten Schuurman has put all his belongings. He lives “off the Grid” with these six suitcases where he succeeded to put all his belongings in. The less possessions you have and the more you move around like a squatter, the less control “they” can exercise over you.

Consequently Maarten took back a lot of control. Actually that’s also the theme of the exhibition: Taking back control (or Hacking) of your habitat.

Royal Danish Play House

Royal  Danish Playhouse Copenhagen I56A1465

Royal Danish Play House

As an amateur photographer I’m proud I’ve licensed via Picfair – my first ever – this very photo of the Royal Danish Playhouse, one of the stages of the Royal Danish Theater. According to the Royal Danish Theater’s website this Playhous was inaugurated in 2008 and designed by Danish Architects Lundgaard & Tranberg, who won the 2008 RIBA (Royal Insitute of British Architects) award for this building.

Ed Ruscha: Ostend – La Jolla – Venice – The Hague

Brave Men Run in My Family Ed Ruscha I56A1143 kl

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Ed Ruscha: Ostend – La Jolla – Venice – The Hague

An acrylic on canvas painting by Ed Ruscha, but also a Mural at the La Jolla Branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art of San Diego, California (see the second photo right).
1995-1996, acrylic on PVC coated fabric. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Museum purchase with proceeds from Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Art Auction 2006, and from prior donations by Susan and Frank Kockritz and Mr. and Mrs. Norton S. Walbridge. © Ed Ruscha.

Ostend?

I took this photo in Ostend, Belgium at the exhibition The Sea which became a memorial to Belgian Museum curator Jan Hoet. I found it in Mu.zee. There the caption is Brave Men From La Jolla and the ownership attributed to Studio Ruscha

Clearly there is a Flying Dutchman analogy which connects the quote “Brave Men Run in My Family” to the sea.

Venice?

My first encounter with Ed Ruscha was in another Seafaring City, Venice, Italy at the occasion of the 2005 Venice Biennial. There he presented mono color work from his Blue Collar series with new work which he called Course of Empire (see this Traditional Fine Arts Organization writeup)

Strangely enough I took only photo’s from the mono color work and not from the multi color work. With hindsight I believe I found the black and white work much more impressive, especially in the USA pavilion.
Tool and Die Ed Ruscha 2005 Biennial Venic IMG_0464
Telephone by Ed Ruscha Venice Biennial 2005 IMG_0460
Tech Chem Ed Ruscha Venice Biennial 2005 IMG_0463
Tires by Ed Rucha Venice Biennial 2005  IMG_0462
Trade School Ed Ruscha Venice Biennial 2005 IMG_0461
US Pavillion Venice  Biennial 2005 IMG_0465

The Hague?

The connection is this: After Venice the Ruscha paintings were exhibited in the Whitney Museum NYC. Currently the Whitney museum is on the move from its Breuer designed museum to a Piano designed new Museum that will be opened spring next year. Soon the US Embassy in the Hague will leave its Breuer designed building for a newly built Embassy. I hope the US will show the same respect for the only Breuer designed building we have in The Hague as the Whitney museum did by making a deal with the MET. See this NY Times article.

The Sea – A tribute to Jan Hoet

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tryptiek I56A1049

The Sea – A tribute to Jan Hoet

Currently in the Belgian city Ostende there is an exhibition in various locations in honor of curator Jan Hoet who passed away January 27, 2014, before the exhibition even started.

I’ve visited it and it is really worth while the journey. Open until April 19th, 2015.

The installation “Altar” at the beach by Kris Martin is part of the exhibition. It refers to a triptych by Van Eyck and gives a view on the Sea (and the air above the sea off course)

The sea has always been a great source of inspiration for the arts. Its attraction can undoubtedly be ascribed to its ever changing impressions. In its infinite beauty it may be soothing but in its unpredictability it becomes threatening again. Artists will always be fascinated by the endless play of light, space and movement. The Sea is an exhibition that is elusive just like a wave, ebbing, flowing and leaving traces that time and again are erased by new forces. The Sea is an exhibition in dialog with Ostend, spread over several locations, with Mu.ZEE as the starting point of this voyage of discovery.

Jan Hoet was behind the planning of this event. For him, this was to be his last major exhibition. However, on 27 February 2014 we had to bid our curator farewell. He had focused on this project until the very last weeks of his life. The exhibition thus grew from a tribute to the sea into a homage to Jan Hoet… one of grand gestures and short stories, a salute of honor.
Source:Sies Hoeke