Clay figures...3

I went by the OSB this morning to have a look at the results of the first two workshops by Michael. The pupils are creating small clay figurines, that will become part of the 'Small Milky Way' beach.

Bagelboat

This morning Michael and I went to Arjen Bouwmeester Yachting Wharf. This is the place where one part of the Big Satellite is being built, the part we have nicknamed 'the bagelboat'. It is practically finished and Michael looked very pleased and happy with it. Arjen, Erwin (the main carpenter) and Michael discussed the final details. On Sunday 26th of April, the bagelboat is transported to the location, which is in the water in front of the OSB.

Clay figures...2

A thousand things happening at the same time. I waited at 8 AM this morning at the OSB for the delivery of the clay. Henk, the chauffeur arrived 4 hours later. But the clay is for free, so I am not complaining. Toon (the facilities manager at the OSB) and Henk unloaded 9 pallets (sic!) from a huge truck unto the school grounds. Tomorrow Michael will be here, so then the whole set up will be built (tent, tools, etc). And on Thursday he will start working with the pupils of the OSB on the clay figurines.

The tilers started today on Hadassah's work, but there is not much to see yet - so I will publish images of the work in progress later this week. And Amalia is arriving tomorrow to inspect her work at Anything is Possible.

Michael at the OSB

After our little experiment Michael and I visited the OSB together with Delano MacAndrew, our education coordinator. The OSB (Open Schoolgemeenschap Bijlmer) is a high school right opposite Michael's work.

We spoke to Lita van Rij, one of the art teachers at the school. Her students will work together with Michael on the Milky Way part of his work.

Measuring the water

Well, this was an interesting morning. When I picked up Michael from his hotel, he carried with him this huge apparatus, a self made depth measuring device. He had bought all the parts in the local shop: a couple of broomsticks, a candle, balls etc.
We went to the site, and dropped the device in the water, and guess what: it actually worked! I was very impressed.

Clay figures...

We do the craziest things during this production stage. This may look like fooling around, but it is actually a very serious excercise on our way to getting a permit.

Visit Michael Beutler

Michael was in town for 2 days. He gave a lecture at De Ateliers - which apparently was very well received. Unfortunately I could not make it to the lecture (stuck in a meeting, as usual), but we met up the next day to discuss his proposal for Open Source Amsterdam.

I am dying to show you his sketches, but alas....you'll have to come to the event (9 May - 11 July 2009) to see what he's created.

Less of a frenzy!

Well, the financial crisis resulted in considerably less frenzy at the Frieze Art Fair than the previous years. I went with Nienke this year. It was a great trip, combining hard work (Frieze, Zoo, Tate x 2, etc) with plent of leisure (Le Caprice x 100, Michael Gambon in Pinter's No Man's Land and a splash out at Saka No Hana).

We were delighted to spot some works by 'our' artsists. Hirschhorn was of course represented (Croussel and Arndt) and we saw a very suprising work by Allora & Calzadilla at (I think it was) Gagosian. Michael Beutler - who has submitted a great proposal for Open Source Amsterdam - tranformed the booth of Galerie Christian Nagel.

Monika Sosnowksa's beautiful Portavilion was one of the public space projects. In spite of the sign, the sculpture is very popular as a climbing object for kid's and their fathers alike.

Sleepless in Amsterdam

Today Michael arrived from Amsterdam for his location research. Nienke picked him up at the airport. He was exhausted: he has been working long days on his work for the Psycho Buildings: Artists and Architecture show at the Hayward. And on top of that, he had partied all night through, so he had not had any sleep.

We went to my appartment, so he could have a nap and a shower. The plan originally was to go by bike, but since time was running out, we went by car - not the most ideal way because some parts are only accessible by foot or bike. Anyway, Michael got a fairly good feel of the place and he will be back in July to choose the location for his work.

Before we took him to the airport, we had an ice cream with Peter Stel at the Gaasperplas. A perfect ending to this very warm day....

Meeting Michael

An hour before heading back to Amsterdam, Nienke and I had a quick talk with Michael Beutler. He is truly racing around Europe from exhibition to exhibition, so this last moment meeting was the best we could do for now. He'll come to the Bijlmer in May.