You can't have it all

Well, I guess you can't have it all....

Before I left for a short holiday, we had some really bad news. Last October we thought the financial crisis may not hurt us that much, but in December Open Source Amsterdam suffered a major financial setback.

Days before my departure, I had to make some painful decisions, cutting in the organisation and communication budget, and - worst of all - the art budget as well. Although we still have a firm GO for the event, there will be maybe only 17 works of art instead of 20.

It took me the whole holiday to get over this and then, on my return, another disaster....

I won't get into details since I am so angry and frustrated about it but the bottom line is that some civil servants the local district council decided that the location of Jennifer Tee's work is not appropriate. Above is a photograph of Jennifer's testing with two 1:1 scale models on site. You be the judge.....

Changing places

One of the most challenging aspects of art in public space is finding the right site. For Open Source Amsterdam, all artists could choose the site for their proposed work. This choice is of course based on artistic grounds: how does the work related to its surrounding in terms of meaning, scale, etc.

However, between dream and reality there are quite some practical obstacles. Can the work be transported to the location? Does the urban planner or architect agree with a work of art within his or her design? Are there any cables, pipes or sewage underneath? Even tree roots and groundwater levels are an issue.

And then of course we have to deal with the sensibilities of the inhabitants. The 1992 air plane crash is still painfully imbedded in the collective memory of the Bijlmer. The Open Source Route passes the Bijlmer Monument, which is the central site for the annual commemoration. It turns out, the area of the commemoration is not just the monument itself, but a large area surrounding it.

Rob Voerman originally choose a location which now turns out to be the within this larger area. After some conversations with the local authorities, we decided it would be best to choose a different location for Rob. I am very pleased (and relieved) that Rob felt the same way.

This meant that Rob had to come again to Amsterdam to search for a new site, which we found rather quickly. Rob even thinks the new location may be better. Now let’s hope there is won’t be any more obstacles…

Open Source Amsterdam's first work of art commences

Yesterday was an important day for the art foundation Street of Sculptures. On a cold evening at the parking deck on top of shopping mall Kraaiennest in Amsterdam Zuidoost - de first pixel of Peter Stel's work was being placed.

That same evening Open Source Amsterdam got many new sponsors who participated in an 'auction' of items such as children's workshops, construction advice, etc.

The sponsors could spray their name on the Wall of Fame which now contains names of main sponsors de Key)Principaal and Rochdale - as well as the generous contributors Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and SKOR. Many other companies attended and support our first international art manifestation, such as VenhoevenCS, Delta Forte, Van Wijnen, de Nijs, De Vaklieden, Ursum Bouw, Purpura, KBK-bouw, Hemubo.

Lectures and presentations

When I took the job as a curator, I never anticipated that so much of my time as a curator would be taken up by lectures and presentations. In the past, public speaking was not one of my great skills, but I have noticed that the more I do it, the better I get.

Yesterday evening, I gave the first presentation in English, for the Rotary Club at the Hilton. It was a good rehearsal, since I may have to go abroad next year to promote the project.

And this afternoon I presented the project to the department heads of Stadsdeel Amsterdam Zuidoost. I think that went very well indeed. I wish I had done that sooner, since now we have the full support and cooperation of all departments, which is crucial for a project in the public space.

Slide Show at Spinoza Day..

Well, I guess you can't win them all.....On 23 November there was a Spinoza Day at Paradiso in Amsterdam. It was day with several lectures and two debates so I thought it might be good to present Hirschhorn's Bijlmer Spinoza-Festival there, as a visual backdrop to all the talking.

Since the organizers thought is was a good idea, I asked Thomas to create some slides, which he did: 13 great slides explaining his perspective as an artist on his project. Unfortunately, the people of the first debate did not want us, since there were several artists in the debate and they did not want to have someone else's work in the background. Then, the first debate also rejected us (I think the term 'visual violence'' was used..). So then it was decided to show the slides after one of the lectures, but we were not allowed to introduce the project.

So in the end, the slides were shown out of the blue to an understandably baffled public...

Visit Amalia Pica

Amalia has moved to London recently, but she came over to the (cold cold cold) Bijlmer to walk the Open Source Amsterdam route with me. And guess what! We have found a perfect location for her work. I can show you where it will be (see above), but not what it will be.

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.