Registration of Karel van der Eijk's performance during the Night of Absurdism, December 30, 2024

On December 30, 2024, I made a video recording of Karel van der Eijk's performance during Night of Absurdism in Paradiso in Amsterdam. The fantastic one-off inflatable sculpture he showed with a live soundscape by Vicky de Visser was also filmed by many in the audience with their smartphones. Much of this footage was also used in this montage.

Restoration and reconstruction of the video documentary ''Mountains Protect'' (1993)

The past year and a half I have been working on and off on the restoration and reconstruction of the video documentary ''Mountains Protect'' (director: Coen van Hall, Betacam SP) from 1993. The documentary sketches life in Badakhshan, the Pamir highlands in Tajikistan (Central Asia), using sung poetry. I was responsible for the audio on location, offline editing and restoration.

 

 

Although the documentary was planned to handle about local music and sung poetry, the political and social situation in Tajikistan was complicated after the civil war of 1992 and the opening of the Soviet Union. As a result, the film also outlines the social and humanitarian situation at that time. We were the first Western camera crew in the area.

About 15 years ago, the idea arose to digitize the video for the internet. The attempts to do so were disappointing. It took another 10 years before Betacam SP video equipment became affordable, which made it possible to experiment in our own studio. In 2023, it turned out that the 3 master tapes we had had been affected by time. Cutting and pasting the digitized material from these 3 tapes led to the reconstruction above. There is always something to be desired; The video contains fragments from a Russian film from 1927 that have acquired too high a contrast. It is give and take. Videotape is biodegradable...

The material has been upscaled from the original SD video format (720 x 480 pixels) to HD (1920 x 1080 pixels).

November 2024 - Finissage exhibition and work period ''Acts of Unpredictability / Daden van Onvoorspelbaarheid''

My working period in ''Museum van Alle Tijden/ALARM'' in the Dutch village of Beugen came to an end on November 9 2024. That day a well-attended finissage took place, where I guided the public along the various works. There were 25 works on display.

 

    Crescendo - 2024

 

 

    Plastoid Mainz Version - 2018

 

 

    Turrim Plastoid - 2017/'18 and the Vertical Builder

 

      Video impression made by Else Huisman

    Testudine - 2024 - as headgear

 

                        The Snail Language Translator Device - 2023

                        The Snail Language Translator Device - detail

 

                     The Snail Language Translator Device - detail


 

    The Museum van Alle Tijden, just before sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flashback; 2022 - created ''Leoninus Plastoid'' sculpture on my balcony

 

'Leoninus Plastoid'', made on the balustrade of my balcony, and named after  my street. Below a night shot of the neck of the sculpture. Light comes from the street lamp. And a day shot. Material: crystal clear PLA (thermoplastic).

It was part of a studio route in Covid times, where visitors could view artists' work on the facades of their workplaces from the street. The studio route was well-attended at a time when artists had almost no opportunities to show work.

 

 

Remarkable; a withered lily leaf

 

Spiderweb Box

A few winters ago I made a photo series of frosted spider webs.
I now made a printed cube of it.

Sculpture; Membrane Plastoid.

 

This is a Membrane Plastoid, a 3D pencil-sculpture applied directly to a glass window and only about 2 mm thick! When the sun hits it beams of light are projected in the room.

Flashback; A work of some years ago

 

Pancake Magic - a new photo serie

 

Apart from the fact that it is a favorite activity of mine, baking pancakes, I have been fascinated by the texture of these pastries for some time now. I am working on a series of high resolution photos.

Flashback; 2015 - in situ work ''Gold Tracker''.

In 2015 I made this in situ work called ''Gold Tracker''. Through special coils, attached to the leaves of a plant, gold particles were extracted from the air, which then attached themselves to the glass. Every now and then I harvested the gold.

Flashback; ''Tree ghost'' performance in 2019 during a demonstration against deforestation.

During this performance I wore a sculpture made with a hotglue gun. 

Flashback: ''Steady base, fluffy mind'' - 1995 - C-print