Invitation

We zijn op zoek naar mensen die een voorwerp uit hun eigen omgeving
willen uitlenen om te laten fotograferen door beeldend kunstenaar
Christian French. Hij onderzoekt de verhouding tussen mensen en hun
omgeving door stillevens te maken met voorwerpen die hij op locatie
tegenkomt. Hij is vooral op zoek naar voorwerpen waarmee u een
speciale band hebt of die te maken hebben met de plaatselijke
omgeving. Het kunnen simpele voorwerpen zijn die u dagelijks
gebruikt  of voorwerpen die een speciale betekenis hebben.
Alle voorwerpen worden zorgvuldig behandeld en geretourneerd in de
tweede week van mei. Als u mee wilt werken aan dit project kunt u
dagelijks tussen 5 en 6 langskomen bij het atelier op het terrein van
de voormalige zuivelfabriek de Venen (Kolderveen 28b, rechtdoor het
terrein op, de grote garagedeur aan de linkerkant) of een email
sturen naar xfrench@drizzle.com. Bellen kan ook: 0522-xxxxxx of
06-30xxxxxx. Christian kan het voorwerp ook zelf komen halen.
En u bent natuurlijk ook zeer welkom om een voorwerp mee te brengen
als u naar de open dag in de Kaashal komt op 26 april vanaf 14.00 uur.

And for those of you who find their Dutch a little bit rusty (courtesy of AltaVista's Babelfish):

We are in search of people who want an object from their own surroundings lend to let photograph by expressive artist Christian French. He examines the proportion between people and their surroundings by making stillevens with objects that he on location encounters. He is especially in search of objects with which you have a special link or that to do have with the local surroundings. Simple objects be which you daily use or, can objects which have a special meaning. All objects are carefully treated and returned in the Second yielded of May. If you want cooperate in this project are possible you daily between 5 and 6 the peats come by at the work shop in the field of the former dairy factory (Kolderveen 28b, rechtdoor the area in, the large garage door at the left-hand side) or an e-mail send to xfrench@drizzle.com. bels is possible also: 0522-xxxxxx or 06-30xxxxxxst Christian can come obtain the object also himself. And you are of course also very welcome an object bring with if you come to the open day in the cheese hall on 26 April as from 14.00.

Out standing in his field

Here is a picture of Jason starting to work out the circle he is going to create. There will be water, and there will be a cow, but I don't want to spoil it by giving too much away yet.

Moe

We got off to a good start today. Of course, we were late to visit the dairy farmer we met at the Church sale. He was very friendly, and had good English, because he's both a diary farmer and a breeder ( a "fokker") and part of what he does is travel North America to shop for bull sperm. One main cow that we have in the States is what is known as a Freisen-Holstein (if you're Dutch) or a Holstein-Freisen if you are not. Seems like we've been breeding them for stout chests or something like that, and he finds it's good to introduce some hale and hearty blood-lines back into the herd here. At least that's what I think he said.

Anyway, Jason does sculptural work with among other things an agricultural bent, and what he wants to work on here is a site-specific piece riffing off the landscape here (and the prevalent irrigation ditches) possibly involving a cow. He was very interested in having a chance to pick Arend's brain about the logistics of working with a cow in his proposed piece, and both of us were excited to have a chance to visit and see a real live dairy farm.

After coffee with Arend and his wife, we were much more knowledgeable about lots of things. Did you know Holland has as many people as Canada has cows, and Canada has as many cows as Holland has people? (Again, my Dutch, while improving, may require external verification for accuracy before press time). The farm, as are most in the Netherlands, is a family farm, started by his Grandfather, with 10 cows. His dad grew the operation to 50, and Arend, since 1974 has expanded to 150. What really got me was when he said he knew the name of not only every cow they had going, but of the mother and grandmother of each one. I guess it's a little like being the principal of a small high school for 30 years, but still it gave me a good feeling for them.

We got a full tour, and even got to meet one of his son-in-laws Gan, who showed us his pigeons, which he enters into timed competition. Each one that races has an RFID bracelet that allows for a computerized recording of the time of return. We even talked about putting GPS on pigeons, and it seems that while some fly straight home, some follow traffic patterns (including the roundabouts). Gan said those aren't the ones you want for your racing team, but I confess that I feel a bit of kinship with the periapatetic ones...

As we left, I asked Arend if he would loan me something for the still lifes I am working on. I asked specifically for one of his cattle show trophies and he gave me one from 1974 that he had won (and his father had won on a previous year).

When we got back I had a sandwich and spent the rest of the afternoon shooting. All in all it was a good day. Plus Mary arrived in the morning while we were at the farm. She doesn't eat meat and is way into birds and it's good to have her here.

Doorbell

Radio Drenthe

While Jason and I were diligently pawing over piles of Dutch objets, Monique dutifully served as project ambassador by appearing for the first time on radio. She was part of a selection of interesting arts-related people and events, and had about of ten minutes of interview as a part of the program. I haven't heard the program which funnily enough is in Dutch. It sounds like they talked a bit about where she is from, what she thinks of the province of Drenthe, how she likes the people, etcetera. Standard local news fare. I figured it was politic not to ask the obvious question.

Il faut toujours être ivre.

Today was vloomarket day. Everything else closes down for Sunday, but today was a special day (boy was it ever). It is an open secret that I enjoy a shopping habit. Buying new things at retail doesn't interest me. It's the thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales that excite me. It is for me the most entertaining combination of Voyerism and Safari. You get to look at things, be intoxicated with waves of inspiration, the constant mapping of desire over possibility, plus the fixation on value and reward that drives people to become addicted to slot machines. There is always the possibility of discovering something you never knew existed, didn't realize you even needed at a price you can't pass up!

In fact some may have even accused me of developing my interest in object still lifes as a justification for my love of buying things (although I'm not sure I was entirely listening).


Oh, and there were fries involved, this time with mayonaise and curry sauce (and mustard and salt).

Vridag is but a dream

Today jetlag is officially declared a thing of the past. I managed to get up before 8am feeling both compass and mentus. After throwing myself at making Rosti (the Swiss potato pancake that, well, makes me wish I were Swiss) I wound up with a passable latke, minus the applesauce and the sour cream. Ok, so it wasn't really a latke. It was grated onion and potato bound with two eggs and (de facto, unfortunately) scrambled. It would appear that Rosti don't have eggs in them (first mistake). Sometimes they have bacon (!) and often they have onion, and they have even been known to come with cheese in them. Thank heaven for regional variation. One trick is not to keep fussing with the mixture once it is in the pan and formed into a cake. Also, don't fill the pan and then try and flip the mixture with a flick of the wrist, unless of course, your floor is very clean. Or Monique isn't watching. Use the plate method, just like they tell you to or you'll be sorry.


The mill was open when we went by, but we were headed to the book sale. Nothing could stop us. There is something exciting about a used book sale, particularly in a new place. I must admit though that some of my enthusiasm diminished in the face of the awful truth. The setting, an old church yard, was perfect, but I couldn't help noticing the fact that almost all of the books were in Dutch. I am sure I already suspected this would be the case, but sometimes you just have to find out the "facts on the ground" the hard way. Still, it was a delight, poking through the boxes with complete detachment. There were some English books, but I didn't come here to re-read Lady Chatterly (and the Dutch Kama Sutra didn't have any pictures) so in the end I got out easy. Dore's illustrations of Dante's Paradiso, Trungpa's Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, a 45 for RZ, some Bach Organ CDs and 3 old Dutch books on Mammals; Birds; and Fish, Reptiles and Insects; all complete with gorgeous illustrations.

We stopped for coffee and spice cake in the church mess hall when a fellow came up and asked if we'd like him to open up the church and play some organ for us. We did and he did and it was really very cool. The church dated from 1500-ish, Protestant I think, and had an organ from the late 1800's. Apparantly it was made by a famous Dutch organ maker (the second one he ever made, so we are to assume that he made his reputation due in part to this one). Everything was simple, straightforward and generous (without being ostentatious). It was a perfect way to spend the morning.

The mill was closed on the way back, so I didn't get the rye grains, rye flakes or rye flour I wanted to get. I would like to make Volkornbrot, but I guess it'll have to wait until the next time the mill is open.

Monique managed to track down someone who would loan me a table to set up some still lives on, for shooting. Now I have to figure out where to put it, because while it is lovely, it's too big to be portable.

Made a first attempt at German-style potato salad, and it's time for some wine. Later, after Boekweit pancakes with Ham, Spinach and Belegen Cheese (made with the mix we bought at the mill) we'll all gather around the fire (the kitchen table) and figure out what it is that's going on here.

Kolderveen Community Portrait

One of Art's functions is to connect. Artist to audience, individual to community, idea to experience, you get the picture. This is why when there is funding for the arts it is often related to this aspect of community building, bringing people together through shared experience. This is also why I love cooking, and dinner parties. That we are social animals is an old saw, that our world enriched through sharing is one also, but seems to bear repeating.
There is even a (much debated) branch of contemporary art practice called Relational Art, postulated in the book Relational Aesthetics by Nicolas Bourriaud. This was first elucidated to me by Michael Flaherty when he came through Seattle with his Bicycle Rehabilitation Project at Soil.

Much of Monique's work involves connecting the dots, on many levels. I'll let her tell you about her work if she feels like discussing it, but at the very least, inviting Mary and Jason and I to participate in part of her residency is a natural part of how she approaches this aspect of her practice. This applies to the whole New Riddles and Constellations series she's been doing, of which this is the 4th incarnation. By inviting artists and a variety of other people to inhabit the same event/space she aims to create something that is if not greater than the sun if its parts at the very least it is a well-made gumbo.
Next Saturday afternoon's program opens this process up to the local community by inviting people to come by with an ingredient of some sort, throwing it all into a huge pot, making soup and sharing it.

After thinking about what I can do here that is connected to this place and my experience of it, and realizing that some of the new ideas that I brought with me would probably be more complicated than I'd be able to deliver on, I propose a series of photographic still lifes. Specifically I want to continue to build on what I began wrestling with in earnest while at Elsewhere. (More on that later). I admit that I have been reluctant to do this because, to put it bluntly, I don't want to go to a new situation and do the same dam thing every time. The irony is that I am just as conflicted about going to a new situation and trying to do some clever thing that has nothing to do with what is really in front of me. The photographs I took at Elsewhere had a very personal, autobiographical quality to them. Focusing on the fact that being here isn't about me proved to be the key to unlocking my dilemma.

By using items that I find here in the region, I am going to see if I can create still lifes that both allow me to explore the very Dutch tradition of Stilleven as well as allow me to talk about and acknowledge some of the people and encounters I experience while here. Furthermore, in the spirit of Monique's "Good Neighbor Soup" I will invite people I meet as well as people in the community in general to give me items that they think might be interesting to photograph or that represents them or the region in some way. We'll see what happens...

Friday, Friday

Today I rode a bike. I don't think anyone thought I was actually Dutch, but I sure felt Dutch pedaling along the bike path, spiraling around those turn-abouts and generally freezing. First stop: Thrift Store! They still hadn't replaced the bare shelves, but I was reassured that the worst was over. A few more turns of the wheel and I felt completely empowered to get around town. More cheese (this time with caraway) and some relatively cheap wine at the discount store and it was time to head home.

X

passage expurgated

The Hungarians

Today was a good day. Jason and I got up, and out, before the day was over. Practicing our new-found skills in international bus-riding, we took a bus the few kilometers it takes to get from here to there. First store: Thrift Store. Feeling flush with crisp new Euros, we went in to find... the Hungarians. I don't know how to explain my shock, and it took awhile to find someone who could explain the circumstances, as my Dutch is ne goot. Apparently, the last time the Hungarians came they bought all the clothes. This time it was the entirety of the small goods, which included the housewares, kitchenwares, glasswares, and knick-knacks, including several I had put back the other day (for safe keeping). Merciful heaven interveened, however and spared the one thing I most wanted, the blue ceramic bottle which had been placed decoratively in a cabinet in a different section of the store...

What followed was a comical tale of two Americans in a small Dutch town, buying cheese (with nettles) trying something that looked like sausage, buying a power converter or two and having a lovely tea.

When we returned Monique was being interviewed by someone from the Ministry for Health and Welfare. Apparently the Dutch government cares alot about its citizens because it seemed like the guy would never leave. He must have been completely devoted to his work, because he didn't acknowledge Jason or me at all, not even by making eye contact. Maybe he was just shy, or intimidated by the fact that we weren't from his country and therefore unsurveyable. I eventually fell asleep while waiting for Monique to finish up with him, which was a disaster because predictably I woke at midnight and couldn't sleep again until 6 am.

This just in (from the MepplerCourant)

book grant foundation Barbara
Thursday 17 April 09.18
NIJEVEEN - at the reformed church in Nijeveen is Saturday from 10.00 till 15.00 book -, plates - and video market of foundation Barbara. This foundation raises money for maintenances of the barn church.
This way‘n 10,000 books, 2500 lp‘s, singles, video links and a limited number of dvd‘s are offered against symbolic prijsjes. Barbara are an independent foundation which tries income for the maintenance of the beautiful barn church from 1477 and associated youth bldg. obtain because that stipulate the rural face of Nijeveen.
The coordinator of the market is Meindert of steel dunes. ‘We have been for a year busy with collecting books, plates and video‘s. by the gradual input we everything sort have been possible well, so that the visitors can zoeken aimed. This is now the third year that we such an market organises. The offer becomes always larger and third Saturday in April a term,‘thus Meindert becomes.
For the liefhebbers of word, music and picture is find there much. For the pleasing holiday period are possible visitors for a small amount a choice make from read -, study -, hobby -, child - and other books still a lot of. For old lp‘s and video‘s more and more interest exists thanks to digital techniques. During the search exists the possibility just as of blowing and a consumption to consume.
(translation courtesy AltaVista's BabelFish)

Moellen Dag

Despite the fact that I (we) slept until 5pm, and thereby missed getting to the Thrift Store, and, well, just about everything else, today will go on record as the coolest day in Holland so far. Today will forever be known as "Mill Day" ("Moellen Dag").



While it is a well known fact that Holland is well known for its windmills (among other things), what is less often discussed is the fact that they have windmills for a reason. Two reasons, to be specific in this case. Reason A is because there is plenty of wind here, this being a flat country that everyone likes to bike around in. Reason number B is because they use the mill - get this - to mill stuff! Flour in fact. As in stone ground flour, from grain, pulverized between two stones powered by those cute blades that give windmills their instantly recognizable character. I realize this may not be much of a revelation to some of you, but those of you who suffered through my blog about baking bread at Elsewhere will already have a sense of the delight I felt at being face to face with a real live flour grinding operation. If only there were a stove big enough to bake bread in here...
Kolderveen is not so much a town as a road with houses/farms along it. Those of you from New England will appreciate this. Anyway, this road is a spur off of Nijerveen, also a small but lovely outcropping of dwellings which among other things that I am not aware of boasts it's very own mill. On the way back from a grocery run in Meppel, we saw the blades of the mill turning, which means the mill is open and grinding flour. I can't begin to tell you everything, and pictures won't do it justice, but I'll try a small recap of what I learned about this moellen. It got its start as a young mill in Germany 200 years ago +/- . In 1976 this mill was brought to Nijerveen to replace the old mill, and reconditioned. Everything is made of wood, including the gearing for the stones, which need a regular application of beeswax as a lubricant. This is the only mill in Holland that has a cap that can rotate 360 degrees to catch wind from any direction, and the four blades have louvers that can be opened or closed to regulate speed. The stones (I forgot to ask where they come from) have to be re-grooved once a year, which involves lifting them and filing out grooves by hand, using a template. There are two stones, because by law human and animal feed have to be kept separate. The thatch roof is tied in with nylon, because in case of fire, the nylon will melt quickly and the whole of the covering will fall off. It takes 3 years of study in different types of mills before you get your certification. There is a tiny speaker system for playing heavy metal because the mice don't like it and it keeps them away. There is a sign at the top of the treacherous stairs that says "If you can read this you are facing the wrong way". Since I don't understand Dutch I must have been ok. [For more (and possibly more accurate albeit in Dutch) information you can visit the mill's website at www.molen-sterrenberg.nl]

Kass Hall

Kass, in Dutch refers to a dairy product we in the Engels speaking world refer to as Cheese. Cheese Hall could be an interchangeable term for the place where much of our creative activity and public presentations will take place - the Kass Hall. Without giving too much away, here is a photo of the aforementioned:


and an interior view:

Speciaal sauce

Today started well enough, although the point at which "today" actually began is a bit hard to define. Some small bit after that undefined point saw me not being hassled by German Customs (perhaps it was my breath); losing money in an airport exchange ($20 = 8 Eu?); and taking a train to the Netherlands. The inevitable conclusion of my journey did involve fries ("frites speciaal") with mayonaise and "curry sauce".


Wanting to waste no time I get a brief tour of the local hardware store and a ten minute run at the local thrift store.


Since I only had 2 Euro (what was left from my unfortunate bargaining skills at the airport and an on-board tea on the train I didn't realize wasn't complementary), I put everything back on the shelves vowing to come back tomorrow bright and early. After a fabulous meal cooked by Monique (an excellent puttanesca), Jason and I settled into a nice, lingering bout of jetlag, which several days (and many drinks) later would prove to be extremely stubborn.

I vaguely recall a discussion that involves tentative ideas I have for working here. The giant Pinata, and the photographs of the Black Holes both promise to be more complicated endeavors than they might have appeared at first blush. The brief tour of the local hardware store deepened my suspicions in this regard. While the makings for the Pinata (paper mache, chicken wire) are readily available, the justification might be a bigger stretch and while everybody loves a good Black Hole now and then, I don't know enough about European electrical code (or Astrophysics) to make my own without assistance and the Italian Astronomer hasn't called Monique back yet.

Meanwhile, that blue ceramic gin bottle I put back on the shelf keeps calling my name.

Verboten tuben

Not much happened, unless you consider the staying up all night in order to catch a flight to Dusseldorf at 6am. Oh, and the fact that I had to throw out my toothpaste at the airport, because the tube said it contained more than 3 ounces of the nefarious stuff. That I had used some didn't factor in to the equation. The nice man let me squeeze the rest into a Ziplock bag and throw away the offending tube, thereby completely invalidating any reason for the prohibition in the first place but convincing me that at least there is some sanity still left somewhere.

New Riddles and Constellations 4

(scroll down for English)

NEW RIDDLES & CONSTELLATIONS 4

Op zaterdag 26 april en zondag 4 mei vindt een bijzonder programma
plaats met kunst, muziek, lezingen en optredens in de Kaashal van de
voormalige zuivelfabriek in Kolderveen. Op uitnodiging van Stichting
Kik (Kunst in Kolderveen) woont en werkt beeldend kunstenaar Monique
Besten 3 maanden op het terrein van de zuivelfabriek. Zij nodigde
drie Amerikaanse kunstenaars uit om zich te laten inspireren door
Kolderveen en omgeving (Mary Rothlisberger, Jason Ferguson en
Christian French) en daarnaast een aantal speciale gasten voor een
presentatie in de Kaashal.

Op zaterdag 26 april is iedereen vanaf 2 uur welkom in de Kaashal.
Monique Besten roert in grote dampende pannen en nodigt iedereen uit
om van huis een ingrediënt voor de soep mee te nemen: een aardappel
of een ui, een beetje zout, een restje soepvlees, alles is welkom. En
iedereen mag mee-eten! Verder is er muziek door pianist Albert van
Veenendaal (sampler) en Alan Purves (percussie) en een solo optreden
van de Amerikaanse zangeres Jodi Gilbert. Beeldend kunstenaar Mary
Rothlisberger geeft een lezing over haar werk en er is een
presentatie met oude foto’s uit het archief van de Historische
Vereniging Nijeveen. Er is werk te zien van de vier beeldend
kunstenaars.

Op zondag 4 mei twee lezingen door twee beeldend kunstenaars: Jason
Ferguson en Christian French. Vogelgeluidendeskundige Magnus Robb
laat bijzondere vogelopnames horen en Hans Hasebos speelt een solo
concert op de marimba. In de Kaashal is tegelijkertijd een expositie
met het eindresultaat van de werkperiode van de vier beeldend
kunstenaars.

1 t/m 5 mei: expositie in de Kaashal

De toegang is alle dagen gratis. Het programma op 26 april en 4 mei
begint om 14.00 uur maar inloop is de hele middag mogelijk. De
expositie van 1 t/m 5 mei is dagelijks geopend van 13.00 -17.00 uur.
(Wijzigingen of toevoegingen in het programma zijn mogelijk.)

Met dank aan: Stichting Kik, Stichting Mista'peo, Provincie Drenthe,
VSBFonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Drenthe

Adres: Kolderveen 28, Nijeveen (volg de schoorsteen!)
Meer info: http//www.moniquebesten.nl en http//www.kik-site.nl



NEW RIDDLES & CONSTELLATIONS 4

Saturday 26 April and Sunday May 4 a special program with art, music,
lectures and performances takes place in the Cheese Hall of the
former dairy factory in Kolderveen.  Monique Besten has been invited
by Kik (Art in Kolderveen) to live and work on the premises of the
dairy factory for three months. She has invited three American
artists to get inspired by Kolderveen and the surroundings (Mary
Rothlisberger, Jason Ferguson and Christian French) and another
handful of special guests to give a presentation in the Cheese Hall.

Saturday April 26 everybody is welcome in the Cheese Hall from 14.00
on. Monique Besten stirs in big pans and invites everybody to bring
along an ingrediënt for the soup: a potatoe or an union, some salt or
sellery, some leftover meat, everything is welcome. The soup will be
eaten during the afternoon! Furthermore there’s music by the duo
Albert van Veenendaal (samples) - Alan Purves (percussion) and a solo
performance by the American singer Jodi Gilbert. Visual artist Mary
Rothlisberger gives a talk about her work and there is a presentation
with photos from the archives belonging to the Historical Society in
Nijeveen. The four artists show their working process.

On Sunday May 4 two lectures are given by two visual artists: Jason
Ferguson and Christian French. The birdsong specialist Magnus Robb
plays and talks about his most favorite bird songs and Hans Hasebos
plays a solo concert on the marimba. At the same time there’s an
exhibition presenting the endresult of the working process of the
four visual artists.

May 1-5: exhibition in the Cheese Hall

and possibly more!

The entrance is free. The program on April 26 and May 5 will start
around 14.00 but you can arrive any time in the afternoon. The
exhibition on May 1-5 is open daily: 13.00 - 17.00
(There might be some changes or additions to the program)

Thanks to: Stichting Kik, Stichting Mista'peo, Provincie Drenthe,
VSBFonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Drenthe

Address: Kolderveen 28, Nijeveen (follow the chimney!)
More info: http//www.moniquebesten.nl en http//www.kik-site.nl

Adventures in the Dutch Countryside, or, TransitMan takes a holiday

Being an ongoing account, with various loose threads, of an American Artist's Adventures at a residency in Kolderveen, the Netherlands. The time frame for this narrative stretches from the recent past to the not-so-distant future. Cast includes: CHRISTIAN (American, Artist, Narrator of Dubious Authority); MONIQUE (Dutch, Artist from Amsterdam); JASON (American, Teaches Art at University); MARY (American, MFA candidate); ALBERT (Dutch, Musician and Composer, Monique's Husband); Various local personages as necessary. The setting: a former Dairy Factory which has been converted, part of which functions as an Artist Residency program.

Additional information, references and citations may be accessed by perusal of the following links:
www.kik-site.nl
www.christianfrench.com
www.moniquebesten.nl
www.mrothlisberger.com
www.jasonjferguson.com
www.bureauofpublicrecollection.org
www.elsewhereelsewhere.org