amsterdam

The Guild for Reality Integrators and Generators (gRig)

gRig is a guild for European cultural and academic operators gathered around a mutual purpose; to mix separate realities, as well as bring whole new realities into existence.

A massive spheroid room slowly billows in one of the halls of the Westergas terrain in Amsterdam. Foamlab has joined the Kunstvlaai, a show for artist-initiatives and collectives organized by the Sandberg Institute. Within the bowels of this solitary pneumatic structure a headset is hidden. A recorded statement that is played through the headphones divides people into two groups: prickly people and gooey people. The Kunstvlaai extends over several of the Westergas buildings and into the park around them. A host of organisations show a rich variety of experiments and works there.

In the historical basements of the city of Arnhem Foamlab joins the ‘Made under Arnhem’ festival. In the deep vaults a Japanese dancer and choreographer, Kenzo Kusuda emerges from a wanton heap of fabric, the remnants of the Notsnic satellite. This space capsule plummeted back to Earth after it mysteriously liquefied into a silvery molten drop. Guided only by Notsnic sounds recovered by Theun Karelse, the performer and public discover an ever growing shape as the material is inflated.

For the first edition of the Juni-Kunst Maand festival in the Amsterdam district ‘de Baarsjes’ a series of multi-cultural gastronomic feasts are created on a very distinct bridge in the neighbourhood. On three occasions, three teams of chefs bring pleasure to the taste buds and stomachs of ordinary Amsterdamers. With a team of helpers recruited from the community Foamlab serves a South-American meal, a Moroccan meal and a Balkan meal spread over three weekends.

Sprinckelink is a collection of shows held in the front-space of FoAM Lab in Amsterdam. In this former-shoeshop a series of exhibitions takes place that started in May 2005. From the street a diverse program is offered to passers-by. Sprinckelinxkes are the old Dutch term for sparks that fly off. The lab-window serves as a portal for sparks to jump onto our neighbourhood inhabitants.

Sprinckelink is a collection of shows held in the front space of FoAM Lab in Amsterdam. In this former shoe shop a series of exhibitions has taken since May 2005. Visible from the street, a diverse program is offered to passers-by. Sprinckelinxkes are the old Dutch term for sparks that fly off. The lab-window serves as a portal for sparks to jump onto our neighbourhood inhabitants.

A large orange dome is a theater for flying performances guided by a team of stewardesses. This giant jellyfish is a construction made by the inflatable master Theo Botschuiver. A crowd is managed within the complex. Seated on the second floor of the building, unsuspecting visitors are introduced to the physical reality of flying around the circular room. The stewardesses dressed in uniforms designed by Cocky Eek, only take over in case of an emergency.

This exhibition by Jan Dietvorst at Foamlab is part of a series named the Solemnities follow the highlights of the Christian calendar.

This exhibition by Theun Karelse at Foamlab is part of a series named the Solemnities which follow the highlights of the Christian calendar.

This exhibition by Jan Dietvorst at Foamlab is part of a series named the Solemnities follow the highlights of the Christian calendar.