Thursday May 13, part I

The day started very early with a trip to the Kobbeduinen where the group experienced dawn on the island. Around them the birds were waking up and making themselves heard, and the rising of the sun caused the landscape to display a variation of colours and textures. (However, since yours truly was not there, there are no pictures to publish at this time.)

After breakfast at the fire station, a new trip was undertaken. Various locations that were explored during the preparatory meetings were now visited: the dunes, the bunker from WWII, and the Vredenhof cemetery.

At the edge of a natural amphitheatre in the dunes.

Peeping Jimi at the bunker

Chad explores the xylophone possibilities of the bunker, exploring new ways to produce musical sounds on a concrete structure.

Respectful discovery of the Vredenhof cemetery.

Diego photographs Vredenhof. The wreaths from Liberation Day are still at the cemetery.

Getting there

Yesterday was the day for travelling to the island of Schiermonnikoog. Part of the ensemble took the afternoon boat where they busied themselves with grocery shopping, picking up the rental bikes, and getting the fire station ready for use. The rest of us took the evening boat at 5.30. There was a tiny spot of rain but nothing serious. Let's hope it stays that way!

In the evening, we started with a very pleasant meal at Hotel van der Werff. (The kitchen staff really cater to everyone, and prefer to do so at late notice!) At the end of the meal, Horst announced the plans for Thursday:
The day was to start at 4 o'clock in the morning...

This caused a brief shock among the participants but it was quickly turned into enthusiasm and fascination when it turned out that they were going for an early morning exploration, watching the sun come up together and experiencing the waking of the island.

Weather forecast

Thursday 13 until Sunday 17 May

Wolkenvelden, af en toe een bui en vrij koel. Geleidelijk iets hogere temperaturen.

(Thu-Fri-Sat-Sun)
Sunshine (%) Thu:30 Fri:30 Sat:30 Sun:30
Precipitation chances (%) Thu:40 Fri:30 Sat:50 Sun:60
Precipitation (mm) Thu:0 Fri:0 Sat:0/4 Sun:0/6
Minimum temperature (°C) Thu:3/6 Fri:3/6 Sat:4/7 Sun:5/8
Afternoon temperature (°C) Thu:11/13 Fri:12/15 Sat:13/15 Sun:13/16
Wind direction & strength (bft) Thu:N,3 Fri:N,3 Sat:NW,4 Sun:W,4

Source: www.knmi.nl

April 17 meeting

During the last student meeting (April 17) before the project on Schiermonnikoog (to take place May 12-16), we discussed the ideas and concepts that came up during previous meetings and some that students sent to us later. Out of it came the framework of 'creating a new culture' on Schiermonnikoog, that has no folklore of its own.

A culture like this would be based on four themes:
- The workings of the tides.
- Nature, notably the birds.
- Life & Death, central in any culture.
- Past & Present, how do people deal now with what has happened before.

The students split up into four small working groups to think out ways of approaching these themes, maybe bringing in some of the ideas that were wrought before and perhaps introducing new ones. The results were presented by the students themselves.

The videos are big to up- and download so a little patience is required. Please note that these are preliminary results from free brainstorms. This means that they are by no means worked-out project plans for the upcoming project work on Schiermonnikoog. Plans may (and probably will) transform greatly once we get to the island and students get to working on the actual location!

Bram, René & Janneke

Diego & Sjuuls

Jon Gunnar & Jos

Jimi, Maaike & Chiel

Langs de vloedlijn

C.O. Jellema
1936-2003

Hoe het voelt voor die eidereend niet meer
op deining te drijven, door het water
achtergelaten te zijn in het slijkgras,
op haar rug, haar vlerken gespreid
onder de zon van september - als wilde
zij, nog niet verregend tot warboel
van botten en veren, nog net eend, maar
niet in staat dat peilloze blauw
boven haar te bevliegen, hier liggend en
dood nu pas werkelijk paren.

Met dank aan Leo Delfgaauw die het gedicht onder de aandacht bracht.

Student meeting Groningen, March 6 2010 (2)

Hereby the link to the musical theme by René van Munster, based on the sound of Schiermonnikoog sand in a little bag.

Link to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5E7-c9uxNc

Student meeting Groningen, March 6 2010

It has been a long time between posts. There has been much a-working behind the scenes. More posts are to be expected from this point on though because the work with the students has begun. There was a kick-off meeting in January which was mainly informational, and the first creative session with the students in Groningen. This took place March 6, 2010. The meeting was held in the director's room in the Prins Claus Conservatoire (thank you Chris Fictoor for the use of your room!) and took up all of the afternoon.

During the kick-off meeting in January, the students had all been given a small bag of sand from the island. I collected it myself on the freezing beach back in December. The students were asked to give this little bit of Schiermonnikoog a place in their own world, and report on that in whatever way they saw fit: image, sound, words, etc.

The Groningen students reported back on March 6 and we were pleasantly surprised by what they had done with the sand. One student had put the sand under the carpet of her new home. Another one had included it in an assignment at the Minerva Academy. One had given it back to the water and the wind and had recorded this with photos and a short piece of prose. Yet another had taken the sound of the sand in the plastic bag as a starting point for a musical improvisation on his cello. (Video to be included later.)
[Picture left: Jos Volkers. Picture right: work by Bram Terra.]

The meeting also gave Horst Rickels and Elvira Wersche the opportunity to present their work and their way of thinking about cross-arts work to the students. In turn, the students were asked to develop some first ideas about what, why and how to do things on Schiermonnikoog in May. These ideas will be brought to the final preparatory meeting in April where we will try some of them hands-on in one of the studios in The Hague.

At the end of the meeting the students received yet another assignment. Elvira Wersche gave them three short sticks from her own garden. The students are to discover the possibilities and meanings inherent in the sticks: past, present and future. Just like an egg, she explained, everything has more and deeper layers than can be observed at first sight. One may consider an egg as an oval calcium structure, or as a potential for new life. It is perception shifts like these that enable an artist to make connections and meanings that transcend sound or image - and that bring together the various arts disciplines.