EnterTheMothership.com

Mothership Newsletter #17, May 2010

Na endlich: Frühling und kostenlos Bier auf dem Kunstvlaai!

Design Arno Coenen / Luuk Bode
On Saturday 15 May, Art Pie will open its doors at 4pm at Culturepark Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. In order to participate Möthership proposed the Gesamtkunstwerk 'Schwarzwald/Metal Heart IV'. The idea of Schwarzwald is derived from the artist brain of Arno Coenen and is based on heavy metal in the shape of a dark forest. Different artists show that the symbolism of the forest can be interpreted in different ways.
www.derschwarzwald.info
www.kunstvlaai.nl

Oh bring back the ballast to me, to me

Photo Monique Benthin
Chief Government Architect invited the Scottish artist Nathan Coley to design an artwork for the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam. The project is initiated by the Government Building Agency.
With the artwork titled ‘Bringing Back the Ballast’ Coley wants to bring back bricks that were part of a different culture for 400 years to the Maritime Museum. Coley, who makes large installations based on historical architecture, proposed to build a wall constructed with Dutch ‘IJsselbricks’ which were used in the 17th century as ballast on vessels of the Dutch East India Company.
Mothership was hired as a true Sherlock Holmes to help find these bricks. The loaded stones are making a historical tour past Singapore, Australia, Paramaribo and St. Eustatius in a sea container designed by Studio Loes&Leon. Along the way new bricks will be loaded in the container and brought back to the Netherlands.
www.rijksbouwmeester.nl
www.scheepvaartmuseum.nl

Wreath of Light around statue ‘De Verwoeste Stad’

Photo Rick Messemaker
On Friday 14 May 2010 it will be 70 years ago that the bombing of Rotterdam took place. On this day several memorials and ceremonies will take place. To end the commemoration a wreath of light will be placed around the statue ‘De Verwoeste Stad’ from Ossip Zadkine, with music by Arvo Pärt. On this day you are more than welcome to attend the ceremony at 10.30pm on Plein 1940.
For the full programme see www.rotterdam.nl/herdenking14mei

Art in the Neighborhoods

Photo Monique Benthin
The Stichting Beeldende Kunst Middelburg (Middelburg Foundation for Visual Arts) is coordinator for the art project “Art in the Neighbourhoods”, which was initiated by the Municipalty of Middelburg. Six works will be realized in consultation with neighbourhood residents. In Nieuw Middelburg the artwork
‘De Ontknopping’ by Joep van Lieshout has been placed. For the Zuid neighbourhood the artist Edwin Zwakman created ‘Straat’, a miniature duplicate of a series of houses from the area, and placed it in the ditch in front of these houses. The neighbourhood ‘Veersepoort’ received the artwork ‘You Mean So Much To Me” from artist Hendrik Jan Hunneman. Later this year three more artworks will follow by Maze de Boer, Birthe Leemeijer and Lara Almarcegui.
Go for more detailed information to the SBKM/De Vleeshal website.

GRRR JAMMING SQUEAK

Photo Monique Benthin
Sculpture International Rotterdam invited Italian artist Paola Pivi to create a new publicly accessible artwork: ‘GRRR JAMMING SQUEAK’. The artwork operates as a professional, completely functioning sound studio and offers space to groups and individuals; to professional musicians and amateurs. The studio can only be used to create music with the sounds of animals. You can play, compose, improvise, record, make mix and master tapes, jam or listen to other people make music. The studio will be opened for a year and is free accessible for everyone. GRRR JAMMING SQUEAK is part of a multiple year program by SIR for the Coolsingel-axis (2009-2012).
For opening hours and information:
www.grrr.nu
www.sculptureinternationalrotterdam.nl more

Once upon a time…

Photo Monique Benthin
‘On a journey with tales of Rotterdammers’ is the title of the touring ‘tale table’ which shows stories and pictures of migrants in and around Rotterdam. In 2008 the Nederlands Fotomuseum (Dutch Photomuseum) has collected stories of migrants, in cooperation with care facility Laurens. In connection with the photographs in their own collection the museum has asked the elderly to share their migration stories through pictures. Five of these stories have been selected for the tale table. Each of the items has been edited to create a short film. The tale table starts its tour through Rotterdam in care facility Laurens, location Sint Antonius Gasthuis at the Nieuwe Binnenweg 35. After this, the table will continue the tour to different locations in the city, amongst them the Rotterdam Public Library.
www.nederlandsfotomuseum.nl more

Hilde 2.0

Photo Monique Benthin
Hilde Westerink is a student of Visual Arts & Design Management at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht. During her internship at Mothership she has created a Mothership account on Twitter and Facebook, and is gaining experience as a project manager. Follow us on Twitter, and Mothership will follow you!

Grüss Gott
Möthership

Newsletter #16, March 2010

Monisima Cube transformed into Taneda's Coolsingel Cube

Photo Monique Benthin
During the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January of this year, Taneda's Coolsingel Cube was officially opened. Not a complete coincidence, since Yohei Taneda is a famous Japanese production-designer, who was invited by Sculpture International Rotterdam to design a temporary façade for the Monisima Cube, at Kruiskade 2 in Rotterdam (opposite the Hilton Hotel). The basement of the cube was turned into a real Taneda movie set, where trailers and movie fragments were shown for which he had designed the sets. He has also designed the movie sets for Air Doll the newest movie by director
Kore-eda and the 'must have seen' movie Kill Bill Vol.1 by director Quentin Tarantino.
The façade will be on display day and night until June 2010.
www.sculptureinternationalrotterdam.nl
www.yohta-design.com
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Carefully lock your love

Photo Michiel van Abbe
The love object by the collective BLISS has been festively revealed on Valentine's Day, 14th of February. There are still enough places to attach your lock to the heart shaped chair and eternally secure your love for each other. At the front of the heart, people can sit and place their camera on the pillar of hearts opposite. Set the timer and just.... KISS. The Lock of Love can be found at the bank of the Schie, near Havenstraat 53 in Rotterdam. With their design, BLISS won the contest Lock of Love, that the Hungarian wedding planner Renata Rakolcai had organized with the borough of Delfshaven.
www.aworldofbliss.nl
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A cleaned up RAUM

Photo Monique Benthin
Since October 2009, SKAR (Foundation for Art Accommodation Rotterdam) is accommodating people from various creative disciplines within the cultural sector in an office building at the Stadhuisplein in Rotterdam. Here, SKAR and Bureau Binnenstad (Inner City Office) wanted to make “culture” more visible, by giving a commission to graphic designers that work in the building. The three resident graphic designers Monique Sucric, Rudin Swagerman and Paul Swagerman came up with the idea to display the word RAUM in a large and visible manner. The building was officially opened on the 1st of March by city councillor Hans Vervat and at the same time the green light was given to house creative companies in buildings in Rotterdam that are temporarily or permanently vacant.
That should create some RAUM!
www.rotterdam.nl/binnenstad

Brand spanking new art in historical Middelburg

Impression 'De Ontknopping', Atelier Van Lieshout 2008
The City of Middelburg made some ambitious plans for the realizations of a few artworks in her districts. An inventory was made of the wishes of the inhabitants, ideas coming in via email or mail were collected and the commission Kunst in de Openbare Ruimte (Art in Public Space) found some matching artists. Proposals by Joep van Lieshout, Hendrik-Jan Hunneman, Edwin Zwakman, Birthe Leemeijer, Maze de Boer and Lara Almarcegui were chosen to realize their art works. The foundation Beeldende Kunst Middelburg (Visual Art Middelburg) is responsible for the realization of the project, which is produced in co-operation with the inhabitants and for which Mothership does the production. The first three artworks will be placed and revealed in April 2010. Joep van Lieshout's artwork De ontknopping will be revealed on Friday 16th of April in Nieuw Middelburg. On Friday 23rd of April, Hendrik-Jan Hunneman's artwork You Mean So Much To Me will be revealed at the skatepark in Veersepoort and Edwin Zwakman's Straat will be revealed on the 9th of April.
For more detailed information, see the website of De Vleeshal.
www.vleeshal.nl

From Coach to Advisory Director

Photo Parkgraaf Participaties bv
John Kimmel's coaching programme has yielded great results for Mothership. One year after winning the Ketelbinkie award, presented by the Rabobank, we are still happy that we can keep on expanding our work as art producers. We are very happy to let you know that John Kimmel has joined us an advisory director.
www.parkgraaf.nl

Mothership book launched on the 1st of April

Because of its fifth anniversary, Mothership has compiled an anniversary book. A few projects have been selected from a total of 160, of which all of them we are very proud. Jeroen Everaert, director of Mothership, will launch and sign the Mothership book on the fifth floor of Rotterdam's largest book store, Selexyz/Donner.
www.enterthemothership.com
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Mothership's new years party 2010. Only to be viewed at your own risk!

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Newsletter #15, December 2009

It's time for Standard Time in Rotterdam

The time was ready on the 27th of November for Standard Time by the German artist Mark Formanek. At 05.00 'o clock on a chilly Friday morning the "digital" wooden clock made out of scaffolding material started to work. During the next 24 hours the time was kept at the building site of Rotterdam Central Station (NL). A crew of punctual "workers M/F" kept the time manually, meticulously changing every minute. The project, which was part of the "bouwplaatsenprogramma" (the "building site program"), highlights the accurate, old fashioned and above all human approach of the comprehension of the concept time. The performance consisted of no less than 4890 actions. At the building site of Rotterdam Central Station the Standard Time performance was filmed non-stop for 24 hours. On this film you can also spot a couple of well-known people from Rotterdam like Jules Deelder and Jack Kerklaan & son. The film is adapted so it can be used as a real time clock! We would love to see this Rotterdam Standard Time clock on the many big screens in Rotterdam. With this "digital"clock by Mark Formanek, Bureau Binnenstad of the City of Rotterdam wanted to inform people in a positive way about the work on the different building sites in Rotterdam. Check YouTube for a glimpse of the clock: http://www.youtube.com/enterthemothership
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Miss Faye Ellen in da House

Since last November, Faye has started at Mothership as project manager. She will paint the town red by being a representative and outspoken Mothership-employee. There is nothing strange to detect about Faye, but she has only for 30% vision: she can see everything, but different. We regard the addition of Faye to our team as a pleasant and positive development in bringing art closer to the public, with 100% dedication.

"I am here"

“Ik ben hier alleen maar een tekst op deze muur die je nu leest” ("I am here only a text on the wall which you are reading now") by Aram Peekel has won the second prize in the poetry competition "Schuttingtaal" in Nieuwegein (NL). The competition had been set up to inspire the inhabitants of Nieuwegein to write about their changing city center. And with success! Quotes taken from the winning poems can be admired on the facades of different buildings in the city center. In cooperation with Projectbureau Binnenstad of the City of Nieuwegein it was made possible to read all the poems on the fence surrounding the building site of the new city hall. Other lines which can be seen on different buildings are “hoor de toekomst fluisteren” ("hear the future whisper") by Jos van Liempdt (first prize) and“Mijn wereld, mijn haven, mijn thuis” ("My world, my harbour, my home") by Elke Bon (third prize).
www.schuttingtaal.net

Lock of Love

S.M. Kurtas
The BLISS girls recently won a contest which was issued by Italian wedding planner Ranata Rakolcai together with the borough of Delfshaven (Rotterdam, NL). The wedding planner noticed that in Rotterdam, or maybe even nowhere in the Netherlands, there aren't any places where you could go to with your sweetheart to declare your love. Unlike in Italy. The romantic Italians believe in eternal love by attaching a small lock to an iron fence, because "true love does not rust". Whether you trow away the key is up to yourself. The design by BLISS will be placed in Delfshaven in early 2010. Please don't use hand cuffs! Check the winning design on Www.aworldofbliss.nl

"Life is too short to drink bad wine"
New Year's Drink, Friday 15 January 2010

Mark it in your diary: Friday 15 January 2010, because just like last year we would like to toast to the new year together with you! You are invited from 18.00 till 21.00 at cafe De Unie at the Mauritsweg 34 in Rotterdam (NL). Afterwards the party will continue with FNNNN, 5 sexy dj's! We are looking forward to seeing you there!

The Mothership team wishes you an energetic 2010!!!

Picture Mothershipteam by Frank Hanswijk
From left to right: Faye Ellen, Mathijs Goorhuis, Natasa Heydra, Monique Benthin, Jeroen Everaert, Jasper Pleune and Joost ten Bruggencate.

Mothership closed

Mothership is closed from 25 December 2009 until 4 January 2010 (so just for a very short while).

Boundless, it was!

Photo Rick Messemaker
The six meter tall crowd controllers by Dstruct drew a lot of attention during the festival De Wereld van Witte de With in Rotterdam. Physics Distrorter 1.3 by Jan van Nuenen bounced and shot ecstatically across the façade. Eight barriers by Gijs van Bon in the Hartmanstraat went up and down in various rhythms, like dancers legs that are strong as iron. The young and old had themselves stuck on a modern version of a pillory, after which they were shamelessly paraded through the street. On the lawn next to the Nai and across the building site of the Museumpark, limit-expanding movies were shown with titles such as: 'Rotterdam Heartcore' and 'Baghdad Disco' by Arno Coenen, 'The Very Best Tof' by Matthijs Vlot, 'Echte Liefde' by the Humobisten and 'Burning Car' by the Danish collective SUPERFLEX. In short, there was plenty to do! The festival drew over 35.000 people and received media attention from far across the Dutch borders.
www.festivalwww.nl
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What makes photography so much fun?

You're always the one in front, you end up in all kinds of new situations and you have a great alibi to take pictures of strangers! During the Summer Events of Your World in Rotterdam, photographer Vincent Dekker was commissioned by Rotterdam Festivals to give a master class in photography for young people. The results of what these young folks captured on digital film are now on display on the ventilation structures on the Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam. The images will be on display until the 20th of November.
www.vincentdekkers.com
www.your09.nl
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We are happy with our warm prize

Thanks to photographer Elise Rijnberg and the Rabobank Rotterdam
The Ketelbinkie award that was handed out by the Ketelbinkie Foundation and the Rabobank in May of this year, turns out to be as large as life, passionate, friendly and with lots of experience in business. The award consisted of the real gentleman 'John Kimmel' (shown on the rightside of the photo). He's known as a successful businessman and runs various companies. Together with the Rabobank he helps to support new and innovative companies, both content and business wise. Mothership is now being professionally coached to help to attain its goals for the next 5 years. With all these positive developments, Mothership is in an anti-crisis and ready to expand. We welcome the warm personality of Faye Ellen who, as a project manager, will be an additional support to our projects.
www.parkgraaf.nl

'Schuttingtaal'

The city centre of Nieuwegein is very much in motion, even more since our Nataša has been swaying her magic pen over there. To stimulate the liveability, the council organizes various projects; one of them being the poetry contest 'Schuttingtaal'. Inhabitants of Nieuwegein were challenged to write a poem about the changes taking place in the city centre. From the 26th of October, the winning poems can be admired on various buildings in the city centre. The fences of the construction site of the new city hall will then also display the poems of all the contestants. The project was organized by the City of Nieuwegein, in cooperation with the Library and Foundation Beeldspraak. Rufus Ketting did the graphic design of the project.
www.schuttingtaal.net

'A ee el u?' or 'Can We Help You?'

Mothership was asked by Sculpture International Rotterdam (SIR) to produce four different performances. When The Lightness Of Poetry is about the need for 'a simple gesture' and was performed in the week of 19 until 27 of September. For the performances, SIR invited four internationally known artists. A film called 'The Ashes of Pasolini' by Alfredo Jaar, the live performance 'Lucky Day' by Roman Ondák, the live performance 'Time' by David Lamelas and 'A ee el u?' a live performance by the young British artist Rory Pilgrim, who believes in the possibility of letting the unspeakable speak. On the stairs of the city hall, the artist did his performance with a new choir each time. The voices aren't singing any comprehensible words but the offered song does end with a question to the audience: 'Can We Help You'?
www.sculptureinternationalrotterdam.nl
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Rocket Cinema Festival 2009: Monster Movies

With 'Monster Movies' being the theme of Rocket Cinema Festival 2009, a selection was made from classic monster movies for which dj's and musicians wrote a new soundtrack. Commissioned by foundation Rocket Cinema (Paradiso), Mothership asked Anita van Pelt (Artyshock) and Marijke Brinkhof (MAD) to create a real film set in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. Last Saturday, 24th of October, 400 people were walking in the dark night with headphones on, accompanied by the scary sounds from the movie “The Blair Witch Project” and a live mixed soundtrack by DJ Carl Craig, creating a gruesome evening.
www.rocketcinema.nl
www.marijkesartdepartment.com
www.artyshock.nl
www.carlcraig-sessions.com

Mega Mosaic III

Recently, the very last tile was placed of the third Mega Mosaic in Utrecht, titled 'Game Meadow'. Just like the previous two mosaic squares that were commissioned by the City of Utrecht, 'Game Meadow' in the Peltplantsoen is made of various coloured concrete tiles and has the monumental size of 68 by 8 metres! www.arnocoenen.nl
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Hans van Bentem in Space

For the past few years, Van Bentem has been to China on a regular basis. He has a house there and a studio where he not only works alone, but also with other, Chinese, artists. This time, his hard work has led to a big solo exhibition in C-Space in Beijing (Peking) and a smaller dress size, as some of his more intimate friends might have noticed. From the 31st of October until February 2010, various sculptures in porcelain, bronze and some crystal chandeliers will be on display.
Have a look at www.c-spacebeijing.com or drop by!

BLOW UP Studio VollaersZwart

The location of this new Graffitibriljant in the borough of Prins Alexander in Rotterdam is the overpass that lifts the A16 over the 's Gravenweg. The overpass was once a piece of concrete scourged by tags, but with the aid of this Graffitibriljant that has changed dramatically. For the design of BLOW UP, Studio Vollaerszwart was inspired by the tags on the walls of the overpass, which they blew up to monumental sizes. This Graffitibriljant was commissioned by dS+V and Centrum Beeldende Kunsten Rotterdam. www.cbk.rotterdam.nl

I love you more than …

You're receiving Mothership's newsletter and we like that a lot. Despite the summer heat, we did not fail to notice that starting this October, the regulations in the Netherlands regarding the sending of spam will be more strict. Our newsletter is definitely no advertising or spam. But if you, regrettably, do not wish to receive our newsletter any more, then gently click here.

“There are limits”!!

On 11, 12, and 13th of September, during the festival Wereld van Witte de With (Rotterdam, NL), Mothership presents several artworks that will be testing the limits.
'Prohibido el paso' by Gijs van Bon is an interactive artwork whereby the festival's visitors will determine the theatrical choreography of 8 mechanical barriers.
'Physics Distorter' by Jan van Nuenen is a video installation with a wireless remote control in the shape of a globe. This realistic computer simulation of a 1000 falling, bouncing and colliding objects on a façade in the Witte de Withstraat fortunately knows its own limits.
Dstruct will be employing it's crowd controllers and keep an eye on the visitors, making sure that no limits will be exceeded.
If your limits have been exceeded, you can now grab your chance to pillory your friends, acquaintances or family at Stick Up. After being taped to the mobile pillory, they can be paraded down the street. Check www.festivalwww.nl for the complete programme.

Billy Apple®

By commission of Sculpture International Rotterdam (SIR) and Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art, two large billboards with texts of the artist Billy Apple® have been installed in the public space of Rotterdam. “The artist has to live like everybody else” is placed on the façade of the Weenapoint B building, facing Central Station. “From sculpture international Rotterdam collection” has been placed on the façade of the building of foundation MEE Rotterdam at the Schiedamse Vest, temporarily taking the place of Laan Irodjojo's artwork. The billboards will be on display until the 13th of September, during the solo exhibition of Billy Apple® at Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art.
www.wdw.nl
www.sculptureinternationalrotterdam.nl more

Buff Diss: Indivi DUVEL isme

Saatchi & Saatchi approached Mothership to come up with a special live performance for the campaign “IndiviDUVELisme” for Duvel, a Belgian beer. Mothership presented them tape artist Buff Diss from Melbourne, who created 2 designs on billboards at the Leidsplein in Amsterdam. The "duvelish" plan was well received.
BUFFdiss' photostream more

Arno Coenen: Mega-Mosaic III

The district Kanaleneiland in Utrecht has commissioned another artwork by Arno Coenen. In his own visual language, Coenen designed his third mega mosaic made with coloured concrete tiles.
Previously, Coenen designed an enormous mosaic called “Virtual Fairytale 2.0”, consisting of contemporary fairytale figures from computer games, and “I HVNT TLD HLF OF WHT I SW!”, a large mosaic depicting the display of a mobile phone and a quote from Marco Polo.
Coenen's visual language was chosen again for a mosaic of coloured concrete tiles, that will be a central point amidst schools, soccer fields and basketball courts.
www.arnocoenen.nl

Haas&Hahn: Combi

Being a part of Brazil-Rotterdam, the Combi van of artists Haas&Hahn is driving through Rotterdam, acting as a mobile multi-media centre. You will either shudder or enjoy whilst looking at the old Volkswagen, when it's showing movies about the real life in the favelas. In previous years the artists have created large scale paintings with youths and inhabitants of no-go-area's in Rio de Janeiro. www.favelapainting.com more

Vincent Dekkers: Masterclass

During the Summer Events of Your World, photographer Vincent Dekkers was asked to teach a master class to young people. After the master class, the youngsters went out to take some nice pictures.
The funniest, craziest, best pictures will be on display in September on the ventilation pipes at the Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam.
Vincent Dekkers' own work consists mainly of street photography and photographic reports of youth cultures and the multicultural society. Since 2005 he has photographed hundreds of young people, using themes such as work, sport and games, daily environment and religion. www.vincentdekkers.com

Dstruct & Rnul: Free Gaming Round 2

Free Gaming Round 2 recently took place at the Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam (NL). For a day, the square was being controlled by games computers, gamers and artists. Rnul presented 'Control Me Life', in which you could shoot the Free Gaming visitors (on a screen). With this artwork, Rnul wants to bring up these kind of games for discussion. The lighter work 'The Tomato Killer' enabled the audience to throw tomatoes on screen at people and game related characters.
Dstruct presented 'Noise Joy', a life size joystick with which you could manipulate 8-bit computer sounds.
www.rnul.nl
www.dstruct.nl more

Nomination for 'The Flying Grass Carpet' by HUNK-design and ID-Eddy

Mothership is proud to have been the first that believed in the progressive concept of the flying city park. At Artpie Amsterdam 2008, Mothership enabled the launch of the flying carpet, which has since then been flying from town to town. A year and a half later, it is nominated for the Dutch Audi Design Award 2009. The winner will be announced during the award show on the 17th of October. We've been keeping our fingers crossed for a while already. You too can vote on 'The Flying Grass Carpet' at www.dutchdesignawards.nl

Enter The World of Mothership

Mothership is really proud of all its projects and artists. Many of them have been filmed.
www.youtube.com/user/EnterTheMothership

With love
Mothership

Newsletter #12, June 2009

Mosaic and prints representing “A pot of gold on South”
Artist: Arno Coenen

Inspired by the environment of the Polderplein in the Hillesluis district in Rotterdam (NL), Arno Coenen made an artwork, commissioned by the Feijenoord borough of Rotterdam, for a wall of 1,5 meters high and 22 meters long.

The work, made of glass mosaic tiles and printed ceramic tiles, contains Coenen's typical symbolism and honour and is placed on the wall that separates the Fatih mosque from the Polderplein. On the square (plein), a lot of kids play and parents gather there to have a chat with each other. From now on, the conversations will most likely be be about the golden composition of the culturally diverse Rotterdam South.

The artwork makes a positive contribution to the direct environment and was recently festively opened by Rene Kronenberg (portfolio manager Art & Culture) and Soufian Touzani (local soccer talent). Except for the Fatih mosque, also a primary school and a branch of Duimdrop (playground facility) can be found at the square. Also those who physically contributed to the work can be found within walking distance: pupils and teachers of secondary school OSGT Nieuw Zuid.
Also Roelof Kok from Foundation NRC is also thanked for making this artwork possible.

www.arnocoenen.nl more

AVRO KunstUur's interest in the artists Arno Coenen, Cirque de Pepin, Transister and Hans van Bentem

The artists have been interviewed, together with their artworks, for the series “Van de Straat” (From the Street), part of the television program AVRO KunstUur. The episodes are completely dedicated to art in the public space: art that is on the street and is accessible to every one. The program invites the viewer every week to think about the fact that one doesn't necessarily needs to go to a museum to experience art.
Last May 2nd, the “The Pink Underpass” by Transister was shown, on May 30th “Lady and her dwarf” by Cirque de Pepin and Hans van Bentem's ceramic sculpture “Guard” will be shown this fall.

Check http://kunstuur.avro.nl for any of the concerning episodes.

Wreath of light around Ossip Zadkine's sculpture “De verwoeste stad”

Every year on the 14th of May, various commemorations and ceremonies are held in memory of the bombardment of Rotterdam. To make sure that we don't forget how horrible the war was and to think about the wars in other parts of the world.

During the Year of Architecture in 2007, Mothership gave a spectacular overview of the scale of the devastation at the time. The enormous scale of the devastation could be seen in one glance. In 2008 the bombardment was commemorated in the same impressive way.

This year, a wreath of light was put around the sculpture “De verwoeste stad”. Preceding the wreath of light, the city's poet Jana Beranová recited a poem, specially written for the 14th of May. During a short ceremony, the beams of light were positioned around the sculpture in a circle, after which they converged above the sculpture. At 01.27 AM, exactly 12 hours after the commencement of the bombing, the lights were turned off. The city of Rotterdam has the intention to repeat this ceremony every year. more

Coppered tiles and high-tech on the Walk of Fame of Rotterdam

The Walk of Fame Europe Foundation asked Mothership to make a plan for a total make-over of the Walk of Fame on the Schiedamsedijk in Rotterdam (NL). Besides upgrading the visual aspect, such as re-arranging and coppering the tiles, also a virtual aspect will be added.

Together with Connectholland, a plan has been made that enables visitors via their mobile phone to get more info about the celebrities with a tile in the Walk of Fame. The celebrities will tell a story about their special relation with Rotterdam. Think of Tom Jones, who “receives” a lot of underwear during concerts, enticing you to Marlies Dekkers' sexy lingerie shop. Click here to listen to the fragment about Tom Jones, made by Hans Wessels.

Hereby we would like to take the opportunity to invite entrepreneurs in Rotterdam that are interested in getting involved in a similar way, to contact Mothership and ask for Mathijs Goorhuis on 010-280 71 71 or send an email to: info@enterthemothership.com

Las Palmas building has a new artwork, titled “Loading Ready Run”
Artists: Geert Mul and Maurer United Architects

"Loading Ready Run" is an interactive artwork, representing the cultural organizations housed in the Las Palmas building. They are Nederlands Fotomuseum, LP II – space for urban culture and SKVR Beeldfabriek. The artwork is made by commission of both the Centrum Beeldende Kunst Rotterdam and the previously named organizations.

The work that is continuously in motion, lights up like a big kaleidoscopic lamp as soon as someone approaches it. It invites visitors to interact with the work, since the moving images react to the visitors. Also there is the possibility to upload your own images into the artwork, thus creating a reflection of the contemporary culture of images.

The artwork has recently been opened by the artists and the director of the Nederlands Fotomuseum, Ruud Visschedijk. Images of the opening have been uploaded into the artwork and can be seen there!

www.geertmul.nl
www.maurerunited.com more

Skull Chandelier now to be admired every year during the Lowlands Festival.
Artist: Hans van Bentem

During the 2008 edition of the three-day A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise festival, one of Van Bentem's chandeliers was on loan and lit up the press tent. The Lowlands organization was so charmed by the artwork, that they decided to purchase a skull with crossed bones for themselves.

www.hansvanbentem.nl

Honour to the people of Rotterdam

The concept for this mark of honour was created by a specially founded project group. The project group consists of Jaap Toorenaar (Art director of advertising agency ARA and father of the concept), Jacqueline de Jong (town councillor for the Labour party (PvdA)), Hans Walchenbach (director Historical Museum), Kees Vrijdag (Chamber of Commerce) and Jeroen Everaert (Mothership), all residing in Rotterdam.
The mark of honour is about all the names and dates of birth of people of Rotterdam that lived and worked in Rotterdam during and since 15 May 1940. They relate to approx. 3 million people, who have rebuild the city from the shards of the bombing to the modern and largest port of Europe that it is today. Via keyboards spread all over the city, that are connected to the LED nets in the bridge part of the Hef (former railway bridge), names will light up within a minute.
Since the realization of this mark of honour is not definite yet, we kindly invite you to express your opinion via the website www.eerbetoonaanderotterdammers.nl (in Dutch only)
www.eerbetoonaanderotterdammers.nlmore

Is that a crystal pistol in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?
Chandelier for Madonna

None other than Madonna, the Queen of Pop, now owns a chandelier for one of the rooms for her children in her apartment in London. Hans van Bentem based his 50cm tall and 75cm long design for this Gun on the Colt .38 Detective Special. For us and Hans van Bentem, every customer is a Queen or King; whether Pop or not.
www.RockAndRoyal.com

Basement Jaxx shows an animation by Jan van Nuenen during European tour

Basement Jaxx is a famous British dance-duo, consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe. They have scored hits with songs as "Good Luck" and "Where's Your Head At", were the support act for Robby Williams and did remixes for artists such as Justin Timberlake, Pet Shop Boys, Daft Punk and Missy Elliot. All this is just an introduction to the fact that 'our' Jan van Nuenen made an animation exclusively for the song 'Scars'. The animation can now be seen during the European tour of 2009.
www.janvannuenen.com
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Wreath of light surrounds "De Verwoeste Stad"

Foto: Martijn Scholten
On May 14th it will be 69 years ago that the bombardment on Rotterdam took place. On this day several commemorations and ceremonies will take place. As a final ceremony a wreath of light will be "placed" around the statue "De Verwoeste Stad" by Ossip Zadkine. Previous to this the poet Jana Beranová will recite a poem.
You are welcome on the 14th of May at 22.45 hours at Plein 1940 to witness the ceremony.

Special monument René Kempenaar becomes collective art work in Almere
Artist: Arno Coenen

For years, René Kempenaar, who suddenly died on April 16th in 2007, fully dedicated himself to the young people of Almere. He wanted to create a cool hang-out for them, where they could gather and breakdance. Shortly after his death, many youngsters requested a mark of honour for this remarkable man and his work. The town of Almere, in cooperation with Museum De Paviljoens and the Kempenaar family answered their call. Together with the Kempenaar family, Arno Coenen made a beautiful design that shows different aspects of René, like the octagonal mosaic floor that refers to martial arts such as Pencak Silat for which he had a great interest. He was a good example for young people and received a royal decoration (“lintje”) which was given to him by Queen Beatrix. The tiles of 33m2 mosaic have mainly been laid by the youngsters of Almere, who in this way can show a lasting appreciation for him. The monument will be unveiled after the summer of 2009, in the city centre of Almere.
www.arnocoenen.nl
www.depaviljoens.nl

Mothership to Riyad (Saudi Arabia) with VJ crew 113B
Tymen Cieraad, Rob Donkers and Fred Abbingh

Together with Paul van Oort of Van Oort Culturele Zaken, a plan was made for the Dutch Embassy in Saudi Arabia to celebrate the traditional Queen's Day on April 30th, together with their diplomatic relations. Mothership invited VJ crew 113B to create a VJ-set that shows a transformation of contemporary typical Dutch images. The images were projected on the Embassy building. Accordionist Fred Abbingh took care of the typical Dutch music to accompany the images.
www.culturelezaken.nl
www.robdonkers.nl
www.tymencieraad.nl more

Plaque for soccer club Feyenoord
Artist: Cirque de Pepin

Commissioned by the borough of Feijenoord (Rotterdam, NL), Pepijn van den Nieuwendijk (a.k.a. Cirque de Pepin) made a plaque to commemorate the founding of the soccer club Feyenoord. In the year of the 100th anniversary of the soccer club Feyenoord, the borough -where the club's roots are- had decided to mark the former location of café "De Vereeniging". The café was the location where the soccer club a 101 years ago (in 1908) was founded. The plaque is made of ceramic and hand painted by Pepijn.

Since 30 December 2008 a replica had been on the facade. On April 14th the original plaque was placed and can now be admired at the Damstraat 2 in Rotterdam.

We would like to thank Roelof Kok of Stichting Nieuwe Rotterdamse Cultuur for recommending us for this commission.
www.cirque.nl
www.stichtingnrc.nl
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Miss Publicity & Mothership

From left to right:Esther van der Leer, founder Clarissa Slingerland, Cristèl Klandermans and Leonieke Hinse.
Mothership was charmed out of their pants by a young, professional and inspired Marketing and Public Relations agency. That's not strange, considering the fact that Miss Publicity consists of 4 female professionals. In their willful and progressive way, they generate the desired publicity for their clients and supply the press with relevant information. Because of these ladies, Mothership now appears a lot more in the regional and national press, like Metro, NRC, and the Financieel Dagblad. Thanks to them, a true boost in publicity was generated for and about our company, surrounding the winning of the Ketelbinkie prize on the 3rd of March this year.
www.misspublicity.nl

Sophisticated interactive project TIJDVERKIJKER in Maastricht
Artist: Geert Mul

In the building of MFA Malberg (Multi Funcional Accomodation) in Maastricht (NL), the sophisticated project TIJDVERKIJKER has been realized. For the artist, the beautiful rural environment and the special light of the district Malberg were the basis for the design. The surrounding landscape can be admired inside the building by means of a camera on the roof that is filming the environment. This camera can turn 360 degrees and is connected to a control panel located in the main hall. The recorded images are stored in a database and shown non-stop on LCD screens, thus also showing the relation between time and the seasons in the artwork. Via a wheel on the control panel, the users of the building can control the camera and manipulate time.
www.geertmul.nl more

The Urban Lightguide by Rnul during the Rotterdamse Museumnacht 2009
Artists: Rob Donkers en Aart Muis

On March 7th of this year, the mayor of Rotterdam -Ahmed Aboutaleb- opened the "Rotterdamse Museumnacht" (the Rotterdam Museumnight) and thereby also the musical artwork of Rnul. They created the “Urban Lightguide”, in which the spectator is the main character, specially for this night. With four large spotlights, the audience could illuminate different elements on and around the Schielandhuis (Historical Museum), looking for sounds from the city.
www.rnul.nl more

Artists collective Blossum brightens up Nieuwegein

The only airline company on this planet specialized in flowerrains, flew over Nieuwegein on April 21st. With the the flowerrains, Nieuwegein celebrates the start of the construction of the new inner city.
www.blossum.commore

Ketelbinkie 2008 for Mothership!

Photographer Ed Dewaerheijt

On the 3rd of March, Mothership was competing with Railz Miniworld and Rotterdam Port Experience for the Ketelbinkieprijs. The prize is meant for an entrepreneur or an organization from Rotterdam, who has profiled itself in an original way during the last year, and put the Rotterdam character on the map.
The prize was presented by mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, to a proud Mothership. It's agreed upon that Mothership bridges the gap between the art world and business world, making sure that both artist and client are content with the outcome of each project.
www.ketelbinkie.nl

Eighth Museumnight of Rotterdam: “The Urban Lightguide” of Rnul (Rob Donkers and Aart Muis)

On Saturday the 7th of March, more than 40 museums and galleries will open their doors between 20.00 and 02.00. The start of this eighth Museumnight will literally be put in the limelight by the for us now well known mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb. For this ocassion, the artists initiative Rnul Interactive (www.rnul.nl) specially designed a spectacular musical piece of art with the spectator as main character. This piece of art will open the Museumnight at 19.45 in front of the Schielandhuis.
For more information www.rotterdamsemuseumnacht.nl

LoadingReadyRun – Las Palmas Rotterdam: Geert Mul en Maurer United Architects (MUA)

Geert Mul (www.geertmul.nl) and the duo Marc and Nicole Maurer of MUA (www.maurerunited.com) designed an installation for the cultural organizations (Nederlands Fotomuseum , LP2 and Beeldfabriek) in the Las Palmas building. This piece of art at the Kop van Zuid has been commissioned by the Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst Rotterdam. The design is a installation of monitors and mirrors in the porters lodge in front of the building. Via sensors the installation reacts to the passers-by. Via an upload point, passers-by can add their own pictures to the installation, after which they are “lifted” and strengthened by doubling and categorizing. The official opening is on the 19th of March, but it's ready to use for the public. We all invite you to test “LoadingReadyRun” by uploading your pictures.

Your World Rotterdam 2009 listens to the dreams of the young people: Dstruct (Thijs Kelder)

Photographer Ivar Teunissen

Rotterdam has been declared the first youth capitol of Europe. Your World, the brand name of the project, aims its activities at the youth aged between 12 and 18 years. During the two-day event Create Your World on the 24th and 25th of January, 300 young people had the opportunity to take part in a program where they could pitch, talk about and develop their dreams.
The theme of the decoration, designed by Thijs Kelder of Dstruct (www.dstruct.nl), was “Helden” (Heroes). Heroes like Mohammed Ali, Ghandi and Johan Cruijf were seen on badges, big panels and pillows. The most eye-catching thing was the “Heldengalerij” (Hall of heroes), to which during the event the portraits of the participants were added. By photographing, editing and printing on the spot the portraits decorated the “Your Space”.
This project was realized is order of Container. more

Mothership in Iceland on Valentinesday: “Ä—g heiti Jeroen Everaert, gá»›tt kvöld”.

Mothership was invited by the CIA.IS (Center for Icelandic Art) in cooperation with the Nordic Culture House in Reykjavik, to speak about the impressive light project “De Brandgrens”. The international conference was not about the excess of women in Iceland, but about light and the city, art and light, feeling and space; with the focus on the importance of qualitative lighting in a city environment. Besides Mothership, several light designers, architects and theoretics from all over Europe were invited, to shed their light on the subject.
www.cia.is

TijdVerKijker-Multi Functional Accomodation (MFA) Malberg-Maastricht: Geert Mul

A progressive project for which Geert Mul took the beautiful rural countryside and the special light of the Maastricht area Malberg as points of departure. With this art work, Geert Mul (www.geertmul.nl) wants to make the relation between the scenery and the built environment transparent. In order to visualize this relation, the installation literally takes a birds-eye view. The work shows the relation between 'time' and 'seasons' and has an interactive character to make individual exploration possible and to share this with others. The opening is on the 20th of March.

Replica statues for real Feyenoord supporters: Hans van Bentem

For the 100th anniversary of Feyenoord, the Rotterdam based artist Hans van Bentem (www.hansvanbentem.nl) made a unique bronze statue by commission of the supportersclub of Feyenoord. The supporters were given the opportunity to order one of these limited edition statues. The bronze statues have a diameter of 19 cm and are circa 31 cm tall. The bronze statue is painted by hand and covered with gold leaf. There are still 3 of these unique statues left. Will you be one of the lucky few to own one of these? more

Festive opening of Graffitibriljant Kralingen-Crooswijk: Transister (Hanneke van Leeuwen en Nelleke Boerkoel)

The Kralingen-Crooswijk underpass has been redone and in pink. The ceiling and the bus stop are painted bright pink, the pillars have been decorated with different designs and the two slanting walls have been decorated with beautiful portraits of 'the youth of today' and 'the youth of then'. For the the portraits, Transister visited the neighborhood. Wednesday 25th of March, between 16.00 and 16.30 the pink underpass will be opened by alderman Lucas Bolsius (initiator of the Graffitibriljants) and Lucas de Boer. Transister, the portrayed people and everyone else who made this project possible, will also be there. more