SPOT ON! enchanted the Netherlands
In 12 places in the Netherlands, unusual buildings were literally and figuratively put in the light in recent weeks: SPOT ON! On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Bridge Keepers’ Houses Foundation, the bridge keepers’ houses were each given their own special line of poetry, combined with a multicoloured interplay of lines with light.
SPOT ON! is a light art event that took place from November to January 2023. The project drew attention to the meaning and value of these cottages, which are increasingly losing their original function.
Mothership was behind the concept and in turn asked lighting artist Marco Broeders to create the lighting design. In Zwolle, Apeldoorn, Leeuwarden, The Hague, Haarlem, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Den Bosch, Maastricht, Almere, Middelburg and Groningen, he provided the inside of the houses with transparent colourfully printed foil with transparent ink, lit from the inside. With horizontal stripes, the colours evoke a memory of land, water and sky, of a landscape with a horizon. Each town has its own colour pattern to match its character.
In collaboration with local residents and stakeholders, several city poets wrote a poem especially for the occasion, fitting the cottage. A line was chosen from this and incorporated into the lighting design by Marco Broeders.
SPOT ON! has been widely embraced by the various cities. The light is now off and is missed by local residents and passers-by.