Improvisations by Henri van Zanten» Category ‘Visual Arts’ | Improvisations by HvZ

Cut the Crap – A Random Road Movie (TENT, Rotterdam)

henri — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:28:30 +0000

This material was presented as a random installation at the art exhibition “Oh no, not again – Zelfportret in groepsverband” in TENT, Rotterdam in November 2002

Eric West, MC Wisecrack, Henri van Zanten (director), Chuka, Le Lot

A nice reminder of how wild life can be…& free in true action

Punk Research Centre presents itself for first time with a wild improv by Frauduleus

henri — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:59:07 +0000

The Punk Research Centre (PRC) presented itself for the first time to the general public on the 1st of May 2008 in Exit / Rotterdam. The PRC created with it’s performance squad Frauduleus – consisting of the PRC founders Prof. Sidhy Idiopath and Stigmadome – a wild and yet controlled improvised atmosphere of astonishment and revolutionary potential. Using staccato cut video clips projected on them and the soundtracks as accompaniment for their freestyle and Sprechgesang. Of course the reactionary members of the audience said it was old-fashioned and had been done before. But those living in the present took the improvised presentation of the PRC’s definition, ideology and style, all in their own way. This was just a modest warming up.It served as dissonant/dissident upbeat for Fuck the Writer’s first appearance with the new line up of his band the Illiterates and with repertoire from their coming cd. The brilliant, lively and critcal songs of FTW were welcomed like a spring rain. When FTW said Punk didn’t exist anymore, he actually used a punk-like provocation and a historical definition of the term punk. Prof. Sidhy is operating from a far wider interpretation. To be continued…

The Voices of baby Lon – refreshing Revelation 17-18

henri — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:29:50 +0000

A sound sculpture by Jeroen Everaert, a gifted artist who unfortunately gave up creating art to become very good producer. It was part of a group exhibition in the Big Church in the Hague in 1999. The exhibition was called Salva Mea (Save Me). Young artists were invited to react with their work to the church as institute and symbol of Western society. Everaert chose to exhibit the 6 metre high speakers – normally used for the sermons – as a sculpture. He asked me and Monique Benthin to dramatize the text of the chapters 17, 18 from Revelation, in which the whore of Babylon is cursed by the prophet. If you listen to The Voices of baby Lon, you will realize the true situation fully. Good clean fun!

Bluebeard framed in nightmarish phototheatre (1992)

henri — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:04:04 +0000

It was the the photographer Wink van Kempen – who gave me good advice and support at the beginning of my career and made brilliant photo’s for my catalogue Theatrical Research since 1984 and for many other occasions – who proposed to create a new artform: phototheatre! His motivation was simple: as theatre is only in the moment and evaporates in time and photography on the other hand freezes sublime moments into timeless scenes, why not use the latter to create a kind of stopmotion interpretation of drama.

The first story we chose to use for this purpose was that of Bluebeard. After some research it became clear that historically speaking there was very little to hold onto. So i started off writing my own interpretation in a series of poems in prose. In itself a kind of stopmotion. There was no real plot. There were scenes, suggestions of drama, flashes of metaphysics and pure poetry. The title i gave to it was Bluebeard paints his beard.

Then we started making the photo’s (slides). The first presentation was a tape-slide production we produced commissioned by RoTheater in Rotterdam. After one show – only for the group – it wasn’t shown again. The form was too revolutionary for normal people working in normal theatre. They were shocked and thought it an unforgivable sign of vanity that I had acted Bluebeard myself. How pathetic. However we weren’t allowed to take the tape and slides. RoTheater had paid for it, so it was their property, although they didn’t like it (i.e. grasp it). However years later we wanted to show it in a retrospective. We informed, but it had been thrown away when they moved into their own theatre. Unbelievable disrespect and stupidity. I only tell this anecdote as counterpoint to the silent immortal beauty of photography. Of course we had kept the originals.

In 2002 only the slides were shown in random order, projected on the name Bluebeard in Gothic letters. No text. That was in the Oh no not again exhibition.

But apart from the theatrical presentation, the photographic interpretation of Bluebeard and the poems in prose have inspired me to work on a graphic symbiosis together Willem Westerik. Here are the first pages of this work in progress.

Wordrattle=Taalratel – interactive sculpture for Dordtselaan – 2006

henri — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:04:22 +0000

The Wordrattle consists of a matrix of 7 x 7 words. It is like a gambling machine. When someone presses the button, headed by the text: they are your words, the matrix will randomly pick another order of the words. A new meaning has to be given. The Wordrattle is the result of my wish to remind my fellow citizens in a playfull and yet enigmatic way of the responsibility we have towards what we say, what we think, what we accept as real, either in word or action, and what should be the silence, as rest.

View original concept in Dutch as PDF

The matrix should be read vertical. Here follows the free translation : horizontal.

THE ONE IS DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER

OTHERWISE THE OTHER  WOULD BE THE ONE

BUT ONE AND ZERO IS ALREADY MORE

THEREFORE  BETWEEN NOTHING AND EVERYTHING A LOT

WHY SHOULD WE  NOT SEE THAT THEN

COMPARE THE DIFFERENCE  AND ENJOY THE LOT

LOSE COUNT AND ENJOY THE SHARING

Wordtotem=Taaltotem – Concept for Dordtselaan Rotterdam – 2006

henri — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:14:25 +0000

Wordtotem =Taaltotem – is a concept for an interactive language sculpture for the Dordtselaan in Rotterdam, developed by Henri van Zanten in collaboration with Ir. Andries Micke.

It was the result of a commission by Stichting De Vrije Parel (Free Pearl Foundation) and the SKOR (Stichting Kunst Openbare Ruimte = Foundation for Art in Public Space)

It was rejected as being too monumental. Then van Zanten and Micke came up with the Wordrattle=Taalratel. Indeed a more transparant and fitting sculpture. See also Wordrattle=Taalratel.

Making art with reality – I call it: Suerealism

henri — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:20:58 +0000

The visual arts give us the opportunity to escape from the locust-plague of words and the desert of rationality. Not that a desert can’t be cosy or words nourishing. Yet you could also experience the visual arts as obstructions in the way of relieve (thusindicating it at the same time.!), rather than too or three dimensional objects or installations, tortured by subjective interpretations and taking revenge on their observers, either consciously or subconsciously.

For me visual art is just good clean fun! I forget time, myself, the world, the signs, their significance. I mean, i am just playing with matter. I enjoy being surprised! I pass that on. Far gone ! Explanations are tombstones. I am not a graveyard yet! I disappear or cremate myself. Let me put it this way: visual art is a way to escape your humanness. The excepted mess of functionality.

Have a look, sue realism or be blinded by societease!

And the rest is silence, is visual, is art.

Wordrattle=Taalratel – interactive sculpture for Dordtselaan – 2006