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09/05/2005: "Art and nature walk "The Legend""

We did start with a symposium art-in-nature on the 19th of May. After several discussions and talks we did choose the name which is the headline above this article. It was a clever decision as we understood later. People of the region know about this story and people from other parts of the country liked to know about it. That because it is a dramatic story and it was perfect to inspire the artists.


The Legend is a dramatic story about two evil giants living in the province Drenthe in the Netherlands long time ago. This province was rough and poor and the landscape was open with not many trees and forests but it has very big parts of hay fields, swifting sands and peat lands. The part where the giants live was more in the sandy part with rough hayfields and very small villages spread over the place. In that region they did their evil work. Robbing and killing people. The two guys (father and son, Ellert and Brammert) live in a hole in the ground and put long lines of rope over the different roads and paths. At the end of the rope in their hole they put a little bell. So when travellers passed they touch the line and the two robbers heard the bell ringing. Out they went, killed the people and make a good and easy living.

One day they captured a beautiful farmers daughter called Marieke. The evil men took here in their home and she had to wash the dishes, make the food but she also was captured for sexual intercourse. Seven years long and every year baby was born. Seven babies killed by the ruthless guys. After that seven years one day Marieke, alone with the father, took an ask and killed the sleeping giant. She runs away heading for her own house far away. Suddenly Brammerts was after her. He trow another ask to kill poor Marieke. But lucky she was, the ask missed her and catched the door of the house of her parents.

The villagers where very happy that Marieke was coming home but she where still afraid of the giant and his friends. So all the people left the region and try to make a living elsewhere.

Inspiration and social piece of art

This story was for 10 international artists starting point for the pieces.

Working for about 14 days together means also living together and have the time to exchange ideas and knowledge. But also there is time for relaxing and visiting interesting events or museums. So we visited the world famous Kröller-Muller Museum based at the National Park ‘De Hoge Veluwe’ and a nice sculpture garden and gallery near the location of the project itself. Also we join the international Blues And Jazz Night in the city of Emmen.

Important is also the information meetings for inhabitants. The village we worked in is Schoonoord with about 1200 people. Many came to this meetings with the organisation and the artists. So altogether the symposium is also something like a social piece of art. Like you can see viewing the website www.natuurkunstdrenthe.nl.

Next step

In the meantime we are thinking about 2006 and how to find funding and so on. What we need also is support from artists all over the world. Send an email with your opinion to defluiter@planet.nl , all the messages will be put on the site. It show for the decision makers the importance of this kind of art with its worldwide network.



(Photo: ‘Connected’ by Anna Mul (Netherlands) symbol for the strong connection of the girl Marieke with the earth.)



Adri A.C. de Fluiter

Visual artist/curator

Chairman of the foundation
Adri A.C. de Fluiter
globalARTfund
Meulenakker 6
NL-7841 EP SLEEN

Replies: 7 Comments

on Tuesday, September 6th, Hyacinthe Baron said

Andrew: Great metaphor. Just a side comment. When I was very young and so intense about my painting, I spent all night working on the eye of a mother and was convinced I had created the greatest eye ever painted. Got a few hours sleep, awoke anxious to see if my "high" held and yes, it had. I had painted the most beautiful eye and it was down by the baby's foot. Just an example of how we must always keep our eye on the bigger picture don't you think?

on Tuesday, September 6th, jose said

Andrew, I get the zen thing. I probably misunderstood the word 'range' too - took it to mean the scope of your work - the tree thing is masterfuly stated. I just couldn't understand that first sentence and started scribbling away.

on Tuesday, September 6th, walt said

Adri,
Very interesting project. I would have liked to see some of it but the link you provided doesn't seem to work. I like myths. They fill the well of my imagination with all sorts of metaphors and archetypes. As Jackson Pollock said "I am nature" and for me working from my imagination is equal to working from nature. For instance the giants' system of ropes and bells is much like the webs of certain spiders who live in small holes and crevices and spin a web that travels out onto the ground and grass and debris lying about their holes. They keep a foot on one of the web strands so they know when something has tripped the bell so to speak. I pictured the giants as huge bearded black spiders with hairy legs. (Funny, I also pictured them bald on top.) Wish I had time to particpate in projects like this one. But as Andrew suggested, staying within the limits of the river bed in which I flow is quite important at the moment. A river without banks is a swamp and goes no where.

on Tuesday, September 6th, Andrew said

Jose, I wasn't teasing, and if I was after hits I would have said that in my own blog, and run up the number of comments, too. If I share this bit, I won't be the only benefactor. But to the main point you raised among the others;
Let me not use a skyscraper (man made), but a tree (nature). Because of its essence, being fixed to one spot, a tree has no choice but to grow upwards or outwards, remaining attached to its trunk or trunks. Within its limits, it can become exquisite, and usually does. By turning our artistic creativity towards a single theme, we become like that tree, limited in our mobility (theme) but therefore more powerful within our limits. It's just a part of my artistic way, that's all, if I have to do just a nose, it'll probably be better than the nose I put on a whole statue, because I'm going to give it 100% of my attention. 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' talks about how you can build a perfectly functioning motor only by keeping the individual task elements separate from each other, from the total end result, and performing each one with zen like perfection. If you spend too much time dreaming about how its going to feel whizzing down the road while you're working on the motor, you don't build one as well. Zen like attention to the way you turn each single screw, even if a master mechanic has to make you do this one thing hundreds of times before you're turned loose, produces magical results. That's what I meant.

on Tuesday, September 6th, jose freitas cruz said

Keep up the good work Adri. Nature will always be a great teacher and source of inspiration with and without the myths.

Andrew, you surprise me. Surely as a sculptor you realise that skyscrapers are vulnerable and prone to crumble, they are as far removed from the lessons of nature as we are close to finding happiness living on the moon. steady sustainable growth in art comes from dedication and persistence in the long-run, and its richness comes from what our sieve lets through after all the experimentation - and the more of that the richer. Focus should not be on the range and keeping it limited for the benefit of quick ascension (the perfectioning of a mere product) but on the goal (our Art) and mastering all the approaches that can lead us to it [or at least as many as possible]. If we allow ourselves to rise too high, too soon and too narrowly we will soon find ourselves just there - too afraid to take a leap that may prove necessary from our edifice to the next [from one branch to another?]… or were you teasing us and all you aimed at was at getting more hits on your page?

on Tuesday, September 6th, Andrew said

I think I should mention, that if any of you readers have a page on Absolutearts, posting a comment here will send more viewers to your page than you'd get otherwise. Your message is posted with a link.
I think the idea of limiting the range within which artists can work, allows them to achieve greater heights in what they produce. Like skyscrapers.

on Monday, September 5th, Hyacinthe Baron said

Of course we agree that this is a wonderful "walk" as you describe it. Artists have been doing this for eons, coming together for no purpose other than the making of "Art".
Interesting that there is a "legend" to inspire the creation of art works. At our gallery in the Gaslamp in San Diego we did a similar exhibition in which ten artists created new works based on a single "Muse" Kate. A 6 foot tall blonde who wanted to be a "Star" not necessarily an actress, the variety of different styles revealed in paintings, sculptures, etched glass, photographs was unbelievable. Same girl, totally different revelations of the diversity of the way artist's see and interpret.
Now, not to far from the Baron Conservancy in Wonder Valley, California, there is the legend of Kimerica. The artists created a myth of an unheard of people who go about the world leaving symbols etched in concrete floors of old miners cabins.
I personally prefer that art be inspired by nature not myth. Surely the landscape nurtures the imagination with constantly shifting sands, and winds, and water play.
I intend to have artists join me to make TRACES, fiberglass epoxy and cloth sculptures to capture nature's handiworks wrought upon the desert floor. We will create Elements, fragments that will not only reflect the landscape, but will be valid representations of a moment in time and space.
I wish you all the luck in the world carrying out your project and hope you will keep us posted as to your progress.