Launch of The Collection

MINUTES
Launch of The Collection
Thursday January 14, 2010
Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam

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1.
Karin Laglas (Board member SKOR) welcomed all those present and made a general introduction. ‘The Collection’ represents an initiative for continuing to ensure that art works are undertaken in the case sector. In the book that bears the same title, presented today, approximately 350 art projects in the care sector are described, as realised by SKOR over the past 25 years.

2.
Tracy Metz questioned Tom van Gestel (senior curator of SKOR) about the art projects featured in the book and the plans involving ‘The Collection’.

TM: For a long time you have primarily been involved in art projects and artists. Does the disappearance of the scheme now mean that you are to become a fundraiser?

TvG: In many cases, finding additional funds was already part of my work. SKOR is never the sole financier. And we hope that for the new plans that there will be so much enthusiasm that sponsors will come knocking at our door.

TM: One appealing aspect of The Collection is that in the future, we will also be able to see the works of art in museums.

TvG: Absolutely. But it is certainly not the case that the new works will be produced solely for museums. The relationship between art and the care sector in projects of this kind is totally intrinsic; so there are plenty of other conceivably relevant locations for art works.
TM: And the works already created are now set to go on tour?

TvG: Some of them are as it were nailed down, but others are indeed suitable for putting on display elsewhere. The work on the slide, by Marlene Dumas for ’t Hooghuys in Etten-Leur, for example is now part of the exhibition Niet Normaal.

TM: Will the nature of commissions to artists also be changing?

TvG: To some extent. We will certainly not exclude the possibility that some works will still be made specific to a location, but in part the commissions will be less restrictive. I expect artists to be delighted with the fact that their commission gives them greater freedom.

TM: You have brought a number of examples with you of projects featured in the book.

TvG: That is correct. This for example is a work by Marijke van Warmerdam for the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital in Utrecht, a work that is already living a double life: in the hospital and on the exhibition circuit. The next work is by Ann Veronica Janssens for De Geestgronden in Bennebroek. This is a work that is more difficult to install elsewhere, not only because of the complex techniques employed, but also because it ties in so perfectly with its surroundings.

TM: The question of course arises as to how autonomous a work of art can be in such locations.

TvG: First and foremost the work must of course be a work of art, but on the other hand it would be very strange if it had no relation with its surroundings. The role of the commissioning party here is particularly important; for the artist, he acts as a sort of guide, and suggests the subject. In the next example, the artists Lino Hellings and Yvonne Dröge Wendel became totally immersed in the situation. Although their first idea was to produce something that would activate the residents of the nursing home, it emerged at a certain point that the residents wanted nothing more than to be left in peace. The train compartment they produced offers an environment in which to specifically find that peace.

TM: What we see here is a project by Erik van Lieshout for a psychiatric institution – it has the look of an additional sort of therapy …?

TvG: For him, it was a way of making contact with the clients: rebuilding a car with a huge sound system in it, and then driving around the grounds in the car, together with clients. It looks somewhat shocking, but the whole project went smoothly. Institutions of this kind of course involve certain sensitivities and there have been some controversies. For example the ‘scoreboard’ by Andre van Bergen at a forensic hospital in Nijmegen. The institution itself was delighted that the work drew attention to the problems surrounding forensic detention, but just when the work was completed, the subject received a great deal of negative media attention because on a number of occasions, forensic patients had failed to return from home leave. Questions were even asked in the Lower Chamber of the Dutch Parliament.

TM: I can imagine that there are designs that were never put into practice, for a whole number of reasons. Do you have any examples?

TvG: Certainly. This design for example by Stan Douglas for the RIAGG outpatients mental care organisation in Zwolle. I still hope that at some time it will be produced somewhere. Douglas was inspired by Querido and his descriptions of illnesses suffered by dock workers. The director of the institution left at around that time, but is now employed at Cordaan in Amsterdam. Who knows, perhaps the work will eventually end up there.

TM: How important are the people in the institution with which you collaborate?

TvG: Very important, naturally. And not only the directors (as in the example just given) but also the people who represent the rest of the staff and the clients.

TM: The intrinsic relationship between care institutions and art remains the central feature of The Collection.

TvG: Those ties have already established a long tradition, much longer and more broad-based, indeed, than the 25 years of SKOR featured in the book.

TM: The statement you recently made in a article in the NRC newspaper seems to me to offer an excellent quote to conclude this interview: “Think about literature. Which are the best novels? They are the books in which people make courageous attempts to live their life. Death, illness and wellbeing deal with existential issues. For that reason, the care sector provides such important themes for art.”

3.
Sjaak van der Geest (medical anthropologist associated with the University of Amsterdam) spoke about the relationship between illness and art, set against his own background.

If an anthropologist is invited to an event like this, what people generally want to hear are strange, far-away examples (drummers, fertility statues). Van de Geest’s experiences are neither so romantic nor artistic; during his fieldwork in far away hospitals, he came across depressing rooms crammed with too many people, and with too few medicines. Anthropologists also work at home, and here we will be talking about the Netherlands. How do people experience things – happiness, beauty, pain – and how can they be expressed? What is able to cover the content?

Van der Geest focused on the people for whom the works of art are intended. His colleague and professor of medical sociology Gerard Nijhof wrote a book about illness and pain, after he himself had survived bowel cancer. Putting the experience of pain into words is extremely difficult; words are not enough; pain opposes language, and even destroys it. Instead, we turn to artists who with their ‘outflanking movements’ can perhaps come closer to the core of the matter.

What does art mean for these people? In the book ‘The Collection’, Tom van Gestel wondered whether art can in fact be a form of medicine, but it is clear that he has his doubts. The book contains various contributions by architects, scientists and writers, but there is little actually about the clients themselves. So what does the book talk about? Bram Kempers talks about how little has changed since the era of religious art that was produced on behalf of the great patrons. Art is parachuted in from above, in the assumption that it will bring comfort, hope and distraction, and promotes the healing process. It is witness to a sort of paternalism, a regime of good taste; comparable to the ‘regime of hope’ that according to Abram de Swaan and Albert van Dantzig was imposed in the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital in the nineteen seventies (a publication on the issue was in fact destroyed by the hospital).

And what do the artists think? For them, these locations can be attractive places with plenty of visitors, like the Amsterdam Medical Centre. However, a large proportion of the AMC collection is in storage. The contribution by Marianne Brouwer considered the position of the artist; she asked herself how democratic the representation of art can and may be in these situations. She referred to a number of artists who are ambivalent on this issue, and in their projects, established a direct relationship with the clients. In many cases, however, artists are nervous about ‘the taste of the man on the street’. Cor Wagenaar, in his contribution, argued that art must remain art, irrespective.

Statements about the emancipation of the patient via art are fantasies or invocations of a reality that is entirely different. One important director suggested, ‘The artist needs to climb in bed beside the patient. He did not mean that the artist needs to get closer to the patient’s feelings, but rather that the art should be attached to the ceiling. Van der Geest’s conclusion was that SKOR – and the rest of us too– still have a long road to travel with art in care institutions. The first step on that long road is to deeply consider the question: What does this art do to the people for whom it is intended? Because that is something we still do not know

4.
Suzie Freeman from the collective Pharmacopoeia talked about the work of art Cradle to grave that forms part of The Collection, and is currently to be seen in the exhibition Niet Normaal. She started her career as a textile designer and developed a means of integrating pills in her knitted fabrics. She approached Dr Liz Lee for advice on the sort of pills that would be safe for this application. The collaboration resulted in a number of projects tailored to their individual situations: a dress in which all the birth control pills are integrated, that a woman would normally take over a 25-year period; a maternity dress with cigarette ends (the number matches the amount she permitted herself to smoke during her pregnancy, 1 pack a week) and a girl’s dress with pills that look like sweets. She discovered how strange it is that pills look like sweets, while taking pills mistaken for sweets (paracetamol or grandmother’s heart pills for example) is the major cause of poisoning amongst children.

Pharmacopoeia went on to study HIV and HIV medication, resulting in larger installations such s ‘Table talk’, a long table with twelve set places providing information and personal stories about people with HIV. The installations make information visible, show the data from their research and provide an image of the curriculum vitae of (ill) people. They also show that medicine consumption is treated differently in different countries. It was for example remarkable that in the Netherlands, arthritis is first treated with intensive physiotherapy, as a result of which Dutch patients in total consume far fewer pills. Alongside the larger projects, the collective also undertakes small assignments, such as designing wearable objects (watch chains, handbags) in which medicines for treating arthritis are integrated – a commission from the John Charnley Trust (John Charnley was the investor of the artificial hip).

Cradle to grave was originally produced for the British Museum. For the Dutch version, they relied on the national figures on prescription medicines. The installation shows an overview of the medicines that an average man and woman would take during their life. The man for example has hay fever and asthma; the woman takes birth control pills and a monthly dosage of Ibuprofen against menstruation pain. A second ‘narrative’ layer has been applied: family photographs of important moments in a human life, moments experienced in good or poor health. The installation for the British Museum was considerably longer; Freeman therefore concluded that during their lifetime, the average Dutch man or woman takes considerably fewer pills. She also noted that at an advanced age, the Dutch are prescribed better pills.

5.
Karin Laglas presented the first copy of the book The Collection. 25 jaar kunstprojecten in zorginstellingen 1985 – 2009 to Naomi de Rooy, chair of the client council of Mentrum. This council at the time explicitly came out in favour of a remarkable but controversial work of art by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, How to meet an Angel.

KL: After hearing Sjaak van der Geest, perhaps you could answer the question for us - what does art do for sick people?

NdR: In my opinion, it does three things. Firstly, it is vitally important that sick people enjoy a pleasant environment; art makes a contribution to that. It was long believed that the environment was unimportant. Research has shown that the opposite is the case. Secondly, producing their own art can have a healing effect on clients. Thirdly, it is important that there are successful artists who themselves have (suffered) an illness. Through their work and their person, they establish an important link to social acceptance and emancipation of clients.

KL: I understand that the clients were in fact involved in the creation of How to meet an Angel?

NdR: Absolutely. During the assessment and research into what people would think of it. We felt it was essential that the taboo be broken and saw this as a way of ensuring that the problem was discussed. The association that clients had with the work was certainly not always suicide; people also saw the figure as Superman. There was a discrepancy between what the local residents thought clients would think and what the clients thought. Effectively the local residents started thinking on behalf of the clients.

6.
David Bade, one of the artists represented in the exhibition Niet Normaal, closed the afternoon with something he preferred not actually to describe as a performance. He and his crew hoped to seduce people in a special way to visit the exhibition. Stretchers were provided; some members of the public were carriers and others were carried. To select about 20 people to be carried, Bade asked the following questions: Who deserves to be carried? Who in the past twelve months has washed an adult’s bare bottom? Who thinks he has bitten off more than he can chew? For the carriers, the questions were: Who of you here are directors? Who are managers? Finally, carriers were appointed. The stretcher journey ended at Bade’s work at the exhibition, while in the background the music of Beraad Geslagen was heard (Lander Gyselinck and Fulco Ottenvanger).