“Art is the lie that reveals reality.” Jeroen Brouwers - “Culture, considered as a process, means acquiring a vast deal of useless knowledge, and then forgetting it.” Albert Jay Nock - “The world is full of objects, more or less interesting; I do not wish to add any more.” Douglas Huebler - “In life and in art one has to begin each day anew.” Louis Couperus



Title: High rise visitor
20
08







photos by: Joep Lennarts

Project commissioned by Utrecht city council.


Set of 4 postcards: € 8,--


Order: rose@rosedebeer.nl
(Shipping costs not included)







UTRECHT – Pensioners in sheltered housing, Zuylenstede in Utrecht were surprised when a Japanese geisha suddenly appeared at their window. The geisha was descending from the tenth floor to ground level in the window-cleaners cradle. She made contact with the residents and performed a dance using movements derived from the traditional tea ceremony and modern dance as she passed the windows. The apparition of a geisha at this Dutch old people's home is an art project developed by Sjaak Langenberg and Rosé de Beer during their stay as artists in residence in Utrecht, Overvecht. Their attention had been drawn by a call for volunteers to visit the elderly which they came across on a bulletin board in an old people's home. They located a 'volunteer' in Japan - the population in Japan is aging rapidly to the extent where sometimes robots are being used to relieve the loneliness of the elderly. Japanese dancer Sato Endo performed the role of a geisha in the performance 'Hoog bezoek' (High rise visitor). Afterwards the inhabitants all received postcards of the event. "Good, now I have proof," said one resident, "My daughter will think I'm becoming demented if I tell her I saw a geisha through the window."

© Sjaak Langenberg & Rosé de Beer