“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: When're We Gonna Learn Something New College
2002


photos by: Peter Cox

Project commissioned by the Bernard Nieuwentijt College, Amsterdam with the support of Kunst en Bedrijf, Amsterdam.





AMSTERDAM – The Bernard Nieuwentijt College in Amsterdam-North was named after a seventeenth century mathematician and philosopher. The building of an annexe motivated the commissioning of this art work. In dialogue with a number of pupils, Sjaak Langenberg developed a proposal. Using interactive electronic lettering on the façade, the school received a new name each day. The name of the school was linked to the names of the pupils. One day the school was called ‘Masha Bakker College’, the next, ‘Malika El Yacouti College’ was emblazoned on the façade. Or, as the children could also propose names themselves, the ‘When’re We Gonna Learn Something New College’. The search by the pupils for a new identity was thus reflected in the daily name-changing of the school.

© Sjaak Langenberg & Rosé de Beer