A great event in difficult times

The past few days I was working at Care centre Kulenburg. I tied strings in three pear trees, tied them to the ground with pegs, and spoke to more elderly people than I did in years. Saw family members drop by and have conversations, through the gate, shouting at a balcony. And luckily quite a few people who came outside, had a chat with me. Responded enthusiastically to what I did. Or with amazement at how much work it was.

Saturday afternoon I was finished, I made an installation that I can rightly call ‘Connected’. Around eight o’clock I turned on the lamps, around nine o’clock Ellen Verhagen started to play. While many people watched and listened from behind their window, from their balcony, or outside, at 1,5 meter distance. It got darker, the colours of the wires and the light came out better, it was excellent. Ellen played beautifully, people reacted enthusiastically, it made me happy. Watching the video is really worth it!

I was also happy with the making. I’ve tied often strings vertically from branches to the ground. Diagonals too, but the orange areas I created now, with intersections and tension, really add something. A nice experiment, which not only made a large group of elderly people happy, but also me. Connected.

And, the installation can still be seen at day time, and is beautiful, expecially in the sun!