In 2017 I came up with the idea to start a collaboration between
myself as an art student and 'the Other' (Thomas Hirschhorn’s
theory) as a teacher. In such a collaboration a common interest is
central. In this case, that was it related to the construction
industry. Although this idea was primarily for my own learning
process, I thought it would also be interesting to find out what
this collaboration between two different worlds (me and the other)
could deliver. With a different approach and from a different
objective.
I decided to contact the company
REAKT. which
is a social participation project for work disabled people.REAKT
is committed to reintegrating this group of people into society.
It has seven branches in The Hague consisting of, among other
things, bicycle repair shops, art galleries and woodwork shops.
People who have become unfit for work are encouraged to continue
working here and thereby participate in our society. They earn a
volunteers fee of 1.50 euro per hour. I went to REAKT to look for
people who had worked in the construction industry.
I volunteered in REAKT’s bicycle repair shop to meet and work with
others and was soon introduced to Carlos Henriquez (1969). He was
the heart of the bike shop, keeping everything running and
ensuring that everyone was kept busy. For several days he taught
me how to repair bicycles. Then I came up with the idea to start
my own bicycle shop at the art academy, under Carlos’s direction.
I asked his to be my ‘teacher', as it were, in the bicycle repair
process and he ageed.
Within a week we’d
transformed my studio at the art academy into a bike shop. In no
time the entire academy was aware that a cheap bicycle shop had
appeared. Soon there was a row of broken bicycles awaiting their
turn in my studio. Carlos and I tinkered for three months on the
bikes, earning pocket money all the while. A few weeks into our
collaboration Carlos came up with the news that he was formerly a
professional welder. This was exactly what I was looking for, he
could be both my teacher in repairing bikes and in the
craftsmanship of welding.
Carlos came up with
the idea to produce a wrought iron balcony for his appartment,
which at that time had no railing. Together we implemented his
idea. With the money that we had earned with the bike shop we
bought the metal for the railing.
Carlos taught
me all the tricks of the trade of welding, and that’s how a nice
French style balcony came into being. When the balcony had been
installed, without planning permission, we organized an official
‘undercover opening ceremony’.
The day of the opening arrived and at the appointed time a group
of people who’d been invited were hanging around in the street
below. The balcony had been draped with a sheet and when the group
was large enough Carlos swept the sheet aside and ‘officially’
declared the balcony open. Champagne corks popped (actually two
bottles of beer) and the party started, continuing into the late
hours.
Evenement
