Commissioned by: BFO – Niek van Der Sprong productions. Location – Zwolle. Period: 2006
An installation, a black box titled ‘ Freedom Guests’ measuring 6×6 metres was placed in the middle of the festival grounds. The inside of the box features (painted) people of all kinds of beliefs, ages, cultures and races. They seem to live with, next to and among each other, as if in an ideal world.
Their faces are missing, at this spot an opening has been made in the wall. The curious festival visitor can look inside through these peepholes in the black wall ) and thus also becomes part of the artwork. His face fills the empty space in the painted ‘Guests’ and gives his face to a character on the inside. This was intended to happen simultaneously in various places in the box, so that they are not only part of but also see each the other, a kind of Droste effect. During the festival, we ourselves were on the inside of the box continuing to work on the characters, so we too were part of the scenery.
The table in the middle is by Michiel van Bulk and depicts a kind of uneasy hospitality.
