Mattsson, a resident at Instituto Buena Bista (IBB) during the second quarter of 2010, stages this intervention in Curaçaoan public space, inviting Curaçaoans to regard their surroundings more critically. The artist wants to draw attention to the invasion of commercialism in the public space as well as the link between commercialism and modern day colonialism. “In our time, colonialism has been taking over by commercial rather than national powers”, says Mattsson.

Using a bill board to criticize the advertising industry, as well as capitalist society at large, SOLD/STOLEN is an indictment of the manner in which commercial messages demand our attention in the public space. The two words are graphically intertwined, to emphasize their symbiotic relationship. “The advertising company buys space on the bill board, but what’s actually sold, or rather stolen, is a piece of the mind and energy of the person actually looking at it”, says Mattsson. He points out that bill boards are so large passers-by can hardly escape them, while they never ask to be presented with information which subsequently claims space in their brain and affects their thinking.

In a similar vein, PARADISE/PARASITE draws attention to the manner in which Caribbean islands are presented as ‘paradise’ to tourists, while these same visitors may act as parasites on the natural resources and identity of the island. The artist also refers to multi-national companies taking over large parts of the economy, in turn affecting daily live on the island. “Curaçao could be a paradise, if it wasn’t for all the parasites, past and present, who mine the island purely for commercial profit”, says Mattsson.

The most powerful work depicts the column at Zorgvlied, where African-Curaçaoans used to be tortured during slavery, transposed by a hand drawn image of a commercial, including the text: Enjoy Coca Cola. To Mattsson, joining these to images speaks to Curacao’s more vulnerable position in the onslaught of commercialism. Mattsson: “With a legacy of colonialism and slavery, a society might be more easily affected by modern day colonialism by large commercial interests. The fact that the Coca Cola commercial was tagged on a wall shows that people are so indoctrinated, they think it’s cool to copy a commercial.”

The graphic designer, who has been born and raised in Sweden and currently lives and works in Amsterdam, arrived on Curacao in April for a three month residency at IBB. The bill board intervention is part of his work on the island, which he presented to the public last week at IBB.

The bill boards can be found at the following locations:

SOLD/STOLEN : Jan Noorduynweg @ traffic lights going to F.D. Rooseveltweg/ Winston Churchillweg

PARADISE/PARASITE: F.D Rooseveltweg, from Hato going to Sta. Maria

COCA COLA @ ZORGVLIED: F.D. Rooseveltweg, from Palu Blanku going to Sta. Maria

Mattsson can be reached for interviews or comments at
hijackyourlife@gmail.com or cell 515 7291 until Thursday, July 8th.
After that he has left the island, and can only be reached by email.

Het centrum beeldende kunst (CBK) Dordrecht en Mobiliteit in Muziek nodigen u uit voor de opening van de tentoonstelling die onderdeel is van de viering van Dia di San Juan i Dia di San Pedro & San Pablo. Voor dit project maakte de Antilliaanse kunstenaar Tirzo Martha in het CBK een installatie die op zaterdag 3 juli om 17 uur wordt geopend door David Bade, kunstenaar en evenals Martha verbonden aan het Instituto Buena Bista te Curaçao.

In de 24 uur voorafgaand aan de opening trekt een groepje muzikanten uit Bonaire, en enkele Nederlandse muzikanten door Dordrecht. Zij doen dat ter gelegenheid van de feesten van San Juan, San Pedro & San Pablo. Tijdens deze feesten op Bonaire zingen mensen elkaar in het openbaar toe en trekken musici 24 uur lang van huis naar huis en stoppen bij iedereen die Juan, Pedro of een afgeleide daarvan heet. Omdat er in Dordrecht veel mensen wonen die afkomstig zijn uit Bonaire, wil het CBK Dordrecht graag iets laten zien van de cultuur van het eiland. Daarom programmeren wij dit jaar voor het eerst de viering van de naamdagen van San Juan, San Pedro & San Pablo.

De muziekanten trekken van vrijdagmiddag 2 juli vanaf 17:00 uur tot de volgende dag 17:00 uur door Dordrecht langs huizen waar Peters, Petra’s, Pedro’s, Juans en Jannen wonen. De groep start bij Wijkcentrum de Koloriet in Krispijn en eindigt bij het CBK, in de installatie van Martha waar de muzikanten de laatste uren van hun 24 uur durende optreden zullen spelen. De ruimte vullende installatie is gebouwd met afvalmateriaal en voorwerpen die mensen voor dit kunstwerk hebben afgestaan. De verschillende onderdelen van de installatie verwijzen naar Bonaire en de festiviteiten van Dia di San Juan, Dia di San Pedro y San Pablo.

Caribbean Art Café’s
op de donderdagavonden 8 en 15 juli vindt in de tuin van het CBK een Caribbean Art Café plaats. Op 8 juli is Boi Antoin de hoofdgast en met hem gaan we dieper in op het Boneriaans cultureel erfgoed. Tirzo Martha is op 15 juli de belangrijkste gast, hij zal vertellen over zijn werk en drijfveren. Het volledige programma staat tzt op www.cbkdordrecht.nl

As an artist, Mattsson has been inspired by the invasion of commercialism in public space. “On Curacao, that means being confronted with Chippie 50 times a day. Or currently, the World Cup. I didn’t ask for that information”, Mattsson says. In combination with his presentation, Mattsson will stage an intervention in a public space; inviting Curaçaoans to regard their surroundings in a more critical manner.
From his Amsterdam existence controlled by deadlines and high-speed living, Curacao confronted Mattsson with a baffling silence. Deeply engrained in his love of adrenaline producing music as crust punk and death metal, the graphic designer was shocked to find he could even tolerate reggae on Curaçao. Even his long blond hair and white complexion had to adjust to Caribbean island life.

In the second quarter of 2010, Mattsson participated in IBB’s residency program, in collaboration with The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, known in the Netherlands as Fonds BKVB. In addition to his own work, the artist developed a workshop for IBB-students. Several students made posters, which were put up in Punda, downtown Willemstad. “I wanted to show the students that they have a voice in the public space aswell. That public space does not need to be controlled solely by commercial interest”, says Mattsson. The artist presents his own work, including collages and research into Curaçaoan street art, such as graffiti and hand painted signs, on Thursday June 24th at 19:30 hours at IBB.

Mattsson mostly works as a graphic designer. He digitally designs books and logo’s, blurring the fine line between graphic design and image making. His background includes drawing and painting. On Curaçao, Mattsson digitally produced various collages; made from self-made images, such as photographs, drawings and paint. The collages depict an illusory reality, making fiction and non-fiction meet in depictions of, for instance, Curaçao’s marine terraces as moon landscapes, including a landing astronaut.

Additional information on the artist: www.hijackyourlife.com
Location: IBB, De Ruyterkade 58, Thursday June 24th, doors open at 19.00 hours. Admission is free!

The Vereniging Antilliaanse Netwerk will organize a meeting with the Curacao born artist David Bade on the 26th of June 2010.
During this meeting David Bade shall give an introduction to his work and give a tour trough his “catch of the day” exhibition in the GEM Museum of contemporary arts in The Hague. The director of this Museum, Benno Tempel, writes the following about the exhibition:

“He looks for the cooperation of the public in his installations. This type of public participation is something that is very typical of his attitude. Bade can’t do anything else than searching for contact with society. He does this with his publicly situated sculptures, but also in the realization of the objects. Contrary to many committed artists, Bade doesn’t want to take a stand in the social issues, but spur on the stimulation of the fantasy and give expression to the power of imagination. It’s not without reason that his installations (that can grow to complete structures) sometimes remind one of the floats of the Caribbean carnivals. The colorful stockades that are his installations look certainly lost between the drab brick architecture of The Netherlands. The will to live, dynamic and humor gives the work a playful character which sometimes hide the more critical sides. Bade doesn’t want to delight. His work grates, is cheeky and just says what it wants to say.”

The work of David Bade also knows a very socially involved side. His exhibition also pays attention to the Instituto Buena Bista, Curacao Center for Contemporary art (IBB), an art institute that he established in 2006 with Nancy Hoffmann and Tirzo Martha. The IBB aims to develop young talent trough an orientation course, a thorough program with guest artists and a network in the field of education and research. David Bade, together with Tirzo Martha and Nancy Hoffmann shall talk more about their work at IBB during this meeting.

Location: GEM Museum contemporaty arts | Stadhouderslaan 43 | 2517 HV Den Haag
Time: Doors open at 14.00 uur, meeting starts at 14.30 uur

We recently had our last “school day” here at IBB and this year it coincided with the birth date of artist / founder Tirzo Martha. The students that are going on with their studies in The Netherlands were also presented with a certificate this day. Here is an impression of the event.

The point that I am trying to make here is that looking at our residency program and the broad spectrum of artists that reside at our institute I see guest artists who just seem to want to connect, produce, reveal, exchange and not want to be pigeonholed by academic or market structures. From the periphery where the structures are based on the goals you want to reach, the view on what art is about seems to be completely stripped from the theoretical grid that the mainstream art world would like to impose on the field.

Pictures and other info about this talk will be added soon.

The kunstvlaai/artpie organisation made a review of the Instituto Buena Bista stand at the Kunstvlaai/Artpie exhibition. Follow the link to check it out: http://www.kunstvlaai.nl/2010/2010/05/david-bade-tirzo-martha-en-instituo-buena-bista/

More info about this artist and their project at IBB will be added at a later time.

http://www.pochanostra.com/

More information about these artists and their project at IBB will be added at a later time.