sloom

Go Slow Cafe on Governors Island NYC

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:37:03 +0000

In September 2009 Sloom was invited by Renny Ramakers to participate in the celebration project she conceived for NY-Amsterdam 400 years called Pioneers of Change. As part of this project she would like us to re-install the Go Slow installation from 2004. Together with Marije Vogelzang & Hansje van Halem we reconstructed the Go Slow atmosphere and mis-en-scene in an old colonial style house on Governors island, just south of Manhattan. The elderly people that served in the restaurant were all from Manhattan and did such a great job that you actually slowed down a lot. Tea time could easily last 2 hours. Marije invented a new assorted meal and showed how many miles the food had traveled before it was eaten in GO Slow Cafe. Hansje van Halem made an special alphabet for the Cafe consisting of embroidery drawings of letters. The royal family also took a bite. Our neighbours across the lawn were Painted. They worked outside on embroidery and other elaborate techniques for making fabrics and clothes. Experimental Jetset made the signage and visual communciation of the whole project. All in all it was a very inspiring experience for participants and visitors alike.

SLOOM 13 = Feeding Platforms For Birds

admin — Sat, 31 May 2008 05:49:19 +0000

In the heather and woods of Den Dolder lies a psychiatric Institute with department pavilions dating from 1911 till now. The different agendas in treating and curing the clients is physically shown through these buildings. We did an artist-in-residence program in ‘Het Vijfde Seizoen’, one of the pavilions on the grounds, to investigate this phenomenon.

We found the pavilions that were making direct contact with the surrounding woods the most inspiring. We decided to give each of the pavilions a feeding platform for birds. This in order to enhance the interaction with the woods through the birds that would come out to feed. We would place the platforms within the gardens and each platform would take the shape of the pavilion to which the garden belongs. The esthetics, the modernist reference, points to the wish for a direct relationship with the surrounding woods. We are now working together with Altrecht Talent on implementing the design.

SLOOM 12 = Vuile Velden & Pig Field

admin — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 05:53:52 +0000

Kinderen helpen bij het aanmaken van kompost in een kuubkist. Ze leren hierbij de juiste manier van stapelen van afwisselende lagen uit aarde en organisch huishoudelijk afval en tuinafval. Als toplaag wordt gecomposteerde aarde (van het vorige jaar) toegevoegd.

Tussen voorgeboorde gaten in de wanden van de kuubkist worden dan touwtjes gespannen, om kweekvakken te maken. In deze kweekvakken worden diverse soorten groentenzaden en bloemenzaadjes geplant en met water besproeid. Enkele weken later zijn in de kuubkist verschillende soorten kool, salade, en bloemen gegroeid. De kweekkuubkist toont aan, dat een kuub aarde van goede kwaliteit genoeg is, om een mens met groenten te verzorgen.

SLOOM 11 = Stairs/Stare

admin — Mon, 14 May 2007 21:18:19 +0000

A collection of stairs made of lego bricks displayed on the steps of the stairs of the centre for contemporary culture Marres in Maastricht. The difference in scale between the collection and the actual stairs delays and expands the view. A mirror on the landing halfway reflects the pieces and shows the rhythm of the pieces and the steps of the stairs.The project is a contribution to a group show with Experimental Jetset and Johannes Schwartz. We were invited by him to contextualize his photo works.

SLOOM 10 = Rural Amsterdam By Boat

admin — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:45:59 +0000

Sloom is invited by the city council of Amsterdam to give a small talk to the department of urban planning. During a slow boat trip going up the river Amstel to the ‘rural’ areas of the city we talk about our aims. While everyone enjoys the views along one of the so called green wedges of Amsterdam and is amazed by the different views from the boat, our message of the quality of slowing down really sinks in.

SLOOM 9 = Holistic Centre

admin — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:39:32 +0000

In the North East Polder of the Netherlands an old harbour with its dykes becomes a focus point in the impoldered landscape. The owner of the site would like us to build a holistic centre including a tea room along the dyke. We propose a design which at one end is firmly rooted in the soil and by different turns rests on the dyke, then slowly turns towards the sky. We use local wood, stamped clay, basalt rocks and hemp as building materials.

SLOOM 8 = Grocery Shop & Model Table

admin — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 17:34:44 +0000

For the Dutch t.v. series Wroeten (about a city slacker (actor Arjan Ederveen) that is going to live in the countryside) we build a grocery shop that also functioned as a little restaurant and a beauty salon. The grocery shop sold home grown vegetables. The table with a scale model of the wroeten house and garden served as explanatory device to give advise on the different difficulties that occur while growing vegetables and plants and trees from the region in your garden.

SLOOM 7 = A Garden For Children

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 17:33:44 +0000

In and surrounding an old building in Florence we made an installation to give context to the clothes and fabrics designed by Dutch children fashion brand Oilily. Together with Jurgen Bey and Gustaf Beumer we designed a garden lay-out with benches and tables and little hide-outs imagining children would not only play there but would also inhabit the garden.

SLOOM 6 = Principal Junk

admin — Sat, 12 Feb 2005 17:24:56 +0000

A photo collection of garbage heaps in the streets of Amsterdam that show intrinsic compositions as well as the connection of the inhabitants with the streets by the recurring collective action of disposing their garbage on specific spots.

Together with photographer Johannes Schwartz, who photographed garbage heaps of discarded building materials, we made an installation using some of these found materials, putting them back into one piece again.

SLOOM 5 = Go Slow Restaurant

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2004 17:27:05 +0000

The Go Slow restaurant is an interactive installation we made for a Droog presentation in Milan. All the elements of the restaurant, from entering, waiting and seating, laying the table as well as preparing and serving the food, were ritualised. The typographic signs of the slogans: eat slowly, drink slowly etc. were made by graphic designer Hansje van Halem. Marije Vogelzang designed the menu and instructed the elderly waiters and waitresses on producing and serving the different courses with a lot of attention and patience. Our ‘table cloths’ were made out of candle wax in which the warm bowls made their own little holes to stay upright. After a couple of meals the table cloth candle wax could be melted and poured over the table tops again. Inserted in the table cloth were little candle lights.