Saturday December 8th, my Rockin’ Chair participates in Motors Of Invention in Worm, Rotterdam.

Motors Of Invention is a series of concerts, films and demonstrations spread out over the month December, in which the creators of self invented instruments play a central role. Motors Of Invention is curated by Lukas Simonis, Pierre Bastien and Peter Taylor.

The programme of Saturday the 8th consists of short performances by Der Wexel, TokTek, Optical Machines and Alan Purves (playing Rockin’ Chair). And John Heijmans gives a short lecture about the Sirenen Orkest, a project he’s developing with the Veenfabriek. Check here for (a lot) more info.

It promises to be a very interesting evening and I can’t wait to hear what Alan ‘Gunga’ Purves can do with my Rockin’ Chair! For those of you who don’t know who Alan Purves is (for me the name rang a bell, but I had to look him up), you can read this to get an impression.

Update: Check the (crappy) video registration below. I’m still waiting for the footage that was shot by the people at Worm. That’s probably better quality…

‘Restore I’ is a unconventionally restorated original Thonet chair. The chair missed one leg and the round piece that joins the four legs together. The restoration was carried out in multiplex(!), carefully pieced together to form a shape that resambles the original chair as closely as can be expected from this material. The chair is also fully functional again and it is in fact one of the most comfortable Thonet chairs I have ever sat on.

‘Restore I’ is to be the first in a series of unconventional (furniture) restorations. I will also work with objects on request. Please contact me if you wish to commission ‘restoration’ of your object.

Price: 790 euro

My Rockin’ Chair is taking part in another exhibition. This time in ‘Hedendaagse figuratie #2′, an exhibition curated by Pim Trooster in Kunstcentrum Hengelo. It is meant to be a sequel to ‘About #3′, an exhibition in Safe, Pim Trooster’s own art space in Dalfsen.

The exhibition opens on the 8th of July with rhythmic audio emitted from my Rockin’ Chair, because Pim Trooster arranged it to be played by Jan Wolfkamp, a Dutch drummer/percussionist/loopist who studied classical percussion and jazz at the conservatorium in Holland.

Other participants in this exhibition are: Nicolette Klerk, Guido Geelen, Antoine Berghs, Robert Devriendt, Helen Verhoeven, Joanneke Meester, Arthur Kleinjan, Diana Scherer, MariaMaria, Ana de Alvear, Guido Nieuwendijk, Jolien Former, Ditte Haarløv Johnson, Babet Olde Weghuis, Antoinette Jansen, Anne van As and Anke Land.

The exhibition closes on the 26th of August. Please check the website of Kunstcentrum Hengelo for opening hours and such…

Update: pictures of Jan Wolfkamp’s performance on Rockin’ Chair:

Update 2: video registration of Jan Wolfkamp’s performance on Rockin’ Chair:

This interactive audio rocking chair is equiped with two sensitive contact microphones. Even the slightest tremor in the chair is amplified through the headphones. Fiddle with the knobs on the versatile effects processor and learn how to control the chair’s audio output to guarantee hours of rocking pleasure.

Price: 2350 euro.

Update: Check here, here, here, here and here for performances on Rockin’ Chair by several percussionists.

In an attempt to keep you up to date, I decided to let you in on some of the things I’m working on right now…

Besides the usual webdesign assignments there are some other major projects and changes in the making.

For the last two years Bart Folmer and I have been working on the creation of a sound art project named ‘Geluid op De Brink’ (Sound on De Brink). It is going to be a seven year project in which we invite sound artists to create a specially designed sound art installation for De Brink, a large and very long square in the centre of Deventer. Bart and me will also be the artists responsible for the first installation: ‘Zee op De Brink’ (Sea on De Brink). This installation simulates the sound of actual waves moving over the complete length of De Brink. Sitting on the terraces will be like sitting on the beach… We hope to see this installation in action this summer already, but at this time we are still very much in the process of aquiring funding and support for our project. Nevertheless we have high hopes for summertime in Deventer!

Starting next week I’ll be moving into my new studio in Het Havenkwartier (for which I will also start building the new website pretty soon). My present studio under my home is fine but not really suited for dusty, messy or smelly work. This new studio is more suitable for well… making furniture for example! I’m very much looking forward to this change in working environment…