I’m participating in the Focus 7 exhibition in KCO, Zwolle. Focus is a series of exhibitions with a focus on art & design from Overijssel. The exhibition starts April 1st and ends May 16th.

I’m making two brand new (and improved) variations on Multitupper right now. I’m also showing Rockin’ Chair and Restore I (Thonet) and probably Klapraspkruk, which I still regard as the best of my older work.

Bart Folmer is preparing a percussive performance on Rockin’ Chair for the opening of this exhibition. I’ve listened to some of it already and if all goes well it will be quite amazing and totally different (again) from the other performances on Rockin’ Chair so far (by Alan Purves and Jan Wolfkamp). Expect more use of electronics and technoid loop-based rhythms this time.

The opening is on the 4th of April, 17:00. Don’t miss it!!

The other participants in this edition of Focus are: Fetsje Anema, Marko de Kok, Angeline de Jong, Philipp Wiynck, Els Mondt and Sanne van der Spek.

For more information check the KCO website, or download these two pdf documents (here and here), with the complete and very extensive Focus poster/brochure, including short interviews with the participants (in Dutch).

Update: Photo’s of Bart Folmer playing Rockin’ Chair at the opening of Focus 7 on the 4th of April:

Bart is using some additional electronics to create loops and extra modulations of Rockin’ Chair’s output signal. He also utilizes his ringtone to record additional audio layers through Rockin’ Chair.

There are some more photo’s on Flickr and a video registration below. Sorry for the poor sound quality of this footage, it obviously sounded much better in real life.

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.