Message
in a Bottle
Client: VONK Festival | 2021 | Role: concept +
pre-production
QUEST
Come up with new forms of art education that contribute to raising awareness about the nature and cultural heritage that surrounds us.
A art education program of VONK Festival for 300 college students, resulting in a multidisciplinary artwork.
Theater aan de Slinger created a literal and figurative highlight with their new initiative called VONK, a multidisciplinary light art festival that took place for the first time in October 2021 at the exceptional location: Fort 't Hemeltje.
INSIGHT
​Mother nature is crying out for salvation, but no one seems to care. However, inaction will have consequences. The power dynamics are shifting—soon it will be too late to save the world we know, and people will be left begging for help, trapped on Earth.
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IDEA
Together with Lotte Zuidwijk (creative lead), an education program was created that exposed students to themes such as (light) art and the Anthropocene. The program included workshops on video mapping / motion graphic, stained glass making and creative writing, followed by a visit to Fort 't Hemeltje.
The results of this program became visible in the large multidisciplinary art installation called Flessenpost (Message in a Bottle). The students reflected on how their individual work can be part of the collective artwork that consisted of hundreds of messages in bottles. It was created with the help of the LIGHT UP Collective, who used their in-house developed drawing application, HAPPY TRON, for this purpose.
A message in a bottle was once a desperate cry for help from sailors, hoping their message would wash ashore and reach a rescuer. The students were given the freedom to interpret this idea in their own way, creating letters, stories, or poems to call for help, warn others, or share what they’d like to change in the world. These texts were recorded and later transformed into sound design.
