Foundation Art and Public Space
artist: Airplant, De Geuzen
located in: Verpleeghuis De Weerde,
Eindhoven’s nursing home, De Weerde, approached Airplant and De Geuzen to develop a work of art for its elderly residents who possess a wide range of mental capacities. The work needed to mobilize the residents and stimulate mutual communication. With their design, the Dagdroom Generator, Airplant and De Geuzen offered the elderly an expansive and dynamic collection of images, sounds and text. Taking into account that this nursing home’s community is shaped according to age and illness, the artists posed themselves the following important question: Can we offer the residents a new groundwork for contact and exchange with this collection?
Airplant
,
De Geuzen
Daydream Generator
They proposed to create an archive of images made up of existing images as well as images that were specifically made for the project. The existing images were obtained from a variety of sources including local archives that store images of historical Eindhoven. These images can elicit the residents’ memories and are combined with words and sounds. Residents can view the combinations and make use of them in the form of a game. In addition to this they were encouraged to contribute their own images or stories. Indeed photos of cherished pets or grandchildren were simply added to the collection. These photos appear in color among the rest of the archival images which are all in black and white. The archive can be operated on portable monitors. Taking into account the fact that this age group is unaccustomed to computers, the collection can also be viewed through a more tangible format, namely, a viewing-room. In this room a selection of printed images can be viewed. Similar to the computer, these images can be ordered and modified according to one’s own preferences.
