“Would you like a biscuit? Yes, that would be nice�. From all the things that people say to each other when drinking a cup of coffee, artist Hans Aarsman filtered out, in 2002, a number of the most common. They are sentences that don’t mean very much but keep the conversation going and create a cosy mood of consent and understanding. “Like I say, right you are�. Aarsman reproduced the sentences on the coffee set used at Den Eik, an institution for the temporary admission and treatment of elderly people with organic or psychiatric problems. Twenty different remarks were printed onto cups and saucers so that innumerable little conversations can be put together. Two of these texts were fixed to the wall in neon letters.

Hans Aarsman
Altrecht Psychiatric Care