DE ONVERMIJDELIJKE REALITEIT

KUUR TEGEN DE NORM: DE ONVERMIJDELIJKE REALITEIT

Graduation project Willem De Kooning Academie in illustration 2018.

RESEARCH

We went away for a few days to investigate which critical decisions we might have to make during the trip we where about to make. We rented a van and only took what we needed.

The purpose of this experiment was to make a video. I want our audience to get a sense of what to expect from the project. In this video I share and reflect on the experiences and insights we have received.

The video is a pilot episode. I talk about my mission to investigate in what way, as an image maker, I can live free from social and economic systems. It shows a general picture of the research.

Our first destination was Eindhoven and we continued from there. During the trial trip we were able to experience what it is like to live without a permanent home and workplace for a certain period of time.

We now know for sure that we need a camper, that it is not easy to get paid assignments and that escaping systems is not really possible.

That challenges me to investigate to what extent that is possible.

My wife and I experience social pressure that keeps us stuck in our habits, values and norms. It sets limits to our freedom.

I have started an investigation about in what way we can live and work apart from this pressure. With this research I want to show novice image makers what it is like to make that choice.

To literally escape from our habits, values and norms, we decided to buy a camper and go on a trip trough Europe. We leave our familiar surroundings behind to gain new insights and experiences.

As an image maker, I will research the boundaries of freedom in a social and economic context throughout Europe.

CROWDFUNDING

To be found on Voor de Kunst

I set up a crowdfunding to buy the camper. For this crowdfunding I made an animation that communicates about the content of the research. During this process I found out that, even though the crowdfunding was successful, the strategy of a crowdfunding is in big conflict with the aim of our project.

To give the donors look into how we will communicate about the trip, we rented a van. We've been away for a few days to find out what insights it provides.

The first critical decisions can be found in my research. It has given me certain insights that we can apply next time. Limited freedom is no freedom. We are aware that we will not find that anywhere because we have to deal with rules and legislation everywhere.

But we'll see if it works.

I gradurated in 2018 and we left in 2019.

Read all about our journey over here.