‘Birthday expo’
For my birthday I wanted to bring various groups of friends and my family together, something that failed with past birthdays. I asked a couple of artists to create new works for the exhibition which were to be seen for one day in my hometown of Hilversum. Inspired by the typical way of celebrating birthdays in The Netherlands they came up with vibrant works displaying the rituals of making cakes, singing songs and inflating balloons.
The artists I invited were Derk Müller, Aisi Rosa Schuur, Jakob van Klinken, Willem de Haan, Matthieu Reijnoudt and Xam van Kempen.
The artworks
Derk Müller let off multiple balloons, each carrying a card with one letter, which when combined would spell the word ‘gefeliciteerd’. The people that found the ballons could send their birthday wishes to me and in the end spell the entire word. 2 cards arrived. Müller also made an inflatable version fo myself which he installed in the garden.
Aisi Rosa Schuur found an image of a birthday party in her database of antique imagery. She wrapped the big print in wrapping paper and had me partly uncover it. Besides, she invited everyone present to sit on the birthday-chair so we could sing songs to them.
Jakob van Klinken constructed his own wooden version of a tablecloth, which was foldable as well. It showed various photographs of my face taken throughout the years. He also made three ceramic urns portraying imaginary characters.
Willem de Haan took care of the snacks, with which he invited the visitors to construct landmark buildings from across the globe. He made the letter ‘K’ in concrete as well, through the process of filling an inflatable letter with the material.
Matthieu Reijnoudt was tasked with making the cake, which resulted in a solid layer of glaze presented with candles in a cardboard box. Reijnoudt also made a one of a kind birthday poem, shown as a big booklet.
Xam van Kempen made multiple paintings depicting birthday scenes, which were presented in the garden, the living room and the toilet. Besides, he constructed his own version of the typical game' ‘Ezeltje Prik’, inviting people to stick a giant knife into a donkey. Xam also surprised the audience with a wonderful birthday song which we witnessed after following a route he laid out on the birthday flags.