Art | Willem de Haan | Landing Strip
Multidisciplinary artist Willem de Haan approaches serious issues in a cartoonesque, sculptural and sometimes laughable way in order to pay tribute to a particular object, subject or situation. With the site-specific installation ‘Landingstrip’ he paid tribute to the exceptionally spatial environment of the monumental NDSM shipyard and created an alienating situation in which the boundaries between script and reality fade away.
The absurdist presentation Airport Noord examines the question of what the multi-purpose space, which originally served for the international infrastructure, can be used for in the future? The installation Landing Strip on the Y-slope was part of the overarching project Airport Noord and was an extension of the fictitious Departure Lounge, which Willem de Haan and Kamagurka opened at gallery Patty Morgan.
“Toothbrush, ears, clean socks, passport? Check! The alarm clock for the first train to the airport has been set, but then… FLIGHT CANCELLED. So back home.”
Around the installation Landing Strip a closing performance took place on Wednesday 14 August: In CANCELLED | A Performance by Willem de Haan Willem showed that no matter how hard he tries, some things are beyond his control. After all, when can’t you do anything else but surrender to fate? And what does fate bring with it?
The installation Landing Strip and the project Airport Noord, following on from the North-South line, offer a new fictitious connection between Amsterdam North and the city on the other side and the rest of the world.
This project was (partly) made possible by the AFK.