Greenhouse Sleepers, 2002
The project was a commissioned work by the Upstream Foundation on the occasion of the memorial of the VOC. Greenhouse Sleepers is a portrait of people and plants.The people were of varying nationalities, all of whom have roots in their original countries, and are currently living in Amsterdam. The group was comprised of immigrants; some legal, some illegal, refugees and their immediate descendants. The plants used for the work were of the type originally transported to Amsterdam in the 16th century by the VOC.
The portrait was set up in one of the greenhouses of the Botanical Gardens in Amsterdam. This provided the opportunity to simultaneously bring together an extensive array of exotic species of plants along with people who also shared a sense of ‘uprootedness’ in an attempt to focus on the historical legacy and placement of the current situation regarding this subject in Amsterdam. The greenhouse itself formed the backdrop for a large revolving platform which the group and the plants were ‘displayed’ upon, this resulted in an ever changing series of rotations recorded on one statically placed video camera.
presentation at Art Rotterdam, Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS
