The Koude Kermis and more media experiences in the public sphere

__Organizing media experiences in the public sphere; that is what pioneer DROPSTUFF.nl does. They love using new techniques. How did that all start? And which cool art works can be found at ‘De Koude Kermis’ nowadays? Founder René van Engelenburg took the time to answer all our questions. __

Text: Tari Simonis (Media Perspectives)

Telling stories to the public
DROPSTUFF.nl was founded ten years ago by René van Engelenburg. After a year of HTS and art academy in Arnhem he took the Architectural Design Course at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. René has acknowledged the power of the public sphere as a platform since he was a student. He says that as an artist/designer, you’re a storyteller. And telling stories shouldn’t happen behind closed doors, but to the largest possible audience.

That is why DROPSTUFF.nl focuses on the public sphere. Lots of artists and museums speak the language of the cultural and economic elite. “We want inclusivity instead of exclusivity as our quality feature, so as many people as possible can enjoy the art form you create,” René says convincingly. By using publicly accessible spaces and new technologies, they make art and culture a little bit more accessible, as a team and together with other designers and artists, museums, educational institutions and lots of other parties.

Combining physical and digital
At DROPSTUFF.nl they are currently experimenting with loads of sensors, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. In addition to new technology, they are always looking for a combination with a physical context. You shouldn’t be surprised to see a large fluorescent pink elephant or a box of knitted cats at their offices. Because just putting on VR/AR glasses is a bit boring to René. It is important to put someone in a certain context first and to then enrich this experience with new technology. They always look for that combination between physical objects and the digital.

He adds to his story by explaining why there’s a box of knitted cats in the office. It is part of one of the attractions in his art project ‘De Koude Kermis’. This is a series of artworks that travels through the Netherlands and is intended for everyone. “It is a way of connecting folk culture with art and technology. Everyone knows the kermis (funfair); young/old, rich/poor, lowly/highly educated... everyone knows that there is fun to be had there.” The Koude Kermis consists of a series of art works that gives new meaning to old attractions.

The knitted cats are part of a claw machine called ‘Grab the Pussy’. This is an art project in cooperation with ‘Samen Breien’ (Sewing Together) by the National Foundation for the Elderly that fights loneliness amongst elders. If you win a cat, you can use the chip or ID code to find out the story. That way you know who made it and can see a message or a selfie with the cat.

Combining augmented reality and heritage
The two latest additions to the Koude Kermis are the ‘Carnaval de Moutons’ and ‘Time Travelers’. In these two attractions we see a clear combination of heritage and augmented reality. Thanks to the CLICKNL Fieldlab Virtual Worlds, DROPSTUFF.nl got in touch with the EYE Film museum. “Our carousel ‘Carnaval de Moutons’ is an ode to the zoetrope. This is one of the first devices, invented by William George Horner in 1834, that was used to make moving images. In this artwork the oldest method of moving imagery is combined with one of the newest techniques: augmented reality.”

Carnaval de Moutons
The visitors can take a seat on one of the sheep on the carousel. They then look through a cut-out at the XXL zoetrope strip. This experience is enhanced by a virtual layer through augmented reality glasses. In this layer you see about twenty other digitalized zoetrope animations pass by. “The people on the sheep on the carousel really become part of the art work.” Why a sheep? According to René this is a bit of a wink to people’s herd behavior.

The other art project that is linked to augmented reality and heritage is ‘Time Travelers’. It all started with the question by the Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision: ‘How do you present a twenty-year-old game to the public in a novel way?’ In “Time travelers, an escape room on wheels’, you play the classic ‘A2 Racer’ game from a moving old Fiat Panda with digital and analog instructions.

Ethical Questions
In many of these attractions there is a reference to ethical questions as well. At the Koude Kermis you can find the food truck ‘Zoet’. Because in the era of conscious living, cotton candy is out. “That is why we don’t make a secret of the ingredients and you can choose one of 20 E numbers. So, would you prefer Splashing E130 or Tropical E124?” René laughs.

Currently we are also working hard on two new attractions where this aspect is clearly highlighted. In the ‘Bumper Ballet’ attraction, the visitor is confronted with driverless bumper cars. At first you decide what way you’re going, but after a while the car takes over. The bumper cars do a sort of dance and you’re the object. “I’m very curious to see what kind of impact losing control has on people.” René says. We are also working on a bungee trampoline, where the question is whether you decide when and how high you jump, or whether the robot in the middle does it for you. We will be able to admire all these results from the summer of 2019.

Come and see! Come and see!
They don’t really like sitting still at DROPSTUFF.nl. The Koude Kermis will travel through all of the Netherlands, some of the art works will even be displayed at the Biënnale (Biannual) in Venice. From 20-26 October (Autumn Break) the entire Koude Kermis will be at Cinekid at the Westerpark in Amsterdam. There are also three stands at THE ARTS+ that week, a convention about the future of telling stories, during Frankfurter Buchmesse. “We are telling more stories than ever. The book market is shrinking, but new media and new techniques offer new opportunities.”