decreet 041 oktober 20101101
decreet 031 juni 20101111
WIFE TO INQUIRE ABOUT THE STUDIO FLOOR AT THE W3 COMPLEX IN FLUSHING.
"ITS READY SHE SAID. IT TOOK THREE MONTHS. EXPENSES HAD BEEN ABOUT
150.000 EURO'S." CAN YOU STILL HEAR THE THEATRE DOWN BELOW?", I ASKED.
"SURE, NOTHING CHANGED,"SHE SAID, "BUT AT LEAST THE THEATRE PEOPLE
DOWN BELOW CANNOT HEAR YOU ANYMORE."
ON A HOT SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST 2002, I HIT
MY HOME BASE IN FAROUT FLUSHING. IT WAS 17.00 HOURS P.M. IN THE AFTER
NOON. AFTER MONTHS OF CROSSING EUROPE IN A WHITE PEUGEOT PARTNER,
I WAS FED UP WITH NOMADIC LIFE. BURNING RUBBER FROM BERLIN TO
BOLZANO TO BUILD UP THE BODY BY PICKING APPLES PERFORMING FRISIAN
VIDEOPOETRY IN NICE AND TOULOUSE, VISITING SYMPATHETIC ART GALLERIES
IN ZÜRICH, STRASSBOURG AND COLOGNE, I DEFINITIVELY NEEDED A BREAK
IN MY STUDIO AT THE WATERFRONT. BASICALLY DO NOTHING FOR A COUPLE
OF WEEKS. CALL IT HOLIDAY. A MOMENT OF PEACEMEDITATION. WHATEVER!
I DESPERATELY WANTED TO GET AWAY FROM THE NOISY WORLD OF TOURIST
SEASON POLLUTION, THAT FLOODS OLD EUROPE LIKE A SWARM OF GRASSHOPPERS. EACH SUMMER, WHEN THE KIDS ARE FREE FROM SCHOOL, ITS THE SAME
STORY. MILLIONS OF DADDIES JUST HAVE TO FLOOD THE FREEWAY ALL AT THE SAME TIME. ITS NOT THE INDIVIDUAL, I HATED. ITS THE MASS
PHENOMENON. EVERYBODY DOING THE SAME THING AT THE SAME TIME.
I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME QUIET HOURS ON A SEASHORE STROLLTAKE A QUICK SWIM IN THE SURF, LAYING ON THE NORTH SEA BEACH AT
DISHOECK, WATCHING THE BODY TRAFFIC PASS BY AT ZOUTELANDE AND MAYBE TAKE A FISH CHIPS DINNER AT PANTHA REI'S WIND ORGAN, AT THE END
OF THE BOULEVARD AT SUNSET CITY. WITHIN TWO YEARS, FAROUT FLUSHING HAD BECOME MY MENTAL GRAVITATIONAL CENTER. REALIZING SOME PERFOR
MANCES AND INSTALLATIONS, CURATED BY LOCAL ART BOSS LEON RIEKWELL, I FELT A SENSATION OF ARTISTIC SATISFACTION, THAT HAD BEEN ABSENT FROM
LIFE FOR HALF A DECADE. NOT UNIMPORTANT ALSOI WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEE MY WIFE MARION VAN WIJK, AFTER A LONG SEPARATION.
WE 'D BEEN MARRIED FOR THREE YEARS, BUT DIDNT LIVE TOGETHER.
DRIVING HOME, I PONDERED OVER OUR TWO FRISIAN DOGS JORRIT&JISPE, WHO HAD BEEN WITH US FOR SEVEN YEARS. TOME, OF COURSE, THEY WERE THE MOST
BEAUTIFUL DOGS ROAMING THE FACE OF THE EARTH. PARTLY BECAUSE THEY WERE FRISIAN DOGS, WITH A CLEAR, INQUISITIVE OPEN CHARACTER, ALWAYS
FRIENDLY TO CHILDREN AND ONLY SUSPICIOUS OF THE RACE OF ROTWEILER'S FROM BADEN-WÜRTENBERG, THAT SEEMED TO BE THEIR NATURAL ENEMIES. OFTEN
IN FLUSHING, WHEN WALKING THE DOGS, JISPE HAD PUT HIS NOSE IN THE FRESH SEA AIR, SNIFFED AND PUT HIS EARS STRAIGHT UP. RABBITSFAR AWAY THEY
LIVED IN THE DUNES NEAR DISHOECK OR EVEN FURTHER AT ZOUTELANDE OR WESTKAPELLE. WITHOUT DELAY JISPE WOULD SET OFF EN ROUTE WITH THE SPEED
OF LIGHT, FOLLOWING THE FLUSHING COASTLINE FROM THE EMPEROR'S BASTION ALONG THE BULWARK, ONTO THE BEACH, FURTHER AND FURTHER, UNTIL HIS
DOG MIND WAS DISTRACTED BY SOMETHING ELSE. JORRIT, THE BOSS OF THE GANG, WOULD RAISE HIS TAIL TO SIGNAL ATTENTION, THEN LOOK BACK AT ME AS IF
TO SAY: SORRY, BUT I HAVE TO GO TOO! PLEASE EXCUSE ME, BUTIMUST GO LOOK FORMY BROTHER, SO HE WILL NOT GET INTO ANYTROUBLE!, AND HIT THE ROAD
LIKE A BULLETNOT AS QUICK AS HIS BROTHER THOUGH, FOR HIS LEGS WERE SHORTER AND HIS BODY NOT AS SLIM. MANY HOURS LATER, WALKING, BICYCLING
OR BY CAR, I WOULD FIND THEM BACK. AFTER QUESTIONING MANY TOURISTS WHO HAD SEEN TWO BLACK WHITE SHADOWS FLASH BY, I WOULD DISCOVER MY
STURDY HUNTERS, JORRIT DIGGING FEROCIOUSLY INTO A RABBITHOLE ON THE SLOPE OF STEEP DUNE, JISPE WHINING, YELLING, CRYING AND BARKING INTO
ANOTHER CLOSE BY HOLE. NEVER EVER HAD I WITNESSED THE KILL OF A RABBIT. THE FUN OF HUNTING AND THE BREATH OF DEATH WERE ALL I EXPERIENCED.
APART, OF COURSE, FROM THE STINKING, MUDDY DIRT ON THEIR COATS, THE THORNS THAT STUCK IN THEIR SKINS, A BRUISED EYELID NOW AND THEN,
OCCASIONAL LAMENESS FROM PENETRATING THE THICKET AND A GENERAL FATIGUE, WHICH TOOK SEVERAL DAYS TO SUBDUE.
THE ABSOLUTE RECORD IN RABBIT HUNTING HAD BEEN IN BERLIN, FEBRUARY 5 TO 7,2002. TAKING A WALK IN THE EAST BERLIN FRIEDRICHAIN PARK AT DUSK,
THE DOGS HAD ESCAPED ON A SNOWY SLEDGE SLpPE INTO THE DARK CITY, CROSSED THE SPREE RIVER TO KREUZBERG WESTBERLIN, AND TRAVELLED TO THE
FORMER AIRPORT OF TEMPELHOF, WHERE THEY CROSSED OVER TWO AUTOBAHNS. AFTER 48 HOURS MY GERMAN PUBLISHER STEFAN REET (BASIS DRUCK) FINALLY
CALLED ME. THE POLICE HAD FOUND THE DOGS NEARBY THE ASTRONOMICAL INSTITUTE OF SCHÖNEBERG, AFTER A CALL FROM A VISITOR, WHO WAS
ATTENDING A LECTURE ON THE GERMAN POET RAINER MARIA RILKE. POLICE TOOK THEM TO A TIERHEIM AT THE OUTERMOST BORDER OF NORTH EAST BERLIN,
WHERE THEY TRACED THE PUBLISHER, WHO HAD LEFT HIS PHONE NUMBER IN CASE ANYTHING TURNED UP. WHEN I DROVE OVER TO FETCH THEM, THE DOGS
LOOKED AT ME WITH A SLIGHT TOUCH OF DISDAIN. WHAT HAD I DONE, WHEN THEY TOOK THE HEAVY LOAD OF EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN CORNERS OF
BERLIN?
AS I WALKED PAST THE WHITE W3 BUILDING, I NOTICED SOME NEW CRACKS IN THE OUTSIDE WALL. I DIDNT PAY ATTENTION. CALL IT NEGLIGENCE.
CARELESSNESS. A RISING HOPE OF THE JOY OF SIMPLE FAMILY REUNION. ONLY THE NEXT MOMENT, WHEN I CLIMBED THE STAIRS TO THE FIRST FLOOR,
I WAS ALARMED BY LOUD MUSIC FROM THE PAST. SYMPHONIC ROCK FROM THE LATE SEVENTIES. A LONG FORGOTTEN DUTCH ROCKBAND JUMPED TO MIND:
FOCUS! THE NAME OF AN ALBUM: HAMBURGER CONCERTO! THE NAME OF THE FRONTMAN: JAN AKKERMAN! WHO WAS JAN AKKERMAN? A NEGLECTED
GUITAR GENIUS, WHO HAD LISTENED TO BACH'S FUGUES TOO MUCH.
I HAPPENED TO WALK BY WHEN THE YODELING STARTED. AND THEN IT HAPPENED. TACKTACKTACKTACKTACKTACKTACKTACK. THE BITING SOUND OF A SUPER
INDUSTRIAL TACKER. SOME CRAZY ARTIST WAS WORKING HIS ASS OFF. THE COMBINED NOISE OF YODELING AND TACKING WAS OVERWHELMING. LIKE A
MACHINE GUN FDQNG NEW CANVASES WITH THE SPEED OF LIGHT. THE INTENSIVE SOUND CAME FROM THE ADJACENT STUDIO IN THE LEFT WING OF THE
BUILDING, THAT HAD BEEN RENTED BY THE CONCEPTUAL ARTIST LOEK GROOIJANS, WHO HAD MADE A BIG POINT OF SWEARING OFF ALL PAINTING. THE DOOR
WAS CLOSED. HAD GROOIJANS TURNED INTO A CRAZY PAINTER, A MODERN VERSION OF VAN GOGH?
MY WIFE MARION WAITED AT THE STUDIO DOOR. WELCOME HOME! SHE NOTICED MY PUZZLED FACE. "DON'T WORRY," MARION SAID, "ITS YOUR NEW NEIGHBOR,
SEBASTLAAN SPIT. HE IS PREPARING HIS NEW CLOUD SHOW FOR A FAIR AT LAKE CONSTANZ IN SWITZERLAND. TOMORROW HIS DEALER MAIS ENBACHER FROM
TRIER WILL SHOW UP TO PICK UP THE PAINTINGS FOR THE FAIR."
AS IT TURNED OUT, MY PROJECTED ROMANTIC HOLIDAY AT HOME CAME TO NOTHING. THAT NIGHT IT SUDDENLY STARTED TO RAIN. ALL NIGHT THE WATER
POURED DOWN. NEXT MORNING IT WAS STILL RAINING. I WENT OUTSIDE TO WALK THE DOGS. A LARGE SIZE RED MERCEDES TRANSPORTER WAS PARKED IN
FRONT OF THE DOOR. SEBASTIAAN SPIT AND HIS ART DEALER WERE CARRYING SOME THIRTY PAINTINGS TO THE TRUCK, WELL WRAPPED IN AIR CUP PLASTIC.
I SAID HELLO. WE INTRODUCED OURSELVES. THEN SPIT SAID: "YOU KNOW IT IS REALLY STRANGE. EVERY TIME MY DEALER ARRIVES TO PICK UP A NEW LOAD OF
CLOUD PAINTINGS, IT IS RAINING." WE LAUGHED. IT LOOKED LIKE A FUNNY COINCIDENCE AT THE TIME. BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE A RECURRENT FACT EVERY
THREE MONTHS FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. SPIT WAS A RAINMAKER. AS I GOT TO KNOW MY NEIGHBOR STEP BY STEP, I DISCOVERED HIS SECRET TECHNIQUE
FOR STIMULATING RAINFALL BY PAINTING NEW SERIES OF CLOUDS ON CANVAS IN DIMINISHING SEQUENCES OF TIME. IT HAD TO DO WITH THE ARTISTS
REFINED SENSITIVITY TO WATER.
THAT FIRST WEEK IN AUGUST 2002 THE NIGHTMARE OF TACKING, HAMMERING, TACKING, HAMMERING, TACKING, HAMMERING CONTINUED. CAREFULLY I
INQUIRED INTO THE REASON FOR THIS OVERDRIVE ACTIVITY. SAID SEBASTIAAN:NEXT YEAR I HAVE FOUR FAIRS COMING UP AND BIG SHOWS AT THREE
MUSEUMS AND FIVE GALLERIES IN FRANCE, GERMANY, AUSTRIA AND THE NETHERLANDS. MAISENBACHER WANTS NEW CLOUD PAINTINGS ALL THE TIME.
WE ARE SERVING A CLOUD MARKET. ALSO I WORK A REGULAR JOB AS THE DIRECTOR OF THE WALCHEREN ART EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE."BUT DON'T YOU EVER
TAKE A BREAK?", I ASKED. I NEEDED A BUDDY FOR CROSSING THE SCHELDT RIVER IN A RED CANADIAN CANOE. "HOW ABOUT ONE DAY OFF AND WE CROSS THE
RIVER TOGETHER?", I SUGGESTED. SEBASTIAAN GAVE ME A LONG INQUISTIVE LOOK. THEN HE SAID: "NICE OFFER. BUT REALLY, I DON'T HAVE THE TIME NOW.
MAYBE NEXT SUMMER."
AT THAT MOMENT SEBASTIAAN SPIT HAD HIS MOST SUCCESFULL YEARS. "THE TOP OF MY CLOUD WAVE WAS 2002-2004. I SOLD WELL. CLOUD PAINTINGS WENT FOR
5000 EUROS A PIECE. THE IDEAL FORMAT WAS 145 X110.1 HAD WORKED WITH MAISENBACHER FOR FIVE YEARS. THE SNOWBALL SYSTEM DID THE JOBI GOT THIS
DIRECTOR JOB IN MIDDELBURG. SO I COULD PAY OFF THE MORTGAGE OF MY FLUSHING HOUSE. I QUIT MY STUDIO IN WUPPERTAL APRIL 2002. THEN I RENTED
HALF OF THE OLD STUDIO OF LOEK GROOIJANS. THE OTHER HALF WAS OCCUPIED BY THE ARTIST WILMA VAN AKEN. SHE STARTED TO PAINT IN HER APPART-
MENT, WHEN GROOIJANS LEFT HIS STUDIO." FEBRUARY 2002 SEBASTIAAN SPIT BECAME THE DIRECTOR OF THE WALCHEREN ART EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE IN
THE CENTER OF MIDDELBURG. AT THE COSY ALLEY OF KUIPERSPOORT, HE STARTED TO RUN AN INSTITION OF VISUAL EDUCATION. BACKED BY A FOUNDATION,
WHOSE CHAIRMAN WAS HANS O VERVLIET, SPIT WITNESSED A FUSION BETWEEN THE MIDDELBURG AND FLUSHING BRANCHES OF MIKV. HE WAS HIRED TO RUN
THE SHOP. BUSINESS AS USUAL. MEANWHILE THE INSTITUTION COULD BE ORGANIZED ON A MORE EFFECTIVE LEVEL. CORE BUSINESS WAS ART EDUCATION.
PEOPLE COULD PICK DIFFERENT COURSES. CHILDREN WOULD BE ABLE TO DANCE AND DRAW, MODEL IN CLAY OR DRAW CARTOONS. ADULTS COULD PAINT OR
MAKE SCULPTURE. IN 2002 FOUR HUNDRED APPLICATIONS WERE ACCEPTED. JANUARY 2005 THE FUSION WAS A FACT. 2006, WHEN SPIT LEFT THE INSTITUTE,
650 APPLICATIONS WERE ACCEPTED. I WORKED LKE A DOG. EIGHT DAYS A WEEK. I HAD 25 PEOPLE AT MY DISPOSAL. PUT IN A LOT OF NEW IDEAS. I TOOK CARE
OF EVERYTHING. FOUND REPLACEMENTS FOR TEACHERS, WHO FELL ILL, COORDINATED DIFFERENT COURSES, HAD LOTS OF BUSINESS MEETINGS, DID COMPUTER
WORK, WHILE TELEPHONES KEPT RINGING. IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS A CHALLENGE. THEN IT BECAME A BORING ROUTINE. AS WE GREW BIGGER AND BIGGER,
WITH MORE APPLICATIONS EVERY YEAR AND MONEY REALLY COMING IN, I LOST INTEREST. THE OLD FAMILIAR ATMOSPHERE HAD GONE. I BECAME A LOCATION
MANAGER. DANILE DUC BECAME THE DIRECTOR OF BOTH BRANCHES. SHE WANTED TO GROW REALLY BIG. I TRIED TO TELL HER THAT GROWTH MAY BE GOOD
FOR THE MONEY, BUT IS BAD FOR THE ARTS. I TRIED TO HELP THE BEST I COULD TO MAKE THE FUSION A SUCCESS, BUT SLOWLY I DEVELOPED AN AVERSION TO IT.
I FELT MY WORK WAS DONE. WHEN I WAS TRYING TO CONSOLE CRYING BALLET TEACHERS, WHO HAD TO WORK AT TWO DIFFERENT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME,
I BROKE DOWN. ON MARCH 13, A MONDAY MORNING, AT 9.00 A.M I WAS BEHIND MY DESK. I TURNED ON THE COMPUTER. LOOKED AT THE SCREEN. STARED AT THE
ICONS. COMPLETELY APATHIC. TWENTY MINUTES LATER I WAS SLEEPING BEHIND MY COMPUTER. A COLLEGUE WALKED IN. ASKED HOW I FELT. I FELT NOTHING.
I WENT HOME AND MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH A DOCTOR. HE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID: "YOU HAVE A BURNOUT."
MEANWHILE SPITS WORK WAS BOOMING. AT THE AMSTERDAM ART FAIR 2004, HE HAD SOLD OUT HIS CLOUD PAINTINGS COMPLETELY. LIKE THE YEAR BEFORE.
2005 MAISENBACHER WAS DOING SEVEN TO NINE ART FAIRS. NOT ONLY STRASSBOURG, COLOGNE AND AMSTERDAM, BUT ALSO PARIS, BODENSEE, FRANKFURT,
DÜSSELDORF, THE HAGUE. THE GALLERY BROUGHT ART TO THE PEOPLE. MOSES CAME TO THE MOUNTAIN AND INVESTED 50.000 A YEAR IN ALL THE FAIRS. CLOUD
PAINTINGS WERE BOUGHT MAINLY BY PRIVATE COLLECTORS, ESPECIALLY ARCHITECTS. A LOT OF CLOUDS WERE SOLD IN THE HAGUE, SPIT RECALLS. THEY DIDN'T
BUY AT THE FAIR IN THE HAGUE, BUT ONLY LOOKED AT THE NEW WORK. THEN THEY CAME TO AMSTERDAM AND BOUGHT THE CLOUDS THEY HAD SEEN IN THE
HAGUE. IT WAS LIKE A WELL OILED MACHINE, THAT RAN SMOOTHLY. THEN SOMETHING WENT WRONG WITH A BIG CLOUD SHOW IN THE SOLINGEN BADEN
MUSEUM. EPIKUR GALLERY FROM WUPPERTAL WANTED TO OPEN A SMALL CLOUD SHOW ON THE SAME DAY AS THE SOLINGEN MUSEUM. FINE. THEN EPIKUR
STARTED TO CHANGE THE DATES. THAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE. SPIT DUMPED EPIKUR AND SOLD FOUR LARGE CLOUD PAINTINGS TO MERCEDES BENZ. SPIT SPENT SOME
