Yesterday, after wintering in hibernation I kicked my butt to get my ass off the chair "bye bye lovely chair", changed my house clothes (hoody, trainers, fluffy feet) into outdoor clothes (hoody, trainers, sneakers plus winter coat and shawl), for some offline time in nature. Too lazy to get onto my bicycle to try and find a cosy spot where I could hang out in meditation-like mode, perhaps reading an old-fashioned paper book, I decided for a round through the city. "Darn, that is a lot of people!", I thought when walking the streets. Redirection to Vondelpark. Crisscrossing through the greens, people everywhere, trying to find that cosy spot, my mind turned away from the wanted emptiness to this TV program I watched the other day. Flipping through the channels without thinking I stopped all of a sudden. I still don't know why. Perhaps because of the guy I know from his out-of-the-ordinary travel shows, almost documentaries? He was on screen. In a program that turned out to be the start of a new series hosted by a Dutch painter/artist. With this travel guy being his guest. Anyways, out of the 4 or 5 topics covered in this edition, two touched my heart.
Ad 2: The prime reason for this post 😍
Ad 1: To fit this post into our little cosy Q-corner 😉
Sidenote... I moulded this post into a Spread the Vibes one. Albeit far off from initially intended, the paragraphs below can easily be captured by StV's concept "Create Vibes and Spread it!" If not by my poetic writing (blehhhhh: BIN material) the music and art should do the trick 😉
Café D'Anvers (from George Michael to House and Techno)
The travel guy I mentioned already, turned out to be a fan of house music. Being the doorman at the infamous Cafe D'Anvers, in its early days, he was right there when pop music nights turned into house and rave nights. Njoy-ed a night in it myself, but mucho later than when it opened back in the late 80s. While watching the empty place, I was catapulted into a happy place. Memories; Fuzzy Feelings and whatnot. A legendary club, it was. Love it how they left it. Closed in early 2019 after 30 years in business, it looks like a party was held yesterday night. Glasses, bottles and whatnot everywhere. As if the peeps just left and the cleaners have not started their shift yet. Isn't that funny? Who leaves a club like this behind? Only in Belgium! 😆 In my tiny country, the northern neighbour of Belgium, a building like this would not stay empty for four years, untouched and all. Too many peeps want a place to live, while we don't have open or even closed spaces enough for a sufficient amount of housing. But in Belgium, everything seems to be different to the Netherlands.
TV show sections
minute 19:45 - the start of 'Café D'Anvers' section
minute 32:00 - the start of 'The Dragon of Knokke' section
note: the show is in the Dutch language with optionally Dutch subtitles; however, the visuals are already nice to watch.
Honestly, I have no clue who played the night I was at Café D'Anvers. Not even sure which year it was. I would say, somewhere in the period between 1999 and 2010, give or take. It was likely a Techno evening, since those days I was travelling everywhere to find interesting locations to spend the night raving. Though I don't know who was playing that night, I know for a fact it wasn't Dominik Eulberg. This German guy I heard playing only once in my life, and it wasn't in Antwerp, but in Rotterdam. He has this interesting sound which sits somewhere between techno and house. A recording of Eulberg's set at Cafe D'Anvers you find down here ⏬
The Dragon of Knokke
While the host and travel guy driving through the coastal town of Knokke, it became clear to me something special was upcoming. The peeps on TV walked from their parked car towards a gate, closing off the large area. A private property. A gigantic villa. Mucho green. And? ... uhhhhh ... "What thhhhe ... ?" ... a big ass Dragon! "Is it alive"? It is white with shapes. Painted shapes. In all sorts of colours. "Can't be alive", pfffffuh, that was close. {now I feel silly for telling you I felt standing with the guys eyeballing this Dragon while I was in fact on my couch in my living room}
Turned out the Dragon was a commission work from a Belgium artist couple (Roger and Fabienne Nellens) created by Niki de Saint Phalle. New for me, but impressed. She is known for her playful sculptures. In the early 70s, she built this Dragon, receiving help from her friends, including the swiss Jean Tinguely. He is known for his kinetic art. Art that I really really love! Now I became even more glued to the 'tube'.
Was the slide built on the outside a fun feature of the Dragon, the inside made my heart go "BOOM". An entire home was created inside. A living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and even a bedroom. Thinguely crafted lighters and Haring murals. Keith Haring, another favourite of mine, spends a few of his summers here. On one occasion he asks the owners if he was allowed to paint something inside the dragon. Subsequently, an entire wall was covered with puppets and animals in the typical style we know from him.
Though am not always too expressive from a facial point of view, the moment the tour through the Dragon was finished my face must have looked extremely pleased and happy. At least, it felt that way. But no, I didn't check. Mirrors don't like me. They usually break into pieces when I look at them 😂 Who knew something like this exists? How cool it must have been to be the owner's son, for which this all was built. What a cool playground. That said, wondering when being a child, we notice what has been crafted other than a great playground that is unique compared to the usual playgrounds in town 🙃
all media by edje unless stated otherwise
spread the vibes: challenge not challenge & #spreadthevibes
