Landing Sites

Landing Sites
Cocky Eek in collaboration with Schweigman&

‘Een gedachte krijgt pas waarde als zij is doorlopen. Nietzsche’

Artist/designer Cocky Eek likes to influence our senses in a subtle or radical manner to experience ones surrounding more intensely. For Landing Sites she explored together with Matthijs Munnik how to experience an open landscape in which the elements have a free ride, in an unusual way.

Landing Sites is the installation emerging from this research in which the senses are stirred in an unusual direction. While walking one lands in an individual journey in which the environment and ones inner landscape have a turn on each other.

duration about 30 minutes

concept Cocky Eek | research Cocky Eek, Matthijs Munnik, Geartsje van der Zee | dramaturgisch advies Boukje Schweigman | production Linda Witpaard | Landing Sites crew Eefje Aerts, Hannegijs Jonker, Florencia Reznik, Anna van Rij, Rachel Schuit, Ben Terwel, Gearstje van der Zee | photo Pieter Kers |Landing Sites is a co-production of Schweigman&, Oerol and the Satellietgroep, financially supported by Stroom Den Haag

17092017 at the Zandmotor

Today was the final presentation of Landing Sites at the Zandmoter. All visitors met at the little lake exactly south/west of the Argusmast. This part is relative low positioned, so one does not see the sea. The weather has kept its suspense for the whole week as it was raining raining and raining. But today there was a big hole in the sky right above the Zandmotor. The sky came down in thunder and rain only after we broke down the installation by the end of the day.

Thank you Ana, Geartsje, Ben, Jurr, Yoni, Hannegijs, Rachel Theun, Eefje, the Sky and the Weather-gods for making it happen. It was a miraculous day where the visitors converged with the landscape dazzling right above, beneath and surround them.

a written reaction of a visitor the next day:

Wat een prachtig werk gisteren. Zo subtiel en intens op hetzelfde moment.
Wonderlijk. Pas na een klein uur lopen en sterke koffie schakelden we langzaam weer over naar een beleving die in taal te delen was.
Zelden zo sterk het verschil tussen zintuigelijke en talige communicatie ervaren.
Dank je wel! Ook voor het prachtige boekje! (Katinka Maraz)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Seemingly nothing

What is there, who is there, what was it, how come. Sometimes one does not exactly knows how things work. But first of all you have a question and you to tap into a place. You have to taste her. Shall we circle to the right or to the left. Nothing happened if you circle to the right, so that’s clear we have to circle to the left. Nothing happens if you position me to far from the sea, I don’t know why but now nothing happens. I simply need clear instructions and you have to speak to me loud and clear, otherwise I am lost. Try to position your hand a bit lower, and with your other hand you tame the speed, yes now we are talking. Push a little bit harder with a hollow hand, maybe more here, yes now I go down….

Landing Sites is an installation composed of seemingly nothing or not so much. “Do you see that red and white thingie in the distance , that’s where you walk to, someone will be waiting there for you and for the rest everything will follow by itself.”

Landing Sites seems to be composed of seemingly hardly nothing in a vast open landscape, but actually everything comes pretty precise. Boukje Schweigman introduced and worked with us in the dramaturgy of this research installation with her generous master laughter and easy hand-turns she is lifting us to a higher altitude to guide the audience in a meaningful expedition.

Well, we are ready to roll, and the weather can play its parts. The weather swirls and girls with us. She feels us and we feel her.

The audience got the opportunity to write down their thoughts. We collected 7 notebooks full. It was remarkable that everyday, the overall feel of the reactions were different and I am convinced that the weather, the movements of the low and high tide, and the passing birds who noticed us, definitely all played their part in there.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Documentation

On june 11, Pieter Kers visited us to document the project. What a festive day, with a 12 meter long stripod he captured the spirit of the project with a birds eye view. Thank you Pieter soooo much!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Landingsites ; Terschelling 2017; www.schweigman.org

Storm and wind

Oerol, 11 june, windforce 6. The wind gave a special treat to the visitors whole challenged their way to this vast site specific location called the walking dunes of Terschelling.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Getting into a daily routine

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

dreamteam

Let me introduce you the absolute fabulous dreamteam, who runned the whole show for 10 days during the Oerol Festival 2017.
From left to right: Geartsje van der Zee, Anna van Rij, Rachel Schuit, Hannegijs Jonker, Eefje Aerts, Cocky Eek, Linda Witpaard, Ben Terwel. Florencia Reznik and Theun Karelse unfortunately are not on the foto.
Thank you all sooo much, you made this whole event to an unforgettable experience, together we went over the moon.
W383_971155-Landingsites Pieter Kers foto by Pieter Kers

yesss we are up and running

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Arriving

With high precision we placed the pole, the centre piece of the installation. 60 meters from the coastal line by high tide. When traveling on the 7th of june to Terschelling we had to redirect our route as we could not go over the Afsluitdijk, a truck was blown over there and blocking the dike. Because of the storm, at the island nobody was allowed to work outside for two days. So we just acclimatized and created a workshop in our new home. In the evening when the weather has taken his temper we went to see our location on the beach. Jurr went first and was standing nailed to the ground with open mouth. Matthijs and myself went after and as soon we saw the situation we laughed out loud. The pole was standing about 100 meters in the sea. Well, it has been windforce 8, fullmoon and springtide…

foto was taken by Merijn Versnel after the water-level was already getting lower.

Positioning the pole

On monday 15th of may we: Geartsje, Linda, Jurr, Matthijs and myself visited the east-site of the Island Terschelling. At he end of the world, where there is nothing else but the walking dunes. We did waht we had to do: marking the position of a pole and it tooks us a whole day. Hopefully 3 phones with GPS will mark it accurate:
/place/53%C2%B025’29.1%22N+5%C2%B023’19.2%22E/@53.42476,5.3886702,17z

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA