You have been deprived of colour in my outfits lately, but here I finally am in a bright pink cardigan by American Vintage (a French brand). I have many jumpers (sweaters) by this brand, yellow, orange, purple and grey/green, the latter you will see at the end of the post. Usually, they have a boat neck. This time I chose a cardigan with a different neckline for extra warmth and to have a different shape for a change.

The photos were taken by my friend Selma at the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen. They had 3 exhibitions; one is called Wri Sranan, Surinamese Art in Transition, one is The Cyclops, with a marble as a starting point and there is a small area Open Depot with the museum’s own art collection based on Cobra art.

Below: My friend Selma, an independent, free-spirited, hard-working woman who loves laughing as much as I do.

We started with coffee and lunch and chatted for a long time without paying attention to the outside world. By the time we were ready to take photos of my outfit, it was pouring with rain. There was no other option than to take the photos in the museum. That meant there would be little light which is so vital for good photos. And I was using the camera I took back to the shop last week because it didn’t take sharp photos. Just a little warning for the poor quality you are about to see.

I will show you the photos per exhibition and you will see my friendly face in nearly all of them haha. But first a ‘head to toe’ photo of Selma. Her hair isn’t ginger; it is blonder than in this photo. A little light issue.

Open Depot

Below: There were about 3x more paintings than this in the Open Depot, so not much.

Wri Sranan, Surinamese Art in Transition

Below: Art by Sheila Pinas.

Below: Three photos of six examples with an explanation. I am not sure whether the explanation applies to all six.

The Cyclops

We spent most of our time at this exhibition. Seven artists developed an installation that addresses movement, mechanics, or chain reaction with a marble in their own way. Together, the works form a spatial system.

Below: Onwards to the first work of art.

Below: I had to throw marbles and follow their path. Alas, there were a few blockades.

Below: The first photo of this post is also of this yellow lady sitting on the loo. You had to put a marble in her mouth, which comes out at the other end and gets crushed. Artist: Atelier van Lieshout.

Below: Opportunity for a silly pose. I didn’t write down who the artist is, but you can see it working in a video later in this post.

Below: Art by Vibeke Mascini. I quote:
“In 𝘑𝘰𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘪𝘪, copper-plated moths, copper wire, and a marble are connected in a still yet vibrant electrical circuit. What once moved continues to carry energy: light pours out of copper, and life takes on a new form. Vibeke Mascini uses the electroforming technique, in which a thin metal skin grows over biological subjects and objects, turning them into electric conductors. The work offers a fragile witness to the transformation between dynamics and stillness, destruction and generation.”

Below: We had no idea how it worked, so all I can offer are silly photos of me with the installation.

Below: Artwork by Leon de Bruijne, called Sisyphus. The explanation is underneath the photo and you can see it working in the little video. The marble falls down, but simultaneously, the green conveyor band (as that is what it really is) moves up.

Below: A little video by Ruud F. Witte with some of the installations working.

Below: The sitting down pose. As if it adds something haha.

Below: When I was at Marianne’s house with the BVA girls (see previous post and scroll down), Jilske took this photo of me with the bright pink cardigan and my BROWN jeans.

Below: A relaxed sitting pose.

What happened in my life this week

It wasn’t such a boring week as I expected and as it was the week before.

Below: Photo of the week before last, Ron and I walked the dog and headed for the restaurant Het Wapen van Kennemerland (Smelly Bucket) for some hot chocolate and some apple pie. I am not losing any weight. Especially not as we had fondue and cake at Froukje and Petro’s dinner. Delicious though.

Below: Saturday I met Marita for coffee. We were both dressed in layers with sensible boots as there was snow and ice on the roads. And yes, that is a cake in front of us, a pastel de nata (Portuguese egg custard tart pastry). I love those.

Below: Marita got some presents for Christmas, the lucky girl. These earrings are from her husband.

Finally on Tuesday we got back to some nice life again; the ice had melted and the snow was gone. Marjolein and I did a photo shoot in Delft, hoping that the magnificent building House of Delft with the ceramic walls would be open for public. Well, it was, but builders were still finishing it. Darn. We have to go back at the end of February. As Delft is a beautiful old town, we got photos with good backgrounds anyway, but it was wet, wet, wet. The Dutch always complain about the weather and that is for a reason. It seldom is nice weather. Anyway it was a good day for friendship.

Below: A short video with a scene from the British comedy series One Foot in the Grave. For those who don’t know this series, it is about a very grumpy man, Victor Meldrew, who is always complaining about everything. In this scene he is in his car with his wife behind the wheel and his MIL in the back seat. I saw this clip on Instagram and killed myself laughing. Played it over and over again. This is British humour at its best; my kind of humour. If you want subtitles, you first click on the video triangle and then, when it plays, click on the little square at the bottom right, as I have indicated in blue.

Ron and I decided to go to Teylers Museum in Haarlem and saw an exhibition of Michelangelo’s drawings and two statues. I wasn’t much into the drawings but I did learn quite a bit about the artist.

Below: It is a magnificent museum to go to anyway, even without a special exhibition. If you want to see more of this museum, click this link to a previous post, photographed there.

Below: I wore this outfit. So nice to dress well again after all these sitting-at-home-days-being-cold.
Link to original post when the trousers were still a bit tight at the waist. I had the waist let out afterwards. This is the grey/green jumper by American Vintage.

Below: A plaster copy after Michelangelo’s, the Dying Captive/slave. He doesn’t look very dying to me, more seductive, but hey, Michelangelo did like men. A lot.

Below: Ron caught me taking a photo of the statue.

Below: The Apollo/David. Not just ‘David‘ as they think he was taking an arrow out of his quiver, hence Apollo. It is one of the few marble statues, so the museum was quite proud of being able to display it.

Below: After visiting the museum, we had cappuccino on a terrace overlooking the river Spaarne. What a difference with the day before…nothing but sunshine. Sitting on a terrace in January!

Below: This is my happy face, so pleased with a bit of sunlight again.

And with that happy face I say goodbye for this week. You had a treat with the Teylers photos thrown in.

Greetje