World Place (Wereldplek – 3 parts)

About this artwork.

This three-part work of art consisting of large and small stools is spread across the schoolyard between the new school building at De Kluiverboom and the Alfa College. Three enormous stools serve as a shelter; the twelve smaller ones around it are intended for sitting. Wereldplek is the first permanent interactive work of art in the Art on Street collection in Groningen. Originally, students could use internet capabilities with a mobile phone or laptop within a radius of approximately ten meters around the center of any large stool; these were equipped with special WiFi hotspots. For example, you could upload music with your mobile phone or let others hear the music via the speaker in the stool. Because there are three stools and four interactive functions - namely exchanging music, chatting, surfing the internet and reading the latest news - each stool changed functions from time to time. Students could influence this change in a game themselves. Over time, functions have disappeared and due to the fact that nowadays everyone has a telephone with their own WiFi, there is much less demand for it.

Michiel Kluiters often plays with time and place in his work. He often makes location-specific installations with the aim of taking the viewer into the process of looking, standing and moving. He recently created a photo wall near the council chamber for the Haren town hall where the image appears to move as you walk past it.

About the assignment.

The artwork Wereldplek was created in close collaboration with students and teachers from the school who were part of the art committee and who supervised the process under the leadership of the predecessor of Kunstpunt, the CBK.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Michiel Kluiters

• District
  Lewenborg, Noorddijk & Ruischerbrug

• Year of creation
  2011

• Art type
  Design, New media

• Material
  Concrete, Galvanized steel, LED-lighting, Computer control, Speaker

• Dimensions
  grote kruk; h 2,83 x b 2,57 m