Our blue heart – Erwin Stienstra (2012)
Realised art in public spaces
The special feature of this tile tableau is that it is made up of QR (Quick Response) code language. On the corners of the tiles are scannable codes for smartphones, behind which you will find a wealth of information. These include walking routes from Marketing Groningen, a blog by Mayor Rehwinkel, information about the Gelkingestraat, and portraits of Groningen residents by OOG TV. Four tiles are public: you can leave music, poems, stories or films there. The Groningen hip hop duo AB & Ezra, city poet Stefan Nieuwenhuis and Volkskrant journalist Bert Wagendorp have already made a contribution. The tiles in the tableau were produced by Koninklijke Tichelaar in Makkum. Stienstra: “My work of art is not only in line with the old Dutch tile tradition, but also with the current social media development where everyone can give their own creative input. The idea is to inspire, motivate and give residents the opportunity to express their thoughts in the form of music, poetry, stories and videos. This way it’s not just my work of art, but also a platform for a lot of other people.” The work of art can be seen at this location for 5 years; the information behind the tiles is constantly being updated.
The art committee for this commission consisted of Gerard Hazenberg (Chair of the shopkeepers’ association), Henk Wustenveld (manager of De Drie Gezusters), Bert Lokken (owner of De Drie Gezusters), Fred de Bruin (Groninger City Club), Titus Meijer (shopping street manager), Rob van Gemert (urban planner, central government/Ministry of Economic Affairs), Mari Boeijen (art advisor to the CBK) and Nicoline Wijnja (projectmanager Kunst op Straat at the CBK).
The work of art was produced by: Sandra Blekemolen, Dennis Boxum/Tekstbox, Arjan Braaksma/Burobraak Amsterdam, Boudewijn Corbach, Het Groninger Forum, Arvid Klijzing/Studio Boterdiep, Koen de Koning/Last Tuesday, Marketing Groningen, City Poet Stefan Nieuwenhuis/Buro 05, OOG TV, former mayor Peter Rehwinkel, Jim Rotteveel, Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum and Bert Wagendorp.