Out of Focus
Status
Permanent
Category
No longer exists
Since
14-08-2023
Explanation
Schoolyards are changing all the time. In recent years, the trend has been more green. Elementary school De Drentse Hoek in Escamp also has plans to redesign their square. The Klimglijklauterhangzitvoetbalcurtainstube from KapteinRoodnat, which winds and snakes across the entire schoolyard, is in the way. Therefore, after some 7 years, the school wants to say goodbye to this work of art. Just before the opening of the new school year in 2023, it will be removed from the schoolyard.
Artwork Data
Title
Klimglijklauterhangzitvoetbalgordijntoneelbuis
Year
2006
Material
Metaal en verf
Artwork Location
Address
Oosterhesselenstraat, Den Haag
City district
Escamp
GPS data
52.046624023299, 4.2712848801483 View on map
Artwork Description
Text
As seemingly incalculable as its title, so is the object it names. The designer duo KapteinRoodnat developed a fantastic plan for De Paradijsvogel elementary school. A bright green tube begins as a railing at the main entrance and then meanders in all sorts of curves across the playground. In the process, the colossus takes on all sorts of capacities that challenge the children to play on or with it, such as a basket for a ball game, a seat, a slide or a climbing pole. Then the tube bores through the aula wall where it again takes on all sorts of functions that are important to the interior space such as a curtained tube near the stage, seating or a hanging area.
The idea was inspired by Jacques Tati's film "Mon Oncle. During the visit of some dignitaries to Plastac, his brother-in-law's tube factory, employee monsieur Hulot (Tati himself) pushes all kinds of buttons on a machine that produces tubes. As a result, the machine goes haywire and the quantity and shape of the tube become uncontrollable.
Kaptein and Roodnat, who have been working together since 2000, were nominated with their design for "The Bird of Paradise" the Design Prize Rotterdam 2007. Not surprising since the two have realized several exceptional projects since their studies at the Eindhoven Design Academy in the late 1990s. Their designs range from objects to interiors for domestic and foreign clients such as fashion house Mandarina Duck in Paris and the Martinez Gallery in New York. All stand out because they look super simple, but are extremely functional. Even the concept for the tube seems so stunningly simple. That the object works well is evidenced by the observation made by the Rotterdam city curator in the catalog accompanying the Design Prize: the tube is almost continuously entirely "covered with child.
In 2012, KapteinRoodnat's extraordinary artwork at elementary school de Paradijsvogel was removed. The artwork was given a second life at De Drentse Hoek elementary school in the Escamp district. At the time, the designers adapted their design to the new location. At De Drentse Hoek the tube no longer goes through the building and has a slightly different color this time. Winding and playing, however, the tube still does. As do the children at the school.