Paul van den Wildenberg

A town. No Venice, Paris or Amsterdam. An ordinary town. The eight town of the Netherlands. For approximately 154.000 inhabitants a daily, inescapable environment. By the inhabitants ironically called “the most beautiful town of the country”. In not a distant past known as “the woolen town”, its contours marked by dozens of smoking factory chimneys and the spires of church-towers.

An anonymous man aimlessly and lonely wanders around a harbour area. After a threatening opening, the languid boredom of a day at the beach prevails. He passes imposing cranes, plays with a beetle and watches a helicopter take off. Is he about to leave or has he just arrived? Closed in by photogenic black-and-white observations and atmospheric sounds, he is surrounded by Beckett-like emptiness.

In the form of a triptych, three places in three different regions of the Netherlands are associated with each other. In their appearance and the way they are used these newly designed and built environments reflect the efforts of people in contemporary culture. The three selected places include the known spectrum of living, working, relaxing. Each site has an extreme, monomaniac character by a one-sided focus on one of these specific activities. This brings a kind of absurdity to light and a downside of the endeavor.