Roseland

Some Statistics for Roseland im Jacobigarten at Malkasten

Diese Rosen wurden während der letzten zwei Monate von mehr als hundert Personen in Düsseldorf hergestellt. Sie entstanden in meinem Gastatelier in der Aaachener Straße 39, während der WG/3ZI/K/BAR am 14.9.2006 im Künstlerverein Malkasten WG und in Zügen und Straßenbahnen.

The roses were created over two months by more than 100 people in Düsseldorf. They came to my studio in Aachener Strasse, the WG/3ZI/K/BAR on l4th September at the Malkasten Artists' Society as well as on the trams and trains.

Pink in Hamburg

I went to Hamburg the day after the opening at Malkasten. I promised to take Ralph a pink umbrella, so I photographed it along the way. Of course I couldn't stop seeing pink, there were in fact plenty of people wearing all shades of pink. A man wearing a pink shirt sat next to me on the plane home.

The Guests

Well over fifty guests attended the opening on 26th September at Malkasten. I had expected perhaps thirty people, so I was well pleased. Some of the materials even ran out, I had so underestimated. Additionally quite a few folk also sent their apologies.

The artist Ralf Weissleder came all the way from Hamburg. Again it was Birgit who invited him to come. She has been relentlessly energetic, inviting people to come and thinking of new ideas for helping me to increase the circle of people who have taken part in this project.

I was also pleased that folk who came to the Kunstpunkte came along. It is difficult to know if people you've never met will actually really take an interest. I sent invitation cards to everyone who signed the book at the Kunstpunkte after they'd made their roses.

My Acknowledgements

I would like to thank everyone, in Düsseldorf, especially the artists I have met, for their warm welcome, continuous support and patience during my stay in the city. Above all I have been heartened by the openness and generosity Düsseldorfers have displayed towards my project, in particular my invitation to make roses and my constant search for all things pink. At times I have been approached by complete strangers on the street or in the tram, trains and shops and engaged in the most extraordinary conversations.

I would especially like to thank the individuals and organisations who have made my stay possible and who have extended unending support. Without whom this project would not have been possible. The artist, Birgit Jensen, has helped me throughout, from the moment she collected me at the airport on the last day of July. I feel that this project is now as much hers as mine.

I also must thank the individuals and organisations, Karin Rauers, Petra Weiss, North Rhine Westphalia, the Cultural Office of Düsseldorf City, the Malkasten Artists’ Society, the Scottish Arts Council, WASPS Studios, Shetland Arts. The WG artists and volunteers, the artists and my neighbours at Aachener Strasse 39 and the Schrader family, Angela, Walter, Jan and Caro, have particularly made my time in Düsseldorf extra special.

Dank

Ich möchte allen in Düsseldorf, besonders den Künstlern, die ich getroffen habe, danken für ihr herzliches Willkommen und ihre Unterstützung und Geduld während meines Aufenthalts in der Stadt. Vor allem wurde ich ermutigt durch die Offenheit und Großzügigkeit der Düsseldorfer meinem Projekt gegenüber, insbesondere in Bezug auf meine Einladung, Rosen herzustellen und auf meine endlose Suche nach pinkfarbenen Gegenständen. Es kam vor, dass ich auf der Strasse, in Geschäften, in der Strassenbahn oder in Zügen angesprochen wurde von Menschen, die ich nicht kannte, und in außerordentlich interessante Gespräche verwickelt wurde.

Ich möchte besonders den Personen und den Institutionen und Organisationen danken, die meinen Aufenthalt ermöglicht haben und die ihn großzügig unterstützt haben. Ohne sie wäre dieses Projekt nicht möglich gewesen: Karin Rauers, Petra Weiss, Birgit Jensen, dem Land NRW, dem Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf, der Künstlerverein Malkasten, Scottish Arts Council, WASPS, Shetland ARts, die Künstler in der WG/3ZI/K/BAR, meine Künstlerkollegen und -nachbarn in der Aachener Strasse 39 und der Familie Schrader, Angela, Walter, Jan und Caro.

The Opening - Hide and Seek, Roseland im Jacobigarten at Malkasten

The opening on 26th September was just about perfect. Everything that I had hoped my guests would do, they did do. As guests started arriving at 18:00 hrs, I was delighted (and relieved) to see them accept my invitation to take part. It was wonderful to see folk gradually open their umbrellas, one by one, as they strolled around the garden. As Andy Cranston, the exchange artist from Scotland said, "there were some stunning optics." As dusk arrived and nightfall came, the pink floodlights became visible. Some of the young people 'played' in the lights and some planted their roses near them.

There were four tables with one element each of Hide and Seek. The pink umbrellas were stacked on a fifth table and the sixth had background information, such as the press release. The first table held the invitation, or instructions for the evening plus a map of the garden. The second was stacked with bouquets of roses which guests took into the garden and "planted" wherever they liked. On the third table everyone used map pins to mark the location of their roses. Then they could return to the garden and "pick" roses that they had made in my studio or at WG to take home as a memento of their Roseland experience. At the final table guests could sign my Roseland Register and receive a gift. This gift was an envelope of flower seeds. I hope that next summer everyone will think of Roseland im Jacobigarten at Malkasten again as their pink flowers bloom.

The Invitation to Hide and Seek, Roseland im Jacobigarten at Malkasten

Please take a bouquet of roses into the garden. Look for a place for each of these roses, then push each rose gently into the ground.

After you have found your roses, please record the location where you found them on the ‘Roseland in Jacobigarten’ map. This map will form a permanent record of tonight’s event.

Now you may go back to the garden to search for the roses you made for Roseland in Jacobigarten. Please collect them and take them home as a memento. (If you did not make any roses, you may nonetheless choose one to take home).

Please sign the Roseland Register and collect a special Roseland gift.

You are invited to stay in the garden until darkness when the final stage of the opening will become visible. You may carry a Roseland umbrella with you as you stroll around the park.

Thank you for taking part in the launch of Roseland in Jacobigarten.

Roses for Jacobigarten

There are over 1,100 roses ready for the opening this evening of Hide and Seek, Roseland im Jacobigarten at Malkasten.

Latest Pink Dimension

Last night saw the culmination of my trials and tribulations with pinkness in Düsseldorf. For days I have been struggling to finalise the way to get pink light into the Jacobigarten at Malkasten. I have taken advice on two occasions from a specialist lighting company. Last night I made the test, and it was, as I suspected, not right at all. By following their advice, and taking precautions against the high temperature of the floodlights melting the pink filter, I created a mixture of white and pink light. So after discussions with the artist, Kröner, who looks after the technical matters at Malkasten, I have decided to use the simple, straightforward approach. I can go this route because he has kindly offered to keep an eye on the filters and change them when they've melted!

Another Rose Experience

I was making roses on the train home from Köln when I noticed a woman smiling at me. She was just barely visible between the crack in the seats in front of me. She was seated facing in my direction and I could really only see her head and some of her chest. I could see she was wearing pale pink. She smiled at me and then started to mouth the word "schön". Whenever our eyes met, we smiled. Eventually we spoke as she overheard me on my mobile expressing anxiety about the excessive length of the journey. (We apparently followed a loop rather than going directly to Düsseldorf). I gave her a rose towards the end of our journey and an invitation card. She looked at the card carefully and read the text thoroughly, and then she asked me if I was from England. She offered to help me with my bags and seemed a very nice woman.