#celestial vault

Tonight's celestial vault 🌌✨

Atlas Supports the Heavens on His Shoulders, 1730 engraving

The Sky Garden Crater of Ireland

The Irish Sky Garden Crater is a strange thing in first glance. The massive in scale landscape composition was created by American artist James Turrell. This exclusive minimalistic garden is situated in the Irish county of Cork. It is a kind of natural observatory, and anyone can become a visitor. However, the artist’s concept implies privacy, surveillance and meditative immersion. You won’t…

An absolute must for the Turrell admirers and good to know that the CELESTIAL VAULT has been restored to its original splendor some 5 years ago.

www.ftn-books.com has some nice titles on Turrell including the one on this masterpeice in the dunes. This one is signed and from a limited signed edition. Beautiful publication and today for the special price USD 150.00

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Sunday morning  11 May we were heading to meet with Focus at 11 o’clock sharp at Celestial Vault a work by James Turrell in the dune area of The Hague. Location: Machiel Vrijenhoeklaan 175, Kijkduin, across from restaurant De Haagsche Beek.

I was a little worried when facing these gray clouds and rain showers while driving towards the sea on mother’s day. But happy to witness a miracle that the sky cleared at our magical meeting place, well, let’s say that at least it stayed dry and within the Celestial Vault we were hidden from the wind. 

Besides Nina, Marieke and Edwin initiators of Focus the artist duo Topp & Dubio (Frits Dijcks / Sander de Haas) joined us this time. Of course I should also not forget the ladies from the Sunday morning workout club who  passed by for short. 

What followed was an interesting conversation on open organization structures, how they develop, their value in society, who is attending these meetings and how you can engage people to contribute to these structures with a DIY (do it yourself) mentality. We discussed the initiative art at Malieveld (The Hague) where Topp & Dubio are meeting with other artists almost every Saturday on a regular basis between 11 and 12 am. These meetings are open, as well the meetings of Focus and you are free to join in and collaborate. 

We discussed the art environment, its facilitation and certain tendencies which are bothering art practices which deliberately search for a playful and ambiguous way to relate to our daily surroundings and social structures. But also about the power of just doing it. We shared thoughts on how to attract and involve different audiences in your work and ways to open up daily structures. 

An interesting meeting where we decided to join forces in the nearby future. You can stay updated on our upcoming activities by joining our mailing list (see menu on top of this page) and if you are enthusiastic to organize a Focus meeting yourself get in touch!  Feel free to join art at Malieveld between 11 and 12am on Saturdays!

Till next time!

Upcoming Focus meeting will be 7 June at 3pm. location: Het Keizer Karelplein Nijmegen. (close to the train station)

We will meet in a small park in the middle of a large roundabout in the city centre of Nijmegen. It is called Het Keizer Karelplein and is subject of a visual research initiated by Edwin Stolk with the title 24/7_Trojan. At this meeting three experts will focus on our relationship with public space, our influence on its appearance and the role of art within this process. Unfortunately these lectures will be in Dutch to attract and connect with a broad local audience in Nijmegen. 

More information:

Sunday 11 May at 11am Focus will gather at Celestial Vault a work by James Turrell in the dune area of The Hague.  

This time no individual presentations but experiencing the work by James Turrell and while we are there we would like to have an informal discussion on the Focus meetings so far and create ideas for the nearby future.

We hope you would like to join Focus for this occasion and look forward to exchange thoughts.

Best regards,

Focus collective

Here you can read more about this impressive piece of land art:

http://www.stroom.nl/nl/kor/project.php?pr_id=4616026

Address: Machiel Vrijenhoeklaan 175, Kijkduin, across from restaurant De Haagsche Beek

Public Transport From Station CS: bus 24 - get off at bus stop Kijkduinse straat / Machiel Vrijenhoeklaan - walk on for 500 meter. From Station Hollands Spoor: tram 1 to the city center, transfer to bus 24.

I've been doing research on what to do in Amsterdam and I came across this amazing James Turell piece Celestial Vault where you go lie down on these slabs of marble in the middle of the crater and look up at the sky and apparently feel it hone in on you.