i went through a phase obsessed with faces on buildings. who's faces? what likeness? i'm not sure i've left it - if anything i'm just starting to put my ideas into practice. a friend from netherlands, a moss friend, dm'd me and said "hey. do you know about scheepvaarthuis?"
so naturally i had to go there. i told the people i was traveling with "look if i do one thing while i'm in amsterdam, it's going to be standing outside of this thing for about an hour. i dont care what else we do." i needed to taste the kind of budget for sculpture that i will never in my career see.
Scheepvaarthuis was originally designed to be an Office Building for the major shipping companies. it overlooked the water. The world has changed around it. It's a hotel now. the land was filled in, the edge of the city moved.
these companies so relied on the stars for navigation that the ceiling is a massive celestial stained glass. in the shape of the belly of a boat. i was not expecting to go inside but i slipped in and up to the top, to stand under the largest stained glass i've maybe ever set my eyes on. it was ornamented to the teeth. i need to get my hands on the original drawings to analyze the details. if i find myself back in the netherlands i'd very much like to stay the night here.
