VIDEOSCREEN CASZUIDAS
CASZUIDAS NEWS www.caszuidas.nl
CASZ Festival : www.festival.caszuidas.nl
CASZ INFORMATION
Moving images in public space? By now the public has become used to seeing art in public space, but video art in public space is still relatively unknown. Located on the Zuidplein in Amsterdam (next to the Zuid/WTC railway station) is a gigantic LED screen, measuring 7.5 meters wide and 4.4 meters high. The programme for this enormous screen that runs from early morning to late at night is for 80% comprised of video work by internationally renowned artists and promising young talent, while the remaining 20% of broadcasting time is filled with information and commercials. As a modern moving painting, the screen will enhance the dynamic atmosphere of the Zuidas area for the next two to five years.
CASZuidas (Contemporary Art Screen Zuidas), an initiative of Virtual Museum Zuidas and SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space), is taking this opportunity to let people look at moving images in a different way. Exhibition maker Jan Schuijren, who has put together a well-thought-out programme for the screen, sees many possibilities in the Zuidas because of all the people who live and work there. Thousands of people pass through the square daily, often two to four times in a day, five days a week. For Schuijren, these repeating dynamics are the framework upon which he has built his programme. First and foremost, the images must be such that you are free to watch or ignore them. In the morning he shows short, light, more abstract images; in the afternoon there is more time for interest and perception and he shows short films that offer food for thought; in the evening he introduces the longer works, the art-house feature films and special music films. The screen also presents sound. But only occasionally, during special events, will it be broadcast onto the square; ordinarily you can listen to it on your mobile phone.
CASZuidas also collaborates with cultural institutes in the Netherlands and abroad, such as Montevideo, the Filmbank, the Sandberg Institute, the Impakt Festival, Park4dtv and Argos Arts in Brussels and, as of next year, the Holland Festival.
The programme offers work by artists such as John Wood and Paul Harrison (UK), Michel François (B) and Guido van der Werve (NL), but during the first year you will also have occasion to see the drawings of Dan Perjovschi (Rom) and the work of some 200 other artists on the Zuidplein.
The extraordinary attention given to integrating art in public space here has the complete support of the city of Amsterdam, developers and investors. They attach great importance to creating an atmosphere of culture in the Zuidas. It makes it more attractive for businesses and individuals to settle here and is an essential contribution to the liveliness and (international) reputation of the area.
