Dre Wapenaar
Tentvillage Revisited 2010
Port Eliot Festival
St Germans, Cornwall
Dré Wapenaar (1961, Netherlands) is a Rotterdam-based artist whose primary medium is the construction of social architecture of communal and shared space - environments designed to shape encounters, whether between individuals, small or large groups. Wapenaar’s portfolio includes a tent for reading newspapers, a birthing tent, "Deathbivouac," the "Pavilion of Loneliness," and "Tree Tents". Wapenaar, a trained classical pianist, continues to work with renowned pianist Simeon ten Holt on an evolving work Recital Pavilion. Wapenaar designed the 4GPP: 4 Grand Piano Pavilion specially for the composer Simeon ten Holt whose music has a strong spatial effect. Besides a homage to Ten Holt’s music, the tent is also a comment on conventional performances where the audience often appears not to be involved in the piece itself, being only allowed to listen and observe at a distance. Wapenaar feels that a public performance should be both aimed at, and involve the participation of the audience. Although the programme revolves around Ten Holt’s compositions for piano, there is also room for other types of performances such as percussion, song and sound projects, workshops and masterclasses.
Wapenaar has previously shown work at Stedelijk museum (2007), Nantes Biennial, France (2007 & 2009), MOMA, New York (2005), Liverpool Biennial (2002), MOCA, Massachustets, USA, Lyon Biennale (2007), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (2003), Parasite/Paradise SKOR, Netherlands (2003) and in Milan, Belgium, and Japan
ProjectBase, in collaboration with Port Eliot installed Tentvillage Revisited at the Port Eliot Festival in July 2010. Clustered together the four layered rounded shapes, of Tentvillage Revisited offer a plethora of opportunities for social interaction, dialogue and exchange. Clustered together like a colony of woodland mushrooms, the rounded shapes and light and airy structures of Tentvillage Revisited encourage communal conversations as well as a place to chill out and interact with fellow festival goers. Igloo-like, canvas tents in warm earth tones are arranged on multi-level platforms. They form both an autonomous sculpture and a functioning campsite containing elements of open and enclosed space. Perfect for the festival, Tentvillage Revisited was programmed with talks and music sessions, and moments of individual reflection during the festival.
