hausbank

Previously on WeAreNotSisi: The Vondelbunker is a shared space. So when We Are Not Sisi got the permission to use the Bunker for 3 weeks (which is unusually long), it was clear, that this wouldn’t go without sharing. As we never wanted to not-share, this fit into the concept perfectly. The idea was to find a space that made it possible to interact with the scene in Amsterdam, amongst other things to make people see the show that would otherwise never end up in an art-exhibtion. This meant that a mellow version of the usual program set up by collective Schijnheilig in the bunker was going on while We Are Not Sisi was on. So on Saturday, Edwin Suer and Sander Veenhof came along to pick up several interested people that met at the Vondelbunker to go on a Amsterdam Augmented Tour as one event of the Amsterdam Pop Up Week. They had a look at the show, sat together in the sun to built their devices to enjoy virtual reality in the open space – sitting in a tram or on a bike.

But the collaboration between Not Sisi and Schijnheilig went beyond that. There was obviously program going on inside the bunker and also stuff that was not especially created for fitting an exhibtion space or gallery. Well, actually, in an exhibition space you would not want any program to happen at all, don`t you? In this case you do, but this meant constant adaption of the space, constant change for a short periode of time and of course – re-creating the original exhibition after that, because the gallery had to go open again and it had to be as if nothing ever happened.

What did it mean for the evening of September 21? Just after Julia Seyr and Michael Bürgermeister were finished with making almost every sign of their performances disappear in the bunker, the guys of Great Communicators, of Slow Worries and of Apneu began to come along to prepare for their performances that evening as another Live Clash was programmed for that night. For us it meant to think of a way to protect the art, to make the exhibition space into the “real bunker” again, but at the same time give the possibility for everybody to see the expo – in a different light. And as everybody knows from theater, there is nothing Molton and Gaffer can`t do and so we created a fine concert space with an extra-inspiring backstage area exactly in the corner where Julia Seyr and me conducted the interview a couple of hours before.

It was a fantastic tranformation that was born out of our imagined necessity to “protect” the art (from whom? Bad Ass Anarchists?) but went far beyond that without us realizing it at the beginning. At this point it became obvious, that this project was evolving in something like a controlled chain reaction. A reaction that was dependent on so many variables that it was impossible to predict what would happen next. Nonetheless – and only because of the trustful people involved – it was clear that it would just work out right, no matter how daring this balancing act was executed on the edge of catastrophe from time to time. While the bands where playing you had the chance to sneak behind the curtain and suddenly you were completely cut off from the rest of the room, even though just a few millimeter of Molton were seperating you from the concert taking place “outside”. You found yourself in a fantastic space (see secessionist artspace on the map above), alone with and literally very close to … art! And if you were brave enough to follow the path around the corner, into the dark room with the three TVs, the fresh-air-chamber and the motor-room in the very back…. ach, you just can`t describe it, but it was fabulous. I made pictures of some of the pieces of art with my mobile (to be found among other pictures of the exhibiton here on the website) and Kasper Vogelzang made some real photos. I hope to be able see them one day.