'Close Encounters' with Bik van der Pol in Eindhoven
Thu, Sep 18 2008
On Sunday 14th, Bik van der Pol (www.bikvanderpol.net) realised the public performance ‘Close Encounters’ in the context of the final day of the 'Be(com)ing Dutch' exhibition at the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.
Around 80 people gathered "to generate enough compressed mental power in a moment of great concentration to launch the Evoluon into flight." An iconic 77 metre-diameter concrete 'flying saucer', the Evoluon was built in the 1966 by the electronics company Philips, to house Eindhoven’s museum of science, technology and progress. It closed its doors to the public in 1989, partly because the technology was obsolete and also because in the 1980s Philips was forced to economise. Today the Evoluon serves as a conference centre.
Particularly interesting in the Spanish context is that during the 1960s, Philips invited Spanish immigrants to live and work in Eindhoven. They were the first foreign labourers, and sent photos of the building back home to show what a modern city they were living in.On the map the location of the performance is marked with an X.
