25.V.2014
25.VI.2014
Picnic at Hanssenspark

'Picnic at Hanssenspark' is an exhibition by Danny Devos aka DDV in De Bond in Brugge.

The original Hanssenspark is located in Vilvoorde, the town where DDV was born in Parkstreet. The park was constructed in the late 1890s in the English Romantic Landscape tradition with artificial styling including a large pond with a cast iron suspension footbridge, a fake ruin, a concrete 'Twig House' and more.

De Bond is located in Brugge and is an old cotton and wool weaving factory from 1860. It is a rectangular space of 450m2 with two rows of cast iron pillars supporting the vaulted ceiling.

For this exhibition the Hanssenspark was rebuilt on a 1/10 scale inside De Bond. The installation includes 45m3 of soil, about 100kgs of seeds; various grasses, herbs, Papaver, Crimson Clover, Taraxacum officinale, Centaurea cyanus, Festuca rubra, Dianthus superbus, weeds, oats, nettles and more. Over 2000 flower bulbs were planted; Gladiolus, Anemones de Caen, Tigridia pavonia, Achimenes pulcherrima, Liatris, Brodiaea, and more. Several 100s of perennial plants, Aster Alpinus, Violas, Carex morrowi 'Irish green', Stipa gigantea, bushes, Phyllostachys vivax, nettles, thistles and weeds were planted. The ruin, Twig House and footbridge were reconstructed with waste office furniture, chairs, desks and drawers.
Throughout the park small tidbits, machine sculptures, installation mashups and soundboxes are to be found. The walls of the exhibition space are covered with large posters containing pictures and data from DDV's 'Birth(+)Fact(x)Death(-)Calendar'. Several video projections contain documentary movies about events that happened on every day of the exhibition.

During the opening and closing events there will be performances in the park. On Sunday 25 May 2014 by Boris Nieslony (D), Ria PacquƩe (B) and Nigel Rolfe (IRL). On Sunday 29 June 2014 by Peter Fengler (NL), Douglas Park (UK) and Mikes Poppe (B). From 15.30 to 18.00hrs on each occasion.

The exhibition is open every day from 13.00 to 18.00hrs. Free entrance.

Along the way, the exhibition will be accompanied by a small publication containing interviews by Jacoba Bruneel with DDV and the six participating performance artists.



Sunday 25th of May 2014 -> Sunday 29th of June 2014 in Cultuurcentrum, Buiten Smedenvest, Brugge, Belgium.


Included works: Donald Judd's Young Life Was Like a Flower in Bloom - 1, The Chance Meeting of Donald Judd and Lee Harvey Oswald on the Grassy Knoll, Victoria (Victim Design), Vierkante Hond, Jockel - The Murders of Jutta Rahn, Klara Tesmer and Maria Hettgen, The Family,

Related bibliography:
  • Picnic at Hanssenspark || Cobra.be
  • Gruwel en Schoonheid in Harmonie || <h>ART
  • Van luguber tot idyllisch || De Morgen
  • Danny's Picnic || De Krant van West-Vlaanderen
  • We vinden elkaar in onze donkerste kant || De Standaard
  • Danny Devos: Picnic at Hanssenspark || Flux News
  • Danny Devos bouwt stadpark van Vilvoorde na || Gazet van Antwerpen
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