DisCover: Visualising art in public space

The performance artist Garvin Dickhof from Viersen is coming to Bocholt and Dinxperlo for the first cross-border performance from 12 to 14 September. His performance will help to make art visible in public spaces.

On the first two days, the artist takes his boxes full of building blocks under his arm, walks through Bocholt and "blocks" whatever catches his eye. He takes the sentence "There is nothing in the world as invisible as monuments" by Robert Musil as an opportunity to bring objects such as sculptures, fountains or pillars, which live out their little-noticed existence by the wayside, back into the consciousness of passers-by by using building blocks to bring them back into the field of vision of the observer.

This is done in two ways: by eliminating and duplicating. The sculpture disappears through the remodelling - and is doubled at the same time, because it remains inside and is given a twin through the wrapping. The everyday appears anew, comes to the fore and gains in significance.

Jule Wanders, Head of Department at the City of Bocholt, is delighted to have been able to win over the artist for this conquest of urban space: "Passers-by should be irritated, should take a closer look, follow the act of remodelling and at best even help to pile up the building blocks. In this way, things that have long been forgotten become visible again and are brought back into everyday life." In this way, the urban space is redesigned, even if only for a moment.

Cross-border art

On 12 and 13 September, Garvin Dickhof will be presenting his art in Bocholt's city centre from 10 am. On Open Monument Day, 14 September, the event will continue on the other side of the border.

Not only will the border stone in front of the Grenzlandmuseum be wrapped - to mark the 40th anniversary, the Grenzlandmuseum will also be covered with giant building blocks. The highlight will take place at 3 pm: the mayor of Aalten, Anton Stapelkamp, and the deputy mayor of Bocholt, Gudrun Koppers, will jointly tear everything down again as a cross-border action to make the historic museum visible again.

The action will be accompanied musically by Dinxperlos Smartlappenkoor and the Bocholter TreckZackLö.

The action is made possible by the Regional Culture Programme (RKP) and the Interreg Germany-Nederland programme and its programme partners and is co-financed by the European Union (EU).