I’m in my last year at the Academy in Tilburg. Things have been really busy. Besides finishing (trying that is) all my theoretical subjects I’m also working hard on making work to fill up my portfolio. Still not satisfied with a lot of it, but I’m never that easily satisfied.

The above work I made a couple of weeks ago. I had a lot on my mind and got a bit too frustrated, so I took a camera from my Internship went home and just started shooting away at the beach all day. As you can see the camera had some serious light leaks but I don’t care. You can consider it a selfpotrait of that day.

Nothing too spectacular but it’s a reminder I’m still alive ;)
Maybe I’ll post more regular from now on, because I’ve got a lot going on.

Dizze Rascal did this fantastic live performance at BBC’s Electric Proms, I love it. When I posted this earlier you could find both “Brand New Day” and “Bonkers” on youtube. BBC made them take it down.

If you are in the UK then you can look at it and listen to all of the show at the bbc website. If you’re not in the UK you’re screwed like me with no vids. After a good search I found “Brand New Day again here and “Bonkers” here, only sound.

brand-new-day-_electric-proms-2009_

So tommorrow, Friday, I will fly back home around 18:00H and that will be the end for my time here in Vienna. In the last four months I had a great time, met great people, learned a lot and really got to know Vienna in a good way. Wish I could stay longer but will definetely come back again.

I made some really good friends from the other Erasmusstudents and had a great time with Davy and the guys from Lomography. So to celebrate our time here in Vienna and get together one last time (well actually more then one) we scheduled our weekends with nothing but great time.

This is what it looked like.

Thursday
Schoolwork.
Met with Christina (Germany) to eat at Sara’s (Italy) place.
Had some drinks and food at the place with the Erasmus-students where they sell the best goulash in Vienna. We met up with Davy and went to a huge houseparty where they build a bar in the living room. Heard about MJ. Heard shitty music. Had some bad beers and then the party ended being great. Stayed long and walked a long way to the nightbusses.

Friday
Some schoolwork with a bit of a hangover. Met at Wir with Davy who picked up Michiel and Stijn who came to visit a weekend. From Wir went to the goodbye party/wurstelgrillfest/bbq from my teacher Edgar Lissel who stops working at the Angewandte around autumn, had fun with the people from school and the bbq. Left the party early, without eating really much, to meet with the Erasmus-students for Lia’s (Sweden/Switzerland) birthday party and unfortunately to say goodbye to my Italian friend Sara. From there I went with Vera (Germany, and studys in NL) to Donau where we met again with Davy his colleague Tawan, another colleague, Natalia and again Michiel and Davy.
Didn’t stay long cause there was somebody having a hard time with the big austrian beers. Went with Tawan and Vera to Schikaneder where we got kicked out because they were closing. Walked 2 min home from there.

Saturday
Again some schoolwork.
Then met with Davy, Michiel en Stijn at Museumsquartier. Went from MQ to some bowling-place to throw some balls for 2 hours. Got owned by Davy. Went to some cheap Turkish restaurant. Went home to take a shower change clothes and meet again with the Erasmus-students at the Donau for the Donau-insel-fest. Where we drank the ottakringers whe brought and saw Snowpatrol. We’ll at least I saw it, being tall in a crowd is pretty good. From there we splitted up and I went with Jens (Denmark) and Aga (Poland/London) to Aga’s class exhibition/party. No party. Took some people had a stop to eat the best ever french fries in Vienna and then to a empty bar/restaurant where we met again with Lia, Michalena (Germany) and Christina . Went with all of us to Flex to meet again with Davy, Michiel, Stijn and Natalia. Didn’t went in to Flex but just sat outside and had a great time. Had a great idea together with Stijn to jump in the Donau, didn’t do it. When it started to get light again left and took the nightbus together with Jens and Aga where me and Jens gave a loud duet to Aga.

On sunday went to Davy’s (who left on monday) place to bring some of my books to give them to Michiel to take with him to the Netherlands. Then went to say goodbye to my good Danish friend Jens who left at sunday (he went to Roskilde afterwards) and Aga who left at monday. Will definetely visit them in London where they will both be studying next year.

And again schoolwork.

This last week was all about getting my forms arranged, signed and of course some great Knödl at Lia’s place. Yesterday a goodbye drink/hug from the bartender and friend Hans from Voodoobar, he felt bad about me and Davy leaving.  Today scanned a lot of pictures, still have a huge amount which isn’t scanned. (Nice analog) Went to the opening of the second part of the Wasser-exhibition and started to clean an pack when I got home.

Right now I had a little break

Vienna!

I will explain and add more pictures about this project later. I made this work for my class “Project” where we developed our own projects, the theme was inspiration.

For the project I’m working on right now I’ve been looking for a piece of nature to use in my pictures. It’s quite hard to really get outside the city and after getting some tips in my class I went to Leopoldsberg yesterday. I didn’t found what I was looking for but I got to see the most amazing view I’ve had from Vienna. It made me rethink the four good months I’ve spent here which are almost over, since I’m flying back on the 3th of July.

At the other side of the hill there was even more Vienna.

Yesterday was the opening from the “a piece of water” exhibition in Kunstlerhaus. I did manage to get my piece ready in time. The opening was a big succes with a lot of people and a good atmosphere, maybe because of the free drinks and real Austrian sausages.
My Erasmus-friends showed up and tried their best to embarras me by giving my work a big applaus. But by doing that they managed to get even more people interested in my work. So thanks.

Last week I’ve finished my work for the “A piece of water” exhibition. Since I’ve only finished it last Thursday around 17:00H, and Friday the 1st of May being a holiday over here, they told me at the printshop to come back at 09:00H this morning. Now they will look if they have any time over to print it before tomorrow in the evening. All the work has to be ready this Wednesday to bring it to the museum.

detail

Made with a Hasselblad 6×6 mediumformat camera with 80mm Carl Zeiss Planar lens, to be printed as a C-print 90×90 cm.

I haven’t even finished my work for the “water”-exposition and I already have to put a lot of my time in forming my next project. Fortunetely that project hasn’t got a strict deadline and is more about how you form the project. Here are some testshots made yesterday, one polaroid, one normal and one pinhole.

After the long day in Bratislava we returned to Vienna in the evening. Everybody was tired and most of us decided to go back home. Me and Davy decided we wanted to go home as well but after just one beer in Voodoobar.

That is Davy and Thomas, troubled artist and regular customer in Voodoobar. As you might suspect from this picture we didn’t stick to our one-beer-only-plan. The picture was taken with my Holga from Lomography. Almost all pictures I took in Bratislava turned out to be overexposed.

The project I am currently working on is an commissioned project for the photography class at the Angewandte.  The given theme is “water”. The other students in my class have been working on this project since before last summer. A book will be printed which will contain most of the work from the other students.

To promote the book an exposition will take place at Kunstlerhaus. Since there was an deadline for the book I will probably only participate with the exposition. Hopefully I will get all my work done in time, since I’ve already had a lot of difficulties executing my ideas.

Last Tuesday we got this flyer

I was walking through the streets of Vienna together with my girlfriend, she’s been here for two weeks now to visit me, and she pointed out this car. Of course I had to take a picture of it. The car is from a tattooshop near my place.

From next Wednesday on I have to spot these things myself again. Wednesday my girlfriend is leaving to Bratislava Airport and flying to Rome where she starts her Backpack-tour through South-East Europe.
For the people who know her and are interested in what she’s going to do, here is her waarbenjij.nu. Of course in Dutch.

A while ago I went to Bratislava with Davy and some of the Erasmus-students. Bratislava is only about 80 kilometers from Vienna and beautiful. Everything is a little bit smaller then in Vienna and really relaxing. The people were nice and friendly and 0,5L beer costs only 1,10 Euro.

A nice way to spend your Saturday and dealing with your hangover from the night before.

In Bratislava we visited this little surfshop, yes a surfshop in Slovakia, and I saw this nice Insight T-shirt. With my length it didn’t surprise me it was too short. My last post reminded me off this shirt, also a decorated skull, and I had a hard time finding it on the internet. With help from my girlfriend I found it on Blue Tomato.