Ted Noten - portfolio/projects
Portfolio
28-10-2011
Art Rehab
Atelier Ted Noten, Art Rehab, 2011
the taxi driver as the middleman
The art project is part of the exhibition
'The Modern Jewel - In time and the mind of others'
MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, March 25 - July 10, 2011
When the MIMA invited the Dutch jewel designer Ted Noten for a project in which the Middlesbrough residents would be involved, he invented this mission: "How can I persuade a wider audience to come and enjoy the many treasures in the art collection of MIMA. It's a kind of art rehabilitation: Art Rehab!"
Middlesbrough has a nickname: Ironopolis, or 'Iron Town'. Since the industrial revolution the town has established itself as the centre for steel construction and metal manufacturing, "the North East's industrial Hercules" (visitmiddlesbrough.com). One of the most striking features of Middlesbrough is the Transporter Bridge over the river Tees, which was built in 1911 to allow large ships to pass underneath and have access to the industries along the shores. Since 2007 Middlesbrough has yet another landmark, which symbolises the town's focus on the future: the MIMA, built by Erick van Egeraat Associated Architects.
The population of a town with a vast industrial legacy and one of the UK's leading galleries for modern and contemporary art and craft - how can the two meet? Via the approximately 400 taxi drivers that work in Middlesbrough and transport people hind and forth throughout the town, says Ted Noten. "Actually, my plan to work with taxi drivers was inspired by seeing that special bridge, which celebrates its 100th birthday. To me it is not only a landmark that defines the skyline of the town; it also symbolizes the idea of relating two separate contexts or entities. Now, who else spends so much time on that floating vehicle while it passes from one half of the bridge to the other half? Taxi drivers!" According to Noten that time on the bridge might well be used for a conversation about art. Like a contemporary Hermes - once the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology - each taxi driver might become an intermediary, an ambassador for the art gallery, a messenger who brings information about the MIMA to a wider public than the usual art educated spectators. To persuade the taxi drivers to cooperate, Noten decided to donate precious jewels for their cabs.
Ted Noten started the project with interviews, asking the taxi drivers how they felt about art, what they knew about the MIMA and what they would like him, the artist, to create for their cars. The answers gave him a clue to the feelings and visions of people, most of whom are not used to visiting temples of high art:
'would like a girl on the hood'
'I'm too busy for art'
'I used to wear a ring for good luck'
'drivers love their air fresheners'
Wearing a ring would be good, always visible on the gear-lever
THE PROJECT
Together with his team of Atelier Ted Noten, the jewel designer created the various components of the project.
Posters: Throughout the town there are posters with the quotes of the taxi drivers, taken from the interviews. As the meanings of the words are not overly clear, they trigger the imagination foremost, and doing so, will refer to the one place where the imagination rules: the MIMA. Apart from the quotes the posters announce the exhibition 'The Modern Jewel - In time and the mind of others'
Ceremony: On the opening night, March 24, 400 cab drivers will drive into a special tent, just outside the MIMA. Here each one of them will receive his or her 'reward', a little brooch and a slightly larger object, both the form of a wing. They refer to Hermes, the godly messenger who is frequently depicted with wings on his boots and cap. The brooch is attached to the driver's jacket and subsequently the proud driver is photographed. The second, larger wing is attached to the dashboard. From that moment onwards the object will function as a conversation piece to trigger the curiosity of customers, who in turn can also become involved in the project. If the driver feels no inclination to talk about the MIMA, he has a CD that can inform the inquisitive customer of the project during the drive.
Flyers: Apart from the invitation to discuss the object in the cab, each customer receives a flyer, which contains information about the MIMA and a post-it sticker in the shape of a wing. The sticker invites the receivers to write down their opinions of the MIMA, peel the stickers off and paste them to a wall in the MIMA, once they will visit the art institute. The Hermes-flyers will also be available at other places in town, such as the waiting rooms of doctors, libraries, town hall, etcetera.
MIMA: within the art institute Atelier Ted Noten prepares two walls that will change in the course of time. The one carries a large painted image (10 metre long) of the Hermes wing. Within its contour lines the stickers with comments can be pasted; as a multitude of feathers on the wing they become part of the artwork. The opposite wall has turned into a Wall of Fame, carrying the photographs of the taxi drivers with their brooches. And last, but not least, a version of the dashboardwing and brooch has become part of the rich collection of MIMA and will be displayed in a vitrine.
Finally: On the flyer with the wing sticker another mark entitles the visitor to a 40% discount for a winged ring in the MIMA shop designed by Atelier Ted Noten.
Louise Schouwenberg, Lector Designtheory and publisher-febr. 2011