NOT-IN-MY-BACK­YARD

Not-in-my-backyard of Rob Voerman is an installation that combines various functions and references: those of a shelter, nightclub, church and bar. The work is a response to the (over) regulation of public space in the Netherlands. According to Rob, every square meter has been designed, and functions in public spaces are carefully chosen. There is almost no place where functions are mixed in a more loose way.

Originally created for the Biennial Open Source in the Bijlmer in 2009, Not-in-My-Backyard moved to the AMC (Amsterdam Medical Center). Now, Not-in-my-backyard finds a home in a different context for 9 months: that of the NDSM: a cultural site where there is room for experimentation, for questioning public values and focusing on a non-exclusive, polyphonic, public space where a lot is possible. Art, festivals, events, art and craft production space and industrial heritage come together here.

Where Sexyland used to sit and only raised grass over the past two years, there is now a sculpture that you can also sit next to or in (during the day). The NDSM-werf Foundation presents site-sensitive art in response to the context of NDSM. This changing context is determined by the space that currently exists for art, creativity and experimentation, a cultural site, and around which a lot of new buildings have been built.

The architectural constructions, sculptures, drawings and staged photos by Rob Voerman (1966) are disturbing and seductive at the same time. They sketch a perfectly constructed, utopian world with apocalyptic features, a world that is constantly growing but also protected, a world that is broken but also rising from its ashes.