Demo
2018/2019
commissioned
Installation / performance
7 construction site signs
Dimensions variable, 2.5x12x5m in total
GET LOST Art Route, public space
Seven billboards are grouped together in public space, and are repainted each month.
- The first coat is applied by Sijben themself , painting seven monochromes in seven different tones of bright yellow, functioning as a kind of town crier, announcing three more collaborative repainting performances to come.
- The second coat is made in collaboration with Amsterdam Black Women collective (ABW), co-founded by Tracian Meikle. ABW members paint the boards in various black skin tones, claiming place for themselves in the image of the city.
- For the third color scheme, Sijben challenged male employers who pass by the installation every day during their lunch break walks, to help with painting it pink.
- The fourth color scheme is a response to the sculptural quality of the architecture of the Zuidas. Local residents, involved in painting the boards shades of blue and grey, are positioned as agents of change in the rapid transformation of the district.
The title Demo refers to both a visual explanation and a revolt in which signs are held up. In both meanings of the word, the sign has an explanatory role. This group of monochrome-painted signs announce the dynamics and the future of the Zuidas using nothing but colour. The work hopes to offer space for the periodically changing colors to speak for themselves amidst the hyper-efficient, goal-oriented, and homogenous surroundings of the business district.
Demo was part of the exhibition Get Lost Art Route in public space in Amsterdam-Zuid, from June until September 2018. It was commissioned by Zuid Plus, Zuidasdok, and Gemeente Amsterdam Zuidas. Requested and supported by local residents and organized with ZuidasToday and Zuidas Art Projects, two of the original commissioners (Zuidasdok and Gemeente Amsterdam Zuidas) decided to extend the existence of the work until March 2019.
Reviews: Zuidas Magazine, Groene Amsterdammer, Parool, Trouw
Big thanks to Suzanna van Oers, Bo Wielders, Marit van der Heijden, Mitzi Muriel, and Fiza Brakel, for their assistance with the yellow tones! Tracian Meikle, Jenna Burton, Sekai Mekoni, Coco Baileys and her cousin Camille Parker, and Lorenzo Schmidt, thank you so much for the amazing collaboration! Peter Kamphorst, John Oudejans, and Kenneth Goedhart, thanks a lot for volunteering for the pink part of this project. Marloes Vreeswijk and Fiza Brakel, thanks a lot for your help with the last act of the work!










Seven billboards are grouped together in public space, and are repainted each month.
- The first coat is applied by Sijben themself , painting seven monochromes in seven different tones of bright yellow, functioning as a kind of town crier, announcing three more collaborative repainting performances to come.
- The second coat is made in collaboration with Amsterdam Black Women collective (ABW), co-founded by Tracian Meikle. ABW members paint the boards in various black skin tones, claiming place for themselves in the image of the city.
- For the third color scheme, Sijben challenged male employers who pass by the installation every day during their lunch break walks, to help with painting it pink.
- The fourth color scheme is a response to the sculptural quality of the architecture of the Zuidas. Local residents, involved in painting the boards shades of blue and grey, are positioned as agents of change in the rapid transformation of the district.
The title Demo refers to both a visual explanation and a revolt in which signs are held up. In both meanings of the word, the sign has an explanatory role. This group of monochrome-painted signs announce the dynamics and the future of the Zuidas using nothing but colour. The work hopes to offer space for the periodically changing colors to speak for themselves amidst the hyper-efficient, goal-oriented, and homogenous surroundings of the business district.
Demo was part of the exhibition Get Lost Art Route in public space in Amsterdam-Zuid, from June until September 2018. It was commissioned by Zuid Plus, Zuidasdok, and Gemeente Amsterdam Zuidas. Requested and supported by local residents and organized with ZuidasToday and Zuidas Art Projects, two of the original commissioners (Zuidasdok and Gemeente Amsterdam Zuidas) decided to extend the existence of the work until March 2019.
Reviews: Zuidas Magazine, Groene Amsterdammer, Parool, Trouw
Big thanks to Suzanna van Oers, Bo Wielders, Marit van der Heijden, Mitzi Muriel, and Fiza Brakel, for their assistance with the yellow tones! Tracian Meikle, Jenna Burton, Sekai Mekoni, Coco Baileys and her cousin Camille Parker, and Lorenzo Schmidt, thank you so much for the amazing collaboration! Peter Kamphorst, John Oudejans, and Kenneth Goedhart, thanks a lot for volunteering for the pink part of this project. Marloes Vreeswijk and Fiza Brakel, thanks a lot for your help with the last act of the work!