In 1994 the tram stop 'Witte de Withstraat' was discontinued on the then line 5. The stop, which is not too far from the stops on Eendrachtsplein, was considered superfluous by the RET. Due to protests from museums and shopkeepers in the area, the stop was reopened in 1995 at the initiative of Manuel Kneepkens of the Stadspartij. After all, it lies on the cultural axis between the Witte de Withstraat and the Museum Park. This special stop should be given a face of its own with a work of art. Artist John Blake placed a second stop opposite the existing tram stop. It looked suspiciously like a regular stop, but was stark white and stripped of all advertising, timetables, and maps. Just the name Witte de Withstraat art stop is listed above a large area. The Art stop functions well today and has been put into use by the RET, like a 'real' stop. On the other side of the Westersingel, on a concrete plateau in the slope (a sewer bunker), Blake placed a pedestal with a neck on top. The neck is an enlargement of a display used to display jewelery in the window of jewelery stores. At first glance, the link between the white is stripped Art stop en The neck not immediately laid, but if you look longer, you will see that the sculpture is just as snow white and that it faces the tram stop. This makes the connection between the two elements visible. Both works can be seen as museumized copies, fitting in the Museum Quarter of Rotterdam.
John Blake (Rhode Island - USA, 1945 - Laren, 2017) was trained as a painter at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Yale University. He continued his art education at the Royal College of Art in London. Since then he has been based in London and Amsterdam. Blake has built up an oeuvre of mixed media works of art, which were shown at exhibitions or made for a specific place in the public space.
A completely white tram stop and a white 'neck' on a square concrete base
Materials
Polyester
Dimensions
Art content: 4226 x 80 cm | Neck: base: 130 cm, image: 100 cm
Year
2000
Recruitment
Public registration after advertisement in BK information
Money source
Municipality of Rotterdam, CBK Rotterdam
Owner
Municipality of Rotterdam
About the artwork
In 1994 the tram stop 'Witte de Withstraat' was discontinued on the then line 5. The stop, which is not too far from the stops on Eendrachtsplein, was considered superfluous by the RET. Due to protests from museums and shopkeepers in the area, the stop was reopened in 1995 at the initiative of Manuel Kneepkens of the Stadspartij. After all, it lies on the cultural axis between the Witte de Withstraat and the Museum Park. This special stop should be given a face of its own with a work of art. Artist John Blake placed a second stop opposite the existing tram stop. It looked suspiciously like a regular stop, but was stark white and stripped of all advertising, timetables, and maps. Just the name Witte de Withstraat art stop is listed above a large area. The Art stop functions well today and has been put into use by the RET, like a 'real' stop. On the other side of the Westersingel, on a concrete plateau in the slope (a sewer bunker), Blake placed a pedestal with a neck on top. The neck is an enlargement of a display used to display jewelery in the window of jewelery stores. At first glance, the link between the white is stripped Art stop en The neck not immediately laid, but if you look longer, you will see that the sculpture is just as snow white and that it faces the tram stop. This makes the connection between the two elements visible. Both works can be seen as museumized copies, fitting in the Museum Quarter of Rotterdam.
John Blake (Rhode Island - USA, 1945 - Laren, 2017) was trained as a painter at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Yale University. He continued his art education at the Royal College of Art in London. Since then he has been based in London and Amsterdam. Blake has built up an oeuvre of mixed media works of art, which were shown at exhibitions or made for a specific place in the public space.
