De Vrolijkheid (The Happiness) is an organisation that gives art workshops for kids in asylum centers in The Netherlands. It was a great honour for me as a multi media artist to be given this complex task. I designed, made a technical plan, and programmed the game, from 2021 – 2024. Additional programming was done by: Lindsey Schaap (back end, and svelte code), Eelke Feenstra (svelte code, UI improvements). UI concepts and icons by design studio Harris Blondman. In-game graphics are made by Max Holicki, and are not open source.

In the 3D game world children can explore art works and make their own.

The children can draw, make stopmotion animations and compose music. The children can also make their own avatar and personal space. To me it was important that selecting an avatar was not done with pre made templates but that the children can express their own unfiltered creativity.

I tried my best to design the app to be as simple as possible. Harris Blondman Studio designed the icons and cleaned up the design. Eelke Feenstra later refined the UI/ UX.

By 2024 about 700 children have made use of ARTWORLD and many touching and surprising art works have been made.

I am very excited to have been granted the opportunity to work on this project. I have worked with De Vrolijkheid before on a videomapping for a small museum project.

ARTWORLD is a multi user game, so players see and can interact with each other.

ARTWORLD is open source and hosted on Github

Documentation on Github

ARTWORLD project page on De Vrolijkheid website.

ARTWORLD blog:

Starting work on ARTWORLD

Technical Paper for ARTWORLD

GREETING FROM THE GOETHE-INSTITUT

Links

Catalog

Behind the scenes

In opdracht van Gemeente Amsterdam zorgde Artifex met #BeKind2019 voor een vernieuwend en verbindend oud en nieuw in Amsterdam. Irma de Vries en Maarten van der Glas verzorgde een video mapping op de kop van java voorafgaande aan de vuurwerkshow van oud en nieuw.

Oud & Nieuw
In december reflecteren we op het afgelopen jaar en leven we toe naar het nieuwe jaar. De engelen nodigen je uit om een nieuwjaarswens te doen voor een ander. Dit kun je doen door plaats te nemen tussen de vleugels en de wens te delen via sociale media met #BeKind2019. Op 31 december om middernacht worden de nieuwjaarswensen symbolisch losgelaten in het nieuwe jaar tijdens de nieuwjaarsviering van de stad Amsterdam op de Kop van Java. Om twaalf uur ‘s nachts is er een spetterende vuurwerkshow. Vanaf het Java-eiland, de Jan Schaeferbrug en de Noordwal is het vuurwerk te bekijken.

Videokunst

Voorafgaand aan de vuurwerkshow, vanaf ca. 22.00 uur, zullen de meest markante nieuwjaarswensen vertoond worden op de Kop van Java.

Wees lief voor de stad

Artifex bedacht de campagne #BeKind2019. Lichtkunstwerken in de vorm van engelen streken neer in verschillende stadsdelen en vormden een platform waar bezoekers een nieuwjaarswens konden opnemen en delen. Bij het aftelmoment werden deze nieuwjaarswensen symbolisch de lucht in gestuurd, door middel van een kunstwerk met video mapping. Uitzending door AT5 en SBS6 en andere door Artifex gegenereerde PR zorgde voor extra zichtbaarheid van de campagne.

https://artifex.nu/case/gemeente-amsterdam#

https://www.amsterdamsdagblad.nl/uitgaan/bekind2019-engelen-strijken-neer-in-amsterdam

https://www.parool.nl/nieuws/dit-was-oud-nieuw-in-amsterdam~b38a0776/

https://www.events.nl/nieuws/amsterdam-sluit-af-met-bekind2019

Choreography: Martina Marini in collaboration with the performers
Direction/ camera/ editing/ software: Maarten van der Glas
Dancers: Anastasia Kostner, Evelyn Petruzzino, Santija Bieza
Music: Manuela Kerer
Drawings: Sabine Auer
Costumes: Tanzschmiede/fucinadanza

‘Patchwork bodies’ unites fine arts, dance, music and film. Five short dance movies and a contemporary dance choreography developed from a process of the exchange between artists.
https://youtu.be/XazTetpKC70

The paintings of Sabine Auer were the starting point of the creative journey. Bodies in pieces, cut open. The sewed and scarred bodies give space to associations and let the bodies speak about enclosed emotions. The tormented and cricked joints show the disturbed relationship between the self-image and the loss of identity. There are no faces. The human is defined by the body.

https://youtu.be/u-BYyUxBZS0

These paintings were developed into a choreogrphy by choreographer Martina Marini and dancers.

https://youtu.be/cXtyt-8XRdU

Five video works were developed by Maarten van der Glas. He envisioned video work that stays surprising for the audience after watching it multiple times. Maarten van der Glas developed a computer program to introduce variation every time a movie is played back. The computer has an alogoritm to choose scenes and secondly, the playback speed is varied by the computer. By varying the speed the meaning of the movement is altered and emphasized differently. All video works are envisioned as a loop with variations each time it is played.

With special thanks to: Irmtraud Filippi und Arabesque, Mertz Ideas, Theater in der Altstadt, Erwin Seppi, Peter Gobbi, Karl Illmer vom Verdinser Hof, Matthias Egger, Stadtgemeinde Meran
With support by Autonome Provinz Bozen – Amt für Deutsche Kultur, Stiftung Südtiroler Sparkasse, Autonome Region Trentino-Südtirol

https://youtu.be/0WpIig4RZLE

Credits:
Concept, software development and direction: Maarten van der Glas
Choreography and dance: Anastasia Kostner

Performances:
2016 – Opening ‘De Bovenkamer’, Radion,  Amsterdam, Netherlands
2016 – Gallery Bart, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Concept and video artist: Maarten van der Glas

Dancers, dance improvisation and performance: Anastasia Kostner, Risa Takita

OT301 – Amsterdam – 2015

TAGS:
contemporary dance
improvisation
virtual cinema
3D tracking
3D point cloud
OT301
Amsterdam

STAR DUST was shot at night -under moon light- in the south west of the USA: in the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree desert and at the granite of Morro Bay.

Long series of photos were made to create the movement. The photos had exposure times of 3 to 7 seconds to get enough light. In the Grand Canyon it was really cold: we spend hours in -5C/23F! Luckily it was warmer at the beach

The video is about our connection as humans to the stars and seeing us as part of them. Not only are we dependent for life on earth from our nearest star, the sun, life is also made possible by the infusion of heavier elements from the atomic reactions in exploding stars. (Also known as nucleosynthesis).

‘Moving within without’ is an experimental dance video that takes a poetic approach to a data compression error as an extra layer of movement and narrative.

“Moving within without’ deals the theme of being moved and moving from within. Where did the tune that is stuck in your head come from? When we move we move the whole world around us.

Director, Choreography, Camera, Editing: Maarten van der Glas

Music: Julien Mier

Dancers: Hyunjin Lim, Minke Elisa Brands, Hanna Blisnjuk, Anastasia Kostner