Coffeestand

Dré Wapenaar 1997

Photography: Robbert R. Roos

Production / Construction / Manufacturing:
Studio Dré Wapenaar
COFFEESTAND
KOFFIETENT

Dré Wapenaar in his speech at the International Design Conference,Aspen Colorado, june 2001:

“When you look at the COFFEESTAND, drinking coffee is the main reason for entering the tent. There are 3 curves which you can choose from to rest against which direct different ways of togetherness. Alone, in the smallest
wing, or with two or four persons in the bigger wings. For the COFFEESTAND, the location where the piece is installed, is an integral part of the work. I imagined its use in the public domain. Since Marcel Duchamp brought the toilet to the museum, we see everything in a museum as a piece of art. I didn’t have in mind for a museum to host the work because I wanted to people to use it, not just view it. The tent is designed to be functional.”

( I changed my mind in this now, may 2004 ), since I see the museum as a public place where there is a need for drinking coffee. But the stand should function in this environment as well.)

Fieke Konijn in STANDS and TENTS,
published on the occasion of the same exhibition in the Centre of Visual Arts Dordrecht, March 1999 :

“Circles again play an important role in his three most recent tents, the Coffee Stand, Flower Kiosk and Beer Tent. Wapenaar uses this form repeatedly in order to influence the quality of the encounter. As such, we can detect a certain consistency in the intention behind these and previous tents. Given the archetypal associations of the circle, which are abundantly clear when we think of the history of architectural forms, this is perhaps only natural. However, in each situation, Wapenaar looks for an expressive form which characterises the essence of the activity and gives it a certain emotional charge. This is particularly striking in his 1996 Winterbivouac, in which the orange glow of the tentís canvas gives those seated around the stove the feeling of being back on mother’s lap.

In the days when coffee drinking was a recent innovation in Europe, people would gather in special coffee houses. Now we drink our cup of coffee anywhere, in boring canteens, standing on a station platform, or wherever. The Coffeestand was created to study this behaviour. You can choose from three circles. The smallest has room for one person, another for two people and the largest for four. The coffee-coloured canopy further accentuates this layout. The design raises such questions as: who will choose to stand in which circle? Where will there be silence and where will animated conversations take place? The attendant has an excellent view of the proceedings and remains a detached observer because he stands in the centre of the field of force, where the three circles intersect. I think this exhibit will work with people behaving like gulls perched on ledge. They may be only slightly bothered if another gull joins them, but when the distance between them becomes critical they fly off.”



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