Millenium 2000

The World Laughter Monument 2000 was a world wide audio project which took place during the change of the millennium 1999-2000 starting at the Fiji islands.

The world has been divided in 24 timezones. At 24.00 hours at each time zone when the millenium started, laughter was collected by journalists and send to Amsterdam through the internet.

After the last time zone had send their laughter, an audio composition was made of all the laughter and broadcasted simultaneously by 500 radio stations worldwide at 10:00 hours GMT. That very moment the World Laughter Monument was build virtually in space to welcome the millennium.

The project was a great success and received lots of international publicity (TV, radio and written press).

www.laughterlab.com

The World Laughter Monument 2000 in the Dutch Press

Protest sculpture IMO London Great Britain

Location: International Marine Organisation London
Commission: Greenpeace international
Material: welded steel
Date: 2006
Project: Protest against the shipbreaking of dirty ships on third world beaches. Action to force the topic onto the International Marine Organisation agenda , IMO, part of UN

On the beach in India 7 ship chimneys and ship bells were bought and transported to Amsterdam to be welded toghether into a six meter long sculpture. Loaded on a truck it was shipped to England.

Right before the opening of the international conference of the IMO the sculpture was placed in the entrance hall. The 2 ton heavy sculpture could not be moved. While ringing the bells flyers were handed out to the conference delegates and the sculpture was not to be removed until the topic was delt with.

30 Angry fish

Location: Netherlands
Commission: Greenpeace Netherlands
Date: 2007
Material: plush fabric around a frame
Project: Protest action against fishing the sea empty plus presentation of a consument advisory list of not to eat life threaded species
30 monumental movable fishes came out of the sea onto the land. They went by public transport to public spaces through all of the Netherlands to spread the list of “not to eat” fish species. Heading for supermarkets were the life threatened fishspecies were still sold.

Opening ceremony for Olympic Winter games Albertville, France

Location: Albertville, France
Commission: Dogtroep, city of Albertville, France
Material: a truck load willow branches
Date: 2002
Project: creating a heart warming opening ceremony

On a snowy field of 30 x30 yards a theatre show was made with a décor of sculpted willow branches.The show was based on working with continually changing forms. Sculptures from willow branches in several sizes were combined, turned over and split in order to create a continuous changing scenery.

Cement Festival Maastricht

Date: 2003
Location: Theater, Huis van Bourgondië, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Occasion: Festival Cement
Project: A laughter studio was built into the theater.
People could record their own laughter and afterwards walk out of the building to watch their image projected 20 x 30 meters onto a high, large wall for all to see.

Hotel Ideal

location: Slums in Antwerp
Commission: City of Antwerpen BE
Date: 2008
Material: 45 tv’s plus video installation
Project: Laughterlab
In the old jewish area an artproject took place in existing shops. The activity of the shops should not be bothered while the artproject was running. In the second hand tv shop all the tv’s were turned on showing laughing Belgian faces. And in the corner of the shop there was an installation where visitors could record their own laughter to be included in the art video on the tv’s.

Olympic Games London 2012

Historically, art has been included in the games. We want to contribute to these great games by creating a giant community art event. The Olympics, where so many people playfully share our basic nature through the common language of laughter. Every person, of whatever age or culture, can participate in person in the Olympics through the sport of laughing. In the run up to and during the Olympics, people from all continents will be invited to send their laughs through the internet and our own network of e-l@ugh stations, public spaces to the Laughter Arena in London. All laughs will be shown there, generating even more laughs from Olympic visitors and athletes on the spot. A thousand golden laughs will be selected and made into an audiovisual composition by several artists, shown on music TV stations.

e-leaflet Olympic games 2012 London
www.laughterlab.com

The golden wind egg award

Location: TV show Kassa VARA Netherlands
commission: Foodwatch
Materiaal: epoxyhars
Date: 2010
Project: creating a golden wind egg award
A windei is an egg without a shell which is not viable. The action was to hand out the wind egg award to the creator of the worst foodproduct of the year. A commission of experts was ask to judge a number of products whose promising description of the product did not match the content at all. A yearly returning event.