City Animals
After having breakfast at Cafe Luna, I went back to the museum, bought a ticket, and stepped into the exhibition hall. Turned right, turned around a bit, and I frozed.
There was a dead kitty on a display platform. He must have been no older than 10 weeks and got run over by some car. They didn’t say when it happened (that is beside the point), but they explained that it is part of city life. When people, animals, cars, bikes etc. get thrown into a city together, this is what happened. (I left this first bit of the exhibition feeling angry and slightly sad. I am just partial to kitties…)
I walked across the hall to the ‘bird section’ and found this: “A sparrow and a pot”. According to the explanation, the pot itself is called “De Spreeuwenpot” Sparrows pot) and it is from the 17th century. I am not sure if they still do this nowadays, but in the old days, the sparrows used to make a nest inside pots that hung outside some houses in Amsterdam. There is even a photo of a wall of an old house showing that this had become a symbol. Someone in the past has let the image of a sparrow and its pot be carved in limestone along with the text “In De Sprevpot” (old dutch spelling).
Then I reached the vermin zone. This piece really caught my eyes.”A damaged book and a mouse”.
Mice are long time residents of Amsterdam. With all the canals all around the city, they are quite happy to live alongside the Amsterdammers. There was one or two in my old office. I saw one running accros the warehouse at IKEA Amsterdam a few weeks ago. This part of the exhibition shows what mice can do to your house, e.g. eat your antique book collection, chew on cables, etc. While I was busy reading and drawing this piece, there was even a mouse trying to chew my shoe….kidding…it was a fake mouse, like the one that my cats have. They put a sensor on the floor, so whenever a person steps on that particular spot a small white mouse pops out from its little but lighted hole under the cabinet.
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that’s great! really.. the book as well as the other drawings..
Comment by vfm4 — August 7, 2005 @ 10:24 pm
These are wonderful drawings…what kind of museum was this? What an interesting exhibit!? Regardless, I love your drawings. Especially the one of the mouse and the book.
Comment by Julie — August 8, 2005 @ 1:09 am
Great drawing! What a great opportunity to draw something a bit different - not something you’d see everyday!
Comment by Terri — August 8, 2005 @ 1:40 am
I’d have a really hard time with seeing the kitty too. Hadn’t heard about the sparrows and those pots. Interesting. I have little birds. Sounds like a strange exhibit tho..leans towards the destructive side huh? I *loved* your drawings! Esp. the mouse:-) Thats funny about the fake mouse and the sensor. Now that I like!
Pat
http://pat.typepad.com/just_pat
Comment by Anonymous — August 8, 2005 @ 2:23 pm
hate to see a book destroyed but makes a very interesting drawing! like the contrast in lines, the straight ones on the side and the curves where it’s been eaten away. and your mouse is terrific. Your line work is beautiful, what pen do you use?
Comment by Cin — August 9, 2005 @ 4:12 am
Hi everyone,
Thanks for your kind comments.
Julie: it is the Amsterdam Historical Museum. They exhibit anything that has connection to the city of Amsterdam in the past, now, and in the future. So these are some animals that could/can be found in the city.
Cin: I use Rapidograph 0.25, 0.3, and 0.5. That day was the first time I used them. Love it. The ink is ‘real black’.
Comment by Eefje — August 9, 2005 @ 11:15 pm