Kloppenburg as hostage of the City of Amsterdam, 2002, a WB and Alfons Alt co/production

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2000, 6th of May - 2nd of July: Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, BRD. In the exhibition organised by Director Ferdinand Ullrich (Who photo documented the exhibit personally) and entitled "WALDO BIEN including the series with Virgil Grotfeldt", also the Bien-Kloppenburg-Grotfeldt work is displayed, the triptych that was made during MEETING 6 in Houston Texas (see 1997). The F.I.U. is put to the test. Nearly all of the Bien-Grotfeldt  works are exhibited in Recklinghausen, (8 are missing). For the first time the artists can study all of the works together: the triptych with Kloppenburg indeed forms a crucial element. Along with the exhibition Patrick Healy's monograph "Waldo Bien" is published, an overview of the FlU activities in the past 30 years: Raum 20, Jacobus Kloppenburg, Michael Rutkowsky, Martin Schönenborn, Grotfeldt, the series with Joseph Semah, etc. General Director of Triodos Bank Peter Blom and Triodos employees visit the exhibition for a special tour. Babeth Mondini vanLoo, FlU, produces a video tour (by Bien) along all 200 works. (Kunsthalle Recklinghausen 2000)

2000, September: PPP QAUMANEC. Special Paleo Psycho Pop issue, with Kloppenburg.

2001, 30th of January: Letter from the City of Amsterdam, Dienst Binnenstad in which K is told to come and pick up his collection and pay for the costs now totalling at Hfl. 238.015,34. The letter states: "OTHERWISE THE CITY WILL HAVE TO PROCEED TO CARRY OUT DESTRUCTION, especially because, as becomes clear from the two enclosed taxation reports, the value of the collection is nil". Two so-called "expert's opinions" are enclosed: a) by Auke van der Werf, Art gallery and taxation business;... "Hereby I would like to give, at your request, my opinion about the content of the Kloppenburg atelier. The fact that I sit in on the exam commission of modern art taxation, together with professor Carel Blotkamp and others should prove my expertise... After a careful study of a large number of pictures from the atelier I have come to the conclusion that this material is of no art historical value whatsoever and should rather be considered RUBBISH". Hoping to serve you in this matter, I sign …highest regards..." b) Glerum expertise, Art and Antique Auction BV, 22nd of January 2001, Mr R. Boven; "...declares that on the 18th of January in the office of the Dienst Binnenstad Amsterdam, Amstel 1... a series of photos of interiors with goods belonging to Mr Kloppenburg have been shown to him... and, as far as can be judged from the photos, these are only fit to be transported to a dump. Done according to my best knowledge and in good faith, Amsterdam 18th of Jan, 2001."

NOTE: The pictures shown to the "experts" by the city of Amsterdam were taken by the Municipal Inspectors and, crucially, 'after' the destruction by the construction workers of De Pelikaan (Ruska). By the way, the city of Amsterdam showed the same 'destruction' pictures on multiple other occasions, as well as in court and always with the same misleading intention, as if they were representative of the sculpture ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE by Jacobus Kloppenburg. A request of F.I.U. Amsterdam to the city of Amsterdam to view the pictures taken by the Municipal Inspectors remains unanswered. (F.I.U.archive)

2001, 15th of March: Court case, Council of State, department Administrative Law, Kloppenburg versus Mayor and Aldermen of Amsterdam, The Hague, 1330h. Kloppenburg is assisted by Lawyer Mr. J.M. v.d. Berg (Höcker Rueb en Doeleman, Amsterdam).

NOTE: In the morning a visit to Triodos Zeist: Waldo Bien, Jacobus Kloppenburg, Patrck Healy and Babeth Mondini vanLoo give a special FIUWAC tour for WaIter Hopps in Houston. Also present are Oeke Hogendijk and Mathijs Virgil Gomperts. Triodos Bank Director Frans de Clerck and Thomas Steiner welcome 'WaIter'. Babeth Mondini vanLoo makes the video registration (F.I.U.archive). After this: the Council of State court case in The Hague (video registration, F.I.U.archive). Kloppenburg shows the Judge a carpet with the text-concept of his sculpture ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE, TRASHTHETICAL LITTERARTURE (coll. WaIter Hopps).

2001, 22nd of May: Verdict Council of State, department Administrative Law, concerning Kloppenburg's appeal against the verdict of the District Court in Amsterdam of the 28th of February 2000 (Kloppenburg versus the city of Amsterdam). The court confirms the appealed verdict of the 28th of February 2000.

NOTE: This means, in short, that the declaration of fire hazard gave the city of Amsterdam the fullest right to order an eviction. But that did not mean the city of Amsterdam was legally forced to do so. There is no law  which prohibited Mayor Schelto Patijn to grant a delay of two weeks, either out of compassion, for cultural or political reasons, out of international interest, out of respect for Jacobus Kloppenburg or just to help a German Museum Director who is willing to save the oeuvre of an Amsterdam artist from deportation ("transportation") and DESTRUCTION (VERNIETIGING). The question whether the eviction was carried out with "utmost care", as had been promised to the Court of Justice as well as Museum Schloss Moyland', can be answered by everyone upon a blink of an eye. The question has not yet been presented to the Court of Justice. The judicial process required will take, as experience teaches us, about ten or twelve years. (The city of Amsterdam has already announced that it will litigate 'until the bitter end' in that case). Going to court costs a lot of money, money that the F.I.U. Amsterdam rather invests in a positive future, in something that is of use to the world. It also takes lifetime from the people involved and valuable time from organisations. At the time of the verdict Kloppenburg will be 87 years of age. The thousands of Kloppenburg artworks in the containers will be long gone by then, rotten away. The city of Amsterdam will remain 'innocent' all the while and shun its responsibility, with the excuse that the case is now (unfortunately!!!) in the hands of Justice. The next generation of governors will have to sort out this difficult heritage. And, whatever the verdict might be, the National and Municipal disgrace remains, increasing rather than decreasing. What to do now? The answer is F.I.U. interdisciplinary research: like a Talmudic discourse, in which the subject is viewed and studied from all sides, just as in the famous Beuys Klasse 'Circle Conversations' of 30 years ago: RAUM 20, Denken als Plastik ( Thinking as Sculpture): a completely artistic educational process based on symptom, analysis, diagnosis, therapy. And... Wer nicht denken will, fliegt raus (sich selbst). The Kloppenburg sketchbooks, now the appendix of his ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE, show that these questions keep him very busy. In the meantime he is looking for a SOLUTION.

ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST

2001, 31st of May: HET PAROOL article; DANGEROUS COLLECTION RIGHTFULLY GONE. Four years ago the fire brigade rightly removed Jacobus Kloppenburg's "Archive for the future" from the building. By placing the archive on the 5th and 6th floor a fire hazard situation had been created. This has been decided this week by the Council of State. It is unclear what should happen with the archive now, which is currently stored in containers. Bien; "threatening with destruction, that reminds me of dark days. The destruction of a life's work of an artist is the destruction of a life."

2001, 6th of June: Death of Kloppenburg's father-in-law, Prof. Kurt Arnscheidt (*26-01-1906). The atelier house in Lasserg at the river Moselle, BRD, where he lived together with his life companion and colleague Prof. Ellen Neumann, (Kunstakademie D'dorf), becomes K's new additional workspace.

2001, 7th of June: TELEFAX from Ron Manheim, Museum Schloss Moyland, to Mayor Job Cohen and Aldermen of Amsterdam. "EILT SEHR (urgent); we were upset to hear that the city of Amsterdam is making plans for the DESTRUCTION of the work ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE of Amsterdam artist Jacobus Kloppenburg. Despite the fact that our museum cannot contribute to a solution to the problem, caused by the disastrous eviction of this archive, we would like to urge the municipality strongly to abandon this plan. The destruction of art is irrevocable. We urgently recommend you to ask internationally renowned specialists in the field of contemporary art for advise. With Regards (signed)".

2001, 19th of July: ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD, by Mirjam Keunen; headline "END SEEMS NEAR FOR OEUVRE JACOBUS KLOPPENBURG", and... "City does not know what to do with tens of thousands of artworks. The German art collectors Hans and Franz Jozef v.d. Grinten once wanted to house his life's work in their museum Schloss Moyland. WaIter Hopps, head curator of contemporary art of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, compared his Archive to that of Kurt Schwitters and Yves Klein. "Kloppenburg has created a megasculpture of great importance", he once wrote in a supportive statement …The lifework of Kloppenburg has been stored in sea containers for over 4 years by now. The city of Amsterdam plans to DESTROY the stored goods soon ... City of Amsterdam; "According to our assessment it appeared to be of low value. But it is still art and therefore one needs to be careful".

Bien, FIU Amsterdam lawyer Dolf Rueb and Hilarius Hofstede, 2001

FIUWAC 386

FIUWAC 387

FIUWAC 362

K Biking in Amsterdam

Visiting Michael Rutkowsky and his project Buchwerkstatt in Verr, BRD, 2001

With friend and colleague Felix Droese

K and Walter Hopps

Grotfeldt and K, Houston TX

ARTVOCADO manuscript on the studio floor, Nov. 2001

2001, September: Article in KUNST EN ANTIEK JOURNAAL by Robert Jan van Ravensteyn, "IN THE MARGINS OF THE ART MARKET".   NOTE: a well-informed article, which also describes the manipulations of the so-called official art circuit and the "artmaffia" in Holland... Ends with: "I WILL KEEP FOLLOWING THE CASE AND I CAN SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND YOU TO DO THE SAME."

2001, 18th of November: Letter from WB, FlU Amsterdam, to Mayor Job Cohen, requesting an interview concerning the municipal kidnapping of Kloppenburg's lifework ARTCHlVE FOR THE FUTURE.

NOTE: unanswered.

2001, November: WENG LING, Director of the Academy for Traditional Art, Beijing, pays a work visit to Waldo Bien, FlU Amsterdam, together with WEI HONG, Houston, FIUWAC artist. During their previous visit the guests from China were given a tour through the FIUWAC at the Triodos Bank in Zeist. They would like to see art again this time. Hundreds of ARTVOCADO RUNEN at that moment lay orderly spread out on the floor in the atelier, like a huge manuscript, ready to be photographed by Bien. The specialists from China immediately go up to have a look, they bend over the works and watch them in silence for a long time. Then Weng Ling says; "Tell me, what language?" Kloppenburg replies: "For me, that question is the greatest compliment imaginable."

2001, 19th of November, 11.00h: Visit from the inspectors of ICN, Instituut Collectie Nederland (on behalf of Staatssecretaris [under minister] v.d. Ploeg) and delegates from the city of Amsterdam, Dienst Binnenstad and Kunstzaken, to the 13 containers in which the Archive has been stored for over 4 years and which are located on the premises of the firm Royal Saan. It is curious that neither the author of the archive, Jacobus Kloppenburg, nor any of his solicitors have been informed about this visit to the corpus delicti or invited to be present in order to answer questions or provide information. Apparently it is the intention of the city of Amsterdam to have the ICN confirm that the containers are indeed filled with trash. Together with the two other so-called 'expert opinions' this would justify a 'safe deportation' and destruction of The Archive, with a report by Holland's most renowned Cultural government institute, the ICN, to cover their backs. But, as it often happens, by a twist of fate things turn out differently: After having been informed about this plan by a well-disposed spirit, Bien, together with filmmaker Oeke Hogendijk, who is working on a Kloppenburg Documentary, and a camera crew from AT5 television, are already present when the ICN inspectors arrive. Several containers are opened and a tragic sight is revealed. To underline that one is not dealing here with anonymous goods but also with a man's life, the 72 year old Jacobus Kloppenburg, Bien has brought a portrait of Kloppenburg and attaches it to the door of the container with the use of magnets. The inspectors clearly feel embarrassed by the terrible sight of the contents of the containers. The officials from the city of Amsterdam also seem to feel unwell. Even the workers who have to transport the containers with a crane are shocked. One of the ICN investigators than asks “whether everything has been labeled and numbered so that it later also can be reconstructed again?” Bien explains what they are looking at: The construction debris from the contractor has been thrown on top with a shovel. Heavy pinewood beams have crushed fragile artworks. Everything is just thrown in crisscross as if it were rubbish. One container appears to be lost. Bien takes a bunch of dirty, torn pastel drawings from underneath the debris and lays them out on the ground in front of the commission. An unexpected Kloppenburg exhibit. They are drawings from the 'sensational' Fodor exhibition of 1986.

The commission's 'secret' visit is featured in the news on television the very same day (F.I.U.archive). Kloppenburg's solicitor (Bien) confronts the viewers with the following comparison: "Imagine, you take a wedding cake made by the city's best baker. Someone wilfully drops it on the floor and 30 people walk over it. Then a commission is sent over to check whether the man is a good baker. You understand that this would make no sense at all. This is absolutely ridiculous." (F.I.U.archive)

2001, 20th of November: Letter from Bien, F.I.U. Amsterdam, to the ICN inspectors with the strong request to include in the investigation, for the sake of objectivity, all F.I.U. material concerning the matter before conclusions are drawn. The ICN is also informed about the fact, in case they did not know, that the municipal eviction was carried out by a 'professional demolition firm'.  Bien also adds a recent newspaper article from Het Parool on a court case in which the Dienst Binnenstad inspector Ronnie E, who called in the fire brigade and arranged the eviction for house owner Ruska (the Pelican), is accused of corruption and malafide practice. Bien suggests the commission that serious investigation is needed but he at the same time warns “ to watch their back if they do so; the municipal cesspool is covered with a heavy lid.” NOTE: This F.I.U. investigation request is not complied with. The letter remains unanswered. One apparently prefers not to know facts that burden the city of Amsterdam.

2001, 29 November, Jakarta: Letter from Luk Darras, Ambassador of Belgium in Jakarta, to Staatssecretaris Dr. R. van der Ploeg, cc Mayor Job Cohen Amsterdam:

Dear Mr Staatssecretaris,

I was informed that you have recently been in Jakarta and unfortunately I have been unable to meet you then. I wish to bring to your attention a case, not in my function as Ambassador of Belgium in Indonesia, which, of course, does make me sensitive towards the image of a country and her appearance to the outside world, but as someone who has since long been involved, on a professional as well as personal level, in the art world. Outside of my career, I have been appointed as General Commissioner of Europalia in Greece (1981-1983), which is considered to be the largest multicultural art event in Europe, and have later been working in the cultural commission of the Belgium Embassy in Rome (1982-1987). Moreover I have a personal passion for contemporary art, also as a collector, and I have exhibited myself. The case concerns Mr. Jacobus Kloppenburg, Dutch artist, whom I have known, followed and collected for 20 years now. I met him in Italy in 1984. He later stayed with me for two months in Kigali, Rwanda, where I was the Ambassador of Belgium (1987-1990) and after that I met him several times in New York, where I was Consul-General from 1993 till 1998. It has come to my ears that a remarkable and monumental part of his oeuvre, named "The Artchive for the Future", was not only placed in 13 containers in 1997, as it was said because of a fire hazard, but that after a recent disastrous eviction to a refuse dump in Amsterdam there is now also a threat of immediate destruction. We are indeed dealing with a voluminous work here, a sort of social and historical mega-sculpture made from objects collected in Amsterdam during a period of 35 years. In conceptual terms it is an extraordinary testimony of the 201h century. On first view it seems to sum up the socio-cultural history of Amsterdam of the past 35 years. The greatest art specialists have compared it to the Archive of Joseph Cornell, KIein, or the Merzbau of the world famous artist Kurt Schwitters. The international art world can indeed call this elimination of a physical archive that has been accumulated over 35 years a gruesome deed, which is undoubtedly capable of compromising the cultural image and the artistic reputation of Holland.

This letter, Mr. Staatssecretaris, is only to explain my concern that this cultural blunder can seriously damage the Dutch reputation on an international level, which as yet is highly regarded for its exceptional cultural patrimonium and its great artistic creativity. The destruction of the lifework of an original, engaged and exceptionally innovative Dutch artist, because of administrative incomprehension, will not go by unnoticed. Please accept, Mr State Secretary, my feelings of sincere respect. Very kind regards, (signed) Luk Darras, Belgian Ambassador.

NOTE: Although the document has been marked with the F.I.U.archive stamp STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL, it has nevertheless been released by the Ambassador for publication. (F.I.U.archive).

2002, January: KUNSTBEELD (magazine) by Anne Berk: AMSTERDAM CULTURAL BARBARIAN? Featuring the picture of K with tap: "On AT5 (TV broadcasting station, red) I saw two experts having a look in the "Archive for the Future" of Jacobus Kloppenburg. Five years have gone by since the city had the atelier of Kloppenburg cleaned out on orders of the fire-brigade, so that the house owner could build luxurious apartments. For five long years the Archive has been rotting away in fourteen containers. What should happen with it? How much is the damage and who will have to pay for it? The city of Amsterdam has a problem... In 1997 the whole content was thrown into the containers, two weeks before the Archive would be moved to Museum Moyland. The v.d. Grinten brothers, who have housed their Beuys-collection in castle Moyland were willing to take care of the Archive and make a selection of it. According to Walter Hopps (senior-curator of 20th century art of the Guggenheim Museum, NY) the coherence of this organic "megasculpture" has been seriously disrupted by the eviction. Hopps compared the archive with the Merzbau by Schwitters and the archive of Yves Klein. Besides, those 5 years of storage in containers have not done the collection any good either. The v.d. Grinten brothers were furious with the careless handling. They withdrew when the city of Amsterdam confronted them with the bill of the so-called 'careful' eviction.

Meeting at Jason McCoy Gallery, NY. From left: Walter Hopps, Virgil Grotfeldt, Waldo Bien and Steven Cadwalader, 2003

Weng Ling

Orange Peel Fiuture

K with football

Hans van der Grinten with tragedy mask, Kranenburg 2001. FIUWAC

Eat Art, 2002

2002, February: HTV/newspaper ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE (Engl.) text by Patrick Healy, PUBLIC PROTEST, with picture of Kloppenburg's Trashthetical Litterarture concept:

"For over 35 years Jacobus Kloppenburg worked in his studio on what Walter Hopps of the Guggenheim has described as a megasculpture of enormous significance, comparing it to the work of Schwitters and Cornell. Similar views from the critic of The Independent, from people in Museum Moyland and many others have been heard last years. Nevertheless, some of the bureaucrats in Amsterdam seek to describe it as a dirty pile of rubbish and have it removed from its location by a breaker (demolition company A.A.H. Schmidt), having sworn in court that they would give it due professional care and attention. We could see, while the 13 containers were open for inspection, that much of the work has been destroyed and only vast resources could help put it back again into any kind of public access. The scale and enormity of this work and the barbarism of the city in their dealing with the artist is remarkable. On the word of a house owner to someone in the City Hall and a report to the fire-brigade a life time's work can be in a matter of days removed and severely vandalised. Many questions occur. Who paid to have this all done in a matter of days, even as the Museum Moyland was preparing to come and rescue the work? Had it anything to do with a well-known corrupt official and world famous car sales-man? Why pay years of subsidies to an artist and have him in significant public collections and then declare that this work is not art? Why was the ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE so threatening to the "good order" of the society that legal means where used to destroy it? What is the real story behind this tragedy?

2002, February: PPP, Paleo Psycho Pop Nr 17, with Kloppenburg.

2002, 13th of February: Answer from Staatssecretaris Rik v d Ploeg, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, to Waldo Bien, FIUWAC, Amsterdam:

Quote: …."By then the Instituut Collectie Nederland had also been contacted by the city of Amsterdam for advice... ICN has studied the collection as careful as possible. They came to the conclusion that at this moment it cannot be said whether the collection is culturally of such significance that the interference of the Staatssecretaris of Education, Culture and Science can be justified. It did become clear that the keeping, maintenance and presentation of this Archive would be very expensive due to scientific research, conservation and presumably also restoration. Because of this the 'archive for the future' does not qualify as a piece of such importance that will be acquired and administered by the State. Besides, within the collection of the ICN there are already twenty works by Kloppenburg so that the State in fact has already taken its responsibility for part of his oeuvre. The final decision about the future of the Archive remains the responsibility of the city of Amsterdam. I have hereby taken into consideration that the city of Amsterdam is supposed to have enough expertise in order to come to its own conclusion. In order to prevent the destruction of the Archive (completely or partially), the ICN has made some proposals to the city of Amsterdam. I assume that you will be informed about this. ( signed )

NOTE: This letter erroneously suggest that Kloppenburg's ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE has been offered for sale to the government. Despite the correction of this suggestion in following correspondence, by Bien, this error is not noticed and corrected but keeps running through the following official correspondence until today, 17 March 2005.

2002, 14th of February: the ICN RAPPORT/ADVISE that had been issued to the city of Amsterdam is forwarded to WB / FlU Amsterdam by the Dienst Binnenstad.

NOTE: the ICN rapport consists of 3 pages, divided in a 'sketch of the situation', a 'cultural historical assessment' and so-called 'alternatives'.

Quote: ..."That the creator of The Archive himself does not seem willing to give any comments as to the contents of his work makes the case more difficult. ...Because of the size of The Archive we estimate that it will take several years of work for two experienced art archaeologists to put it back in order. This work will cost somewhere between 325.000 and 435.000 Euro. Apart from that there are the costs of the administration which will amount to somewhere in between 25 and 50 Euro a year for every single object. Considering the amount of objects - my staff estimate that there are many thousands - the structural costs for keeping and maintenance will amount to about 200.000 Euro a year. Nothing can be said as to the costs of conservation and restoration and finally the curating of The Archive until the description and reconstruction have been completed. "...To make The Archive available for interested institutions (museums) is not an option at this time because of the high costs for research, conservation and restoration involved. To sell the goods to those interested by means of a public auction would be equal to destruction. This solution will probably cause lots of negative publicity. The destruction of the stored goods is a definite but very rigorous solution for the problem that you (the city of Amsterdam) are faced with, but will surely give rise to a lot of protest and negative publicity. The ICN advises two options, in addition to the possibilities suggested in the official statement (to sell, give away for free or destroy the stored goods when they cannot be returned within 13 weeks), two alternatives: A: "Stored goods can be donated to Waldo Bien. He is very familiar with Kloppenburg's work and has proved to be a great advocate of the Archive for the Future. In his position as Founding Director of the Free International University World Art Collection (FIUWAC) and through his international network and connections with the Triodos Bank, Bien can generate the means for research and maintenance and for the realisation of a presentation of The Archive in the nearby future."

B: "Kloppenburg is assigned by the city of Amsterdam to generate a new artwork from the material stored in the containers and thereby compensate for the costs of the eviction and... the remaining material can be removed or given away." To conclude, ICN's General Director Rik Vos writes: "Should Kloppenburg or Bien be unwilling to comply with these alternatives or to cooperate, the only thing left for the city of Amsterdam is, according to my opinion, to destroy the stored goods." (F.I.U.archive)

NOTE: The suggestion of a Dutch cultural Top Official that the destruction of art is an optional and acceptable part of Government Policy makes one shudder and produces great distress, especially with our eastern neighbours in Germany. The impression is given of a taboo, of ENTARTETE KUNST and OFFICIAL VERNICHTUNG. Letters, statements of support and protests follow, directed to the Lord Mayor Job Cohen and the Aldermen of Amsterdam, by: Ron Manheim, Museum Schloss Moyland, René Block, Director Museum Fredericianum, Kassel, Ferdinand Ullrich, Director of Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Frank Lubbers, Assistant Director Van Abbe Museum, Saskia Bos, Director Foundation De Appel; the art critics Eric Amouroux, Paris and Adrian Dannet, New York, the Professors Katharina Sieverding, Lothar Baumgarten, Felix Droese, Johannes Stüttgen, Michael Rutkowsky, Virgil Grotfeldt, Hilarius Hofstede, Alfons Alt, the Museum Directors Jan Hoet, SMAK, Gent; Laurent Jacob, Espace 251 Nord, Liège; Chris Dercon, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Haus der Kunst, München; Klaus Staeck, lawyer and artist, Heidelberg, Catherine David, Witte de Whit, Rotterdam, Edie de Wilde, Former Director Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Rudi Fuchs, Director Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Tijmen van Grootheest, Director Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, Evert van Straten, Director Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo; Sjarel Ex, Director Centraal Museum Utrecht; Hendrik Driessen, Director Foundation de Pont, Tilburg; Janwillem Schrofer, Director Rijksakademie Amsterdam. All appeals remain unanswered (F.I.U.archief).

ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST

Patrick Healy giving the artist a helping hand after his forced stranding with The Artchive for the Future in Amsterdam, 2002

Art must go on

Awards, F.I.U.tures collection

K and Bien in Amsterdam Westertoren

K pineapple order with Hilarius Hofstede

bicycle and collected small items

From left: Ron Manheim, Babeth Mondini Vanloo and Waldo Bien, House van der Grinten, Kranenburg, 2003

K’s Packed Bike in front of the Lauriergracht 111

Daily cold shower ritual.

Study for Container Pavilion, 2002

K's Container Pavilion Design

Meanwhile Kloppenburg has started to look for alternatives. He considers the option to let the containers function as the pavilion of the ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE, as a Public Social Sculpture in Amsterdam. He is working on this in Düsseldorf and in his atelier at the Moselle, in Lasserg. Kloppenburg draws, makes models and develops the concept. This happens in a way that is illustrative of F.I.U. Amsterdam interdisciplinary research: It is not an idea that is being sought, but rather a checklist is used to eliminate the inessential. It is always immediately clear what is not wanted. The negatively charged mass that emerges, is the matter in which the solution is hidden as an opposite. One only needs to free it by removing what surrounds it. Endless phone calls, consultations, deliberations and thinking are taking place about the consequences on all possible levels and how they can be solved, reversed or transformed to the advantage of all those involved and focused on a positive future: Joseph Beuys, RAUM 20, DENKEN ALS PLASTIK.  Even though one should rather speak about RAUM numbers 109-111-123 (Lauriergracht), 6 (Neubrückstrasse, Düsseldorf) and 1 (Atelier Lasserg).

If necessary, Kloppenburg is willing to individualise parts of The Archive as TRASHTHETICAL LECTURE sculpture. They are packaged in shrink-wrapping. COCOONING - SHRINK. WRAPPED.  In Amsterdam he also continues to collect, even though he does not have an atelier any more. Stimulated by WaIter Hopps, who has asked to make sure that there will be one or two mobile containers prepared by Kloppenburg that can be exhibited, comparable to the Edward Kienholz's container "The Beanery" in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, where WaIter Hopps himself is sitting at the bar as a cigarette smoking statue. (See: Kienholz Retrospective, Published by Walter Hopps, Prestel, Munich-NY / The Witney Museum, NY./ Berlinische Gallerie ) But even after the transformation of his house into apartments Kloppenburg cannot find rest there. A construction error, made during the renovation, causes the kitchen to flood whenever it is raining. The 91 ARTVOCADORUNEN laid to dry under the weight of pavement tiles are lost. Kloppenburg pities most of all that no copies had been made of them yet. This causes a gap in his morphological research. Bien pulls the emergency break: A large part of the remaining ARTVOCADORUNEN is moved to the collection of Museum Schloss Moyland, where at that time the other v.d. Grinten brother, Franz Joseph v.d. Grinten, is the Director. As an artist and critic he qualifies the 3D ARTVOCADO FLATFORMS on arrival as "Künstlerische Hochleistung". Another part goes to WaIter Hopps in Houston, TX, the Triodos Bank Zeist and to the FIUWAC for TRIODOS Bristol, England. Meanwhile Bien and Kloppenburg are working on the FIUWAC concept for the Triodos Bank in Brussels. A large block of FIUWAC works has to be put together and composed. An important donation from Harry Hoogstraten forms the first step. The works have been selected by Kloppenburg and Hofstede, during a visit to Hoogstraten's atelier, that took place on suggestion Irah Cohen, N.Y. Kloppenburg and Bien both donate a substantial amount of works. Also donations from Virgil and Andy Grotfeldt, Wei Hong, Nam June Paik , Dale Richard, Federico Fellini, Uwe Claus, Richard Stout, Patrick Healy, Armelle de Sainte Marie, Serge Kantorowitz, Ernesto Levy, Luk Darras, Lothar Baumgarten, Giuseppe Caccavale (a beautiful Golden Bird), Laurent Dejente, Alfons Alt, Hilarius Hofstede, Jean Lebideau, Kaleb de Groot. Almost all of the Kloppenburg works, sculptures and objects, drawings and pastels, come from the Archive for the Future and have escaped the Amsterdam 'dance Macabre'. But also new works are being produced continuously, such as Kloppenburg's showcase ensemble "Voiture 9/109". It starts when a railway carton which was used for the numbering of carriages, is picked up on the platform, in this case number 9. When Kloppenburg picks it up (because of the remarkable colour and character) and turns it around, it shows another number on the back; 109, his archive address on Lauriergracht. It is put in a plastic bag and taken into the train where he draws on the plastic bag with a pencil, eats a banana and cuts the peel with a penknife, hangs out of the window and watches (he prefers not to look through glass), draws and calculates on a cigar box, smokes (especially because of the inspiring curtain of smoke), drinks port from the glass which he brought along, etc. At arrival he picks up some more things from the street and as such, by a logical chain of independent events, a homogenous and completely unconstrained artwork emerges. It receives the 'coincidentally' provided name: Voiture 9/109 (FIUWAC). The presentation is, after having gone through it together, further realised by Bien in accordance with the TRASHTHETICAL concept, presented within the same 'opened' framework of discarded, but for the finder new goods (F.l.U. PUBLIC LECTURE – DISLECTURE ) the object Voiture 9/109 is installed in Triodos Bank Brussels.

The conference room of the Triodos Bank Brussels is decorated with a continuous series of 10 Kloppenburg drawings, pencil and candle smoke 1989/90, and with an ARTVOCADO manuscript. Placed on and at the conference tables: FLORA (green) and FAUNA (red) chairs and marrow-bone glasses  (DVD, Deep Vision Division), etc… all 'sieben Sachen' of the F.l.U. BOARD AND CONFERENCE TABLE TOOLKIT he developed together with Bien, and for which Lothar Baumgarten has provided the keystone completing the spiritual arch: BRUTO TARA NETTO. As an ocular for exact perception, Kloppenburg's marrow-bone glasses are appreciated so much by Director Pierre Aeby that he requests another pair for his work office. A pair of marrow-bone glasses from the very first generation is now doing its job there.

At the reception desk the following is written in gilded letters: TRIODOS BANK, WHERE FLORA AND FAUNA ARE BOARDMEMBERS. Sebastiaan Bien, Wuppertal, takes care of the installation of the FIUWAC artworks in Brussels.

2002, 15th of April: HET PAROOL: "ARTISTS WANT MONEY FROM HET OOSTEN FOR WORK OIBIBIO".

NOTE: description of "the demolition" of the copyright protected architectural designs by Jacobus Kloppenburg and Waldo Bien, and the liability claim of their lawyer I.M. Bilderbeek, Höcker, Rueb & Doeleman, against the housing corporation Het Oosten... "The interior has been torn down, the sculptures destroyed, the doors with inlay painted, and the vaulted clay ceiling in the conference room has completely disappeared." MODERN ART - WHO CARES?

NOTE: Even the last Kloppenburg traces have been forcefully removed from Amsterdam. In 2004 a settlement is reached.

2002, 15th of April: VOLKSKRANT: KLOPPENBURG'S MEGASCULPTURE FACES THE THREAT OF DESTRUCTION, by Anne Berk. "Due to a fire hazard the atelier of K was evicted in 1997. Now the city of Amsterdam is stuck with thirteen containers. Conserve or destroy? (article with 3 pictures; Marrowbone Glasses, pastel, VW door).

2002 18th of April: Letter from Mr. Dolf Rueb to the city of Amsterdam in which he states that; "The manner in which the eviction has been carried out did not take place in accordance with the promised care and is therefore unlawful. The city of Amsterdam is considered liable for the damage caused.

2002, 19th of April: Radio broadcast SALTO 2 Amsterdam. Journalist Vischjager, Mr Dolf Rueb, Jose Berkhof, Waldo Bien. NOTE: In conversation about the Kloppenburg Case, 60 min. (FlU Archive)

2002, May: exhibition KUNSTENAAR ONTDEKT, Huize Van Abbe, The Hague.

2002, 22nd of May: Death of Hans van der Grinten. 

2002, 23rd of May - 3rd of June: Visit to Houston; Virgil and Deborah Grotfeldt, Richard Stout, Terrell James, Charles Stagg, Meredith M. Jack. Wei Hong (all FIUWAC). Also meetings with Walter Hopps, where the video material of the visit to the containers is watched. Hopps is appalled that despite his appeal, warnings and expertise, The Archive is treated with such lack of respect. Quote: "that looks indeed very bad, in more than one way". Meanwhile Kloppenburg has been working on a possible solution, the so-called CONTAINER PAVILION, on the design drawing of which the footnote: ARTBIOSIS; and, written in pencil at the top: "Better one bullet in the hand then ten in the stomach." This proverbial wisdom seems to be directed to the city of Amsterdam, an advice from the artist Jacobus Kloppenburg not to refuse the offered solution: DAMNATIO MEMORIA or... worse. The "solution" proposal is discussed and further developed (F.l.U.archive).

K's Container Pavilion Design

Making bullet holes in the frame at the shooting range

The Dutch Masters

Pierre Aeby Director Triodos Bank Bruxelles

Bien Sherlock Holmes

2002, 17th of June: Letter (14 pages) from Waldo Bien, F.l.U., to Mr. Rik Vos, General Director Instituut Collectie Nederland. Bien questions the 'research' and 'advise' that has been issued by the ICN to the city of Amsterdam: He poses that, as the Director of the FIUWAC, he cannot take the responsibility for The Archive as proposed in the "advice" and that this proposal is trying to decorate him with a millstone and then throw him in the water, wishing him Bon Voyage. That the proposal reminds him of the smile of the Mona Lisa. Furthermore: that the second ICN proposal, in which the artist is given the "assignment" by the city of Amsterdam to make a new artwork from the material stored in the containers... >in order to compensate for the cost of the eviction made by the city of Amsterdam<... is unacceptable on several grounds: It would mean that the author of the artwork, Jacobus Kloppenburg, would accept that the disastrous eviction by a demolition company was carried out according to the promised "utmost care", which is strongly denied. Kloppenburg has no desire to create a 'new' artwork in the proposed context, and will not accept any (forced) assignments from the city of Amsterdam, even under the threat of the destruction of his lifework, the ARTCHlVE FOR THE FUTURE.

NOTE: In short, it is considered by the FlU as a proposal that lacks all honour and is a shameful bureaucratic attempt to blackmail a 72-year-old artist whose lifework is unjustly taken hostage by the city of Amsterdam. In order to prevent them from claiming that they did not know all this, Bien provides information on Gesamtkunstwerk and 'Social Sculpture', on Kloppenburg's oeuvre and the Wagner depot, on the art historical importance of The Archive, on Kloppenburg's connection to the Beuys Klasse Raum 20 and Free International University, F.l.U, on Kloppenburg's FORM RESEARCH CENTRE, on the general international context, the importance of The Archive within the framework of Erweiterte Kunstbegriff, Kloppenburg's TRASHTHETICAL LITTERARTURE concept, on form and counter form and the so-called value determination of objects, on Sculpture classifications, the role of The Archive as FlU Proto Research Model of interdisciplinary FlU research, the concept 'Zwischenwelt der Bewegung' (Michael Rutkowsky), Kloppenburg's photo concept REALITIJD - REAL TIME, the meaning of double exposure, etc. ... All things the ICN research commission could have known if they had posed questions or, as research is supposed to be done, had gathered information from both sides of the conflict before, being a cultural scientific institute, making a rapport and suggest so-called "alternatives" that prove not to be alternatives after all. Quote: "In search of a possible solution, I (Bien, red) have been looking for something that matches the original artwork (FUTURE), and concepts such as the following: 'humane, environmentally friendly, durable and politically correct'. I have emphasised that there should not be any losers. The entire fantastical story with all its dramatic turns could then finally end up in all those (magnificent) books marked 'am Ende wurde alles wieder gut' (New Deal). With this wish and... in the name of the Rose... I have sought a solution for a second time. Enclosed you will find suggestions for the "humane technical" actions necessary to dismantle this explosive, so that The Archive can resume its work aimed towards the Future, and the town and country can finally benefit from what is hidden in it 'for them'. That is 'real' economy. Much of what I wrote will be already known to you. At any rate, man, horse and stable have been made clearly visible. All these developments were unforeseen by us, but maybe they have not all been for nothing. In any case the total picture of the present situation must now be clear to everyone. I hope it may truly enlighten the Spirits. I would like to request you to examine the proposal with regard to content and reasonability before I, or you, will offer it to the city of Amsterdam. I have been discussing this the past few weeks in Houston with our Advisory Board Director, WaIter Hopps (known to you), which led to the following 'Solution' proposal. I would like to stress one thing though: I am not going to do this a third time, in spite of all third time's luck. With Regards, (signed), Waldo Bien, FlU Amsterdam.

AMSTERDAM 17th OF JUNE 2002

TOPIC: ARTCHlVE FOR THE FUTURE of JACOBUS KLOPPENBURG

PROPOSAL FOR COMPLETE SOLUTION OF THE IMPASSE with the CITY OF AMSTERDAM

1: Both parties will refrain from pursuing this case in Court any further. Negative energy will be reversed into positive energy aimed at a durable solution without any losers and without further damage within the public domain. The city of Amsterdam declares to be regret the way things have gone. No legal claims can be made upon the basis of this statement.

2: I will use as a starting point the model made by Kloppenburg in which the containers form the lasting, enclosed housing for the ARTCHlVE FOR THE FUTURE and that will replace the original pavilion which he designed for Hans v.d. Grinten, Museum Schloss Moyland (see enclosed design). Kloppenburg donates the ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE to the FIUWAC under the condition that the city of Amsterdam acts as a FIUWAC HOST for this work and gives it a permanent prominent place in the public space as a Gesamtkunstwerk.

3: The firm Royal Saan donates the containers and takes care (as donator) of the transportation necessary for the complete solution.

4: The city of Amsterdam gives FlU the opportunity to work through the containers in a reasonable timeframe (indexal description, photo registration) and provides all necessary means. FlU Amsterdam selects all (remaining) presentable artworks and other material which can be divided amongst the FIUWAC, F.I.U.archive, Museum Schloss Moyland, and others. Subsequently the containers will be sealed and professionally scanned (X-rayed) by customs and then marked with the concept text ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE - TRASHTHETICAL LITTERARTURE, etc. Thereupon the containers will be transported to the agreed definite destination, as a FIUWAC Artwork in the Public Space of Amsterdam.

5: An ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE Publication fund has to be founded which is sufficient for study and publication. This can be spread over the course of several years, but with guarantees. The publications replace the physical reconstruction and the trusteeship of The Archive which, as is clear from the ICN rapport, is a very expensive and complex whole. The Publication Fund will be under supervision of Triodos Bank.

6: In order to provide Kloppenburg with some financial means within this solution (so-called Goodwill), the city of Amsterdam could acquire the textsculpture ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE for the public space (complete text cut out in 7,5x10m plate of steel). Without any problems, this could be put on the Museum Square and also other places in Holland.

7: The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam permanently offers a nail in a good place in the museum to the Free International University World Art Collection, FIUWAC, in order to show varying works of Kloppenburg. Besides a sign of Goodwill, this can also be seen as an homage to Joseph Beuys, the initiator of the Free International University, and ultimately also of the FIUWAC. The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam might hereby also obtain the most important Beuys work, namely Social Sculpture which is 'alive'. On behalf of Jacobus Kloppenburg, Waldo Bien, FlU Amsterdam.

NOTE: The proposal is accompanied by the original design drawings for this new container pavilion, the text concept ARTCHlVE FOR THE FUTURE - TRASHTHETICAL LITTERARTURE - VISIBLE LANGUAGE OF A CULTURE …etc., plus a photographic portrait of Kloppenburg as "Dutch Master at the end of the 20th Century".

2002, 21st of August: Letter from Mr. Rik Vos, General Director lnstituut Collectie Nederland to Waldo Bien, FlU, in which he announces that the proposal for a possible solution has been sent to the city of Amsterdam, and... "that the dossier with originals will soon be returned". The examination of the proposal consists of (7x) "And what about the costs?" written in the margin, plus the request "not to contact us anymore about this or similar cases" (F.l.U.archive)

NOTE: The original drawings and design sketches of Kloppenburg are returned on 28 March 2003, but appear to have become the victims of an over-dedicated office assistant. The shipment is accompanied by a note: "Hereby …, and … on your request…" For bureaucratic reasons, the A3 originals have been folded and perforated with 24 holes, some drawings with 8 holes in the middle. Kloppenburg, figuring as a 'Dutch Master' on the photo, seems to have been attacked by a machine gun. The F.I.U. takes it sportingly, as a forgivable bureaucratic 'malheur', but also as a barometer showing how matters stand in the offices. The artists could laugh about it; after all they have become used to worse things, and this seems to fit in well with the rest. Entirely in keeping with the F.I.U. tradition and the Trasthetical Litterarture concept, the perforations become the motor of a new series of critical-humorous artworks: "Fire in the Holes" and "Butterplanet". The holes are filled the very same day with text fragments from an ICN brochure. In "Butterplanet" the holes (with text) are even enlarged to the format of planets, observed closely by the (g)astronomist Kloppenburg (edition: 3, Museum Schloss Moyland, FIUWAC, Coll. Dolf Rueb).

Kloppenburg responds with the text CULTURE SCREW CREW (A4, Reduction Alphabet). A new version of the Bien/Kloppenburg double-portrait "Dutch Masters at the End of the 20th Century" is produced, adapted to the recent developments. The old Dutch frames are taken to a rifle-club nearby with the request to provide them with bullet-holes (F.I.U.archive); subsequently they are fitted with brass title plates, such as they can be found in the Rijksmuseum: MODERN ART - WHO CARES? … on the portrait of Kloppenburg, and "Mon Dieux, ayez pitié de mon peuple" on the Bien portrait. It is a critical, mocking footnote referring heartily to the 'National Tragedy' of the 1533 cowardly assassination of stadtholder William of Orange, Pater Patriae, echoing his last words. The bullet is still stuck in the wall in Delft and has become an historical attraction. The work is also a good example of F.I.U. DEFENCE ART, a RAUM 20 tradition.

2002 Summer: From the oeuvre of his deceased grandfather, Prof. Kurt Arnscheidt, Art Academy Düsseldorf, Kloppenburg assembles a first posthumous exhibition, which is shown at the 'Christen Gemeinde', Düsseldorf. He is praised for his selection and the non-conformist presentation.

NOTE: The following year an exhibition of Arnscheidt's friend, colleague and F.I.U. founding father Prof. ErwinHeerich is held at the same location.

2002, 18 October - 15 December: Partakes in the exhibition "Le colloque des chiens" Espace Nord, Liège, Belgium (drawings and photo work).

Bien Sherlock Holmes

PPP and F.I.U. Boxing Gloves

2003, 15 March: HET PAROOL, Red.: CULTURAL CAPITAL AMSTERDAM GETS STUCK IN MALAISE, FECKLESSNESS AND STAGNATION. The Amsterdam Art Council: …"If Amsterdam persists in the present lack of direction, it faces an ending as it once began, a village without a soul in the polders, devoid of metropolitan character… Amsterdam is living on its old glory"…

2003, April: F.I.U. PAMPHLET - Open letter of protest to Mayor Job Cohen and the Aldermen of Amsterdam, by Eva Kloppenburg Arnscheidt, Düsseldorf, in the name of family and heirs and IN THE NAME OF ART.

"ICH PROTESTIERE GEGEN DIE ÄUSSERST RESPEKTLOSE BEHANDLUNG VON KUNST UND FORDERE DIE AUFHEBUNG DER 'GEISELHAFT' VON KUNST, DIE BEHEBUNG VON ENTSTANDEN SCHÄDEN UND DIE ÜBERNAME VON VERANTWORTUNG SEITENS DER STADT AMSTERDAM IN DER AFFAIRE "ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE" VON JACOBUS KLOPPENBURG."

NOTE: The same protest of Eva Arnscheidt appears at the exhibition in the Water Tower, Vlissingen, 2003, but this time on a photograph of the critically listening Joseph Beuys and Waldo Bien, taken by Digne Meller Marcovicz, during the Beuys class mammoth discussion, Frankfurter Kunstverein, 1976 (F.I.U.archive).

2003, 1 - 29 Nov: Exhibition BISON CARAVAN, La Friche la Belle de Mai, Marseille, France. NOTE: Hilarius Hofstede, F.I.U. Amsterdam/Denmark, is the author and initiator of the Bison project.

A central theme of this project is migration. The Bison herd has set out in Denmark from the Århus museum, in May 2003, then moved on to Marseille, and there, in a dramatic hangar like industrial space kept in darkness like a cave, thousands of visitors came to see the 300 Bison artworks with the help of affixed minelamps. All artworks are donations form artists, from all over the world, for the Bison Herd. (In Marseille curated by Hofstede and Alfons Alt). Hofstede, as author, proposes that in five years the growing herd reaches a destination in America and that the prehistory of Europe and the American wilderness will both be riantly illuminated in the Bison. On special request of Hofstede and of other artists, Jacobus Kloppenburg produced a special "Bison Block", 15 works in all, ranging from a Johan Sebastian BACH BISON, via ROUTE 66, …to the BONBON TWINBISONS, bison drawings on chocolate wrappings. The Kloppenburg works were given a prominent place in the exhibition: In complete darkness one had to pass through a closed theatre curtain, and enter the "Grande Cave", the Paleo Palace, and the first thing one would see at the very sacred end were the Kloppenburg Bisons. That was how fellow artists and the F.I.U. Marseille honoured the 74-year-old artist, not in his hometown Amsterdam, but in Marseille, in France.

2004: Jacobus Kloppenburg, Lothar Baumgarten and Felix Droese are invited by the chairman of the 'Gesellschaft Niederrheinische Landschaftsskulpturenachse Hoch Elten-Kleve e.V.', Prof. Christian Holland, to make a border-crossing design for sculptures along the banks of the Rhine. The advisory council: Franz Joseph v.d. Grinten, former Director Museum Schloss Moyland, Prof. Dr. Klaus Bussmann, Director Westfälisches Landes Museum Münster, BRD, Dr. Uwe Rueth, Director Skulpturen Museum, Marl, BRD and Waldo Bien, F.I.U. Amsterdam, NL.

NOTE: under construction

ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST

2004, 11 April - 31 May: Exhibition BISON CARAVAN, Water Tower, Vlissingen, NL. On invitation of Dir. Leon Riekwel. Curators: Hofstede and Riekwel, and for the Kloppenburg works: Waldo Bien.

The BISON HERD has meanwhile grown in size by 60 new donations, and now consists of some 370 artworks exhibited in the Water Tower. In connection with this exhibition the BISON CARAVAN and the F.I.U. Amsterdam draw attention to the dramatic affair around the lifework of the Amsterdam artist Jacobus Kloppenburg, who celebrates his 74th birthday this year.

NOTE: Quoting from press release: JACOBUS KLOPPENBURG'S ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE, Lifework under threat of Municipality of Amsterdam. In the herd of artworks now visiting the 3rd harbour city Vlissingen, there is a series of works from the Amsterdam artist Jacobus Kloppenburg, whose lifework, the Archive for the Future, originally meant to become part of the collection of Museum Schloss Moyland, BRD, was destroyed by the City of Amsterdam at the very last moment. Instead of congratulations, the Municipality sent a demolition company to carry out the promised 'eviction with utmost care', with disastrous consequences. Since October, Kloppenburg's lifework, the Artchive for the Future, has been held hostage by the City of Amsterdam, under the threat of destruction and exposed to further ruin by inadequate storage.

The present artists of the Bison Caravan and the Free International University Art Collection, FIUWAC, have collectively expressed the wish to decorate the upper room of the Water Tower in this Bison Caravan as a homage to Jacobus Kloppenburg, 74, and his sculpture ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE, and to protest with force, horror and indignation against the disgraceful and disrespectful handling of cultural objects and as such to throw away the national reputation of Holland as a cultural domain built up by many generations of artists.

The Kloppenburg presentation contains an overview of all documents of importance in this case and a number of the hundreds of Kloppenburg artworks from the FIUWAC, press articles, video-installations and …at the next opening … the artist Jacobus Kloppenburg in person. On this occasion, F.I.U. poses the following

10 QUESTIONS TO LORD MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF THE CITY AMSTERDAM

• 1. Does the Lord Mayor of Amsterdam support the view of his council that the life work of Jacobus Kloppenburg, known as 'the Artchive for the Future', is to be destroyed?

• 2. Does the Lord Mayor of Amsterdam support the view that the Gesamtkunstwerk 'Artchive for the Future' of Jacobus Kloppenburg is the responsibility of the Building Department?
   
• 3. Has the threat of destruction (vernietiging) been lifted and can the Lord Mayor of Amsterdam give assurances that this threat will not be carried out?
   
• 4. Is the Lord Mayor of Amsterdam, however, aware that the recent storage conditions of the 'Artchive for the Future' of Jacobus Kloppenburg is destroying the collection?
   
• 5. Is the Lord Mayor of Amsterdam aware that this Gesamtkunstwerk 'Artchive for the Future' from Jacobus Kloppenburg, now rotting away in containers, was removed in the first instance by a professional demolition company and that extreme damage was done during and as a consequence of this removal and later storage until today, 6,5 years later?
   
• 6. Is the Lord Mayor of Amsterdam and his Council aware that in the course of those 6 years the threat of complete destruction for the 'Artchive for the Future' from Jacobus Kloppenburg has not been removed and that correspondence of concerned individuals and institutions, world-wide, has been left unanswered?
• 7. Is it the policy of the City of Amsterdam to destroy artworks?
   
• 8. If it is the case that the Lord Mayor and his Council do not wish to see the complete destruction of the 'Artchive for the Future' from Jacobus Kloppenburg, what steps are they prepared to take, even at this late hour?
   
• 9. Is the Lord Mayor of Amsterdam and his Council prepared to, in the public domain, reach a fair and equitable solution for the 'Artchive for the Future' of Jacobus Kloppenburg?
   
• 10. Can the request of the following people, to which list countless names could be added, continue to fall on deaf ears?

COMMITTEE OF RECOMMENDATION to save the "ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE"

-WaIter Hopps / Senior Curator 20th Century Art Guggenheim Museum New York USA - Founding director of the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, USA. -Hans + Franz Joseph v.d. Grinten / Founders of the Sammlung van der Grinten, Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg-Hau, Germany. -Chris Dercon / Director Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

-Ron Manheim / Adjunct director Museum Schloss Moyland Germany. -Ferdinand Ulrich / Director Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Germany. -Rudi Fuchs / Former director Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. -Patrick Healy / Author, art critic, professor Free International University Amsterdam/Dublin and faculty of architecture, TU Delft, boardmember Free International University World Art Collection, founder Paleo Psycho Pop Magazine. -Saskia Bos / Director Foundation De Appel, Amsterdam. -Tijmen van Grootheest / Chairman of the board of directors Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam. -Frank Lubbers / Adjunct director, head curator Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven. -Lothar Baumgarten / Artist and professor Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, Germany. -Luk Darras / Ambassador of Belgium, Australia. -Katharina Sieverding / Artist and Professor Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, Germany. -Hilarius Hofstede l Artist, founder Paleo Psycho Pop Magazine and boardmember Free International World Art Collection. -Felix Droese / Artist. -Laurent Jacob / Director Espace 251 Nord, Liège, Belgium. -Eric Amouroux / Art critic, Paris, France, Sao Paulo, Brazil. -Adrian Dannatt / Art critic, New York, USA. -Michael Rutkowsky / Artist, CoIgne, Germany. -Virgil Grotfeldt / Artist, professor Free International University, Baptist University, Houston, Texas. -Johannes Stüttgen / Artist, author, professor Free International University, Düsseldorf, Germany. -Alfons Alt / Artist, professor Free International University, Marseille, France, boardmember Free International University World Art Collection. -Jan Hoet / Director StedeIijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst, Gent, Belgium. -Waldo Bien / Artist, professor Free International University, Amsterdam, founding director Free International University World Art Collection -René Block / Director Museum Fridercianum, Kassel, Germany. -Edy de Wilde / Former director Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Amsterdam. -Sjarel Ex / Director Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands (currently at Boymans van Beuningen). -Babeth Mondini van Loo / Film producer, program director Buddhist Broadcasting Service, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. -Oeke Hoogendjjk / Filmmaker, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. -Leon Riekwel / Director Buro Beeldende Kunst, Vlissingen, The Netherlands. -Ton van Gestel / Director Stichting Kunst in Openbare Ruimte, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. -Evert van Straaten / Director Museum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo, The Netherlands. -Catherine David / Director Witte de With, centre for contemporary art, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. -Klaus Staeck, lawyer, artist and F.I.U. founding father, Heidelberg BRD. -Steven Cadwalader, Director Jason McCoy Gallery, NY. -Jan Willem Schrofer / Director Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunst, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. -Prof. Dr. Christian Holland, Chairman Ges. N.R.-Sculpturenachse Hoch Elten - Kleve, BRD. -Prof. Dr. Klaus Bussmann, Director Westfälisches Lande Museum, Munster, BRD. -Dr. Uwe Rueth, Director Skulpturen Museum, Marl, BRD. -Hendrik Driessen / Director Foundation De Pont, Tilburg, The Netherlands. etc.

NOTE: The idea for this homage comes from Hilarius Hofstede and Patrick Healy. Bien selects a block of works and prepares it for presentation in accordance with Kloppenburg's TRASHTHETICAL LITTERARTURE concept: The exhibition is conceived of as an F.I.U. LECTURE. The needed material for show-cases, frames, pedestals etc., has to come from the street therefore, not 'discarded' but 'new', in a brand-new state. Kloppenburg leaves for Düsseldorf. On the daily walks from his home to his atelier, Bien assembles the ingredients along the side of the road. The material is discussed over the telephone, and at a later stage examined together, put with the artworks, and suggestions are made. Kloppenburg sometimes brings in new material. This can be a process of minutes or months. Then Bien executes it in accordance wit Kloppenburg's Our-concept: blending of opposite categories. But…, in no instance may this become a house-style. An hypothesis has to be accompanied by its falsification (JEIN, a mixture of the German words JA and NEIN). Artwork and frame should become one, and form a symbiosis. This also fits in perfectly with Bien's own "F.I.U. Open Framework Research" of years. Both artists investigate corresponding problems: Kloppenburg = assimilation, Bien = open frame. Bien works "at himself for Kloppenburg." Works are sometimes signed by both of them. All the while, telephone calls are being made, the situation is discussed, things are planned, changed, added to, or removed, etc. They have the necessary experience: Since 1999, many hundreds of the 1000 FIUWAC and F.I.U.tures works have been created in this way. Things are thoroughly thought over. Finished works are displayed on a nail that happens to be available in the wall of the atelier. The subsequent works are grouped around it, and thus a 'block' or 'group' takes form automatically. Bien speaks of 'BLOCK' and Kloppenburg of 'GROUP'. The connotations differ: 'group' is more loose, mobile, and 'block' is solid and fixed. Next to this, Bien uses the term SEILSCHAFTEN to denote his own work, a special interrelation of works, like mountaineers on a rope, of which Kloppenburg can be part. The photographs of these 'Seilschaften' or work-groups are independent artworks in their own right, an F.I.U. Assimilation Lecture, guidelines of 'social harmony' for future-oriented politics and culture, an aid towards European unity and beyond.

The exhibition is laid out by Bien with the help of his son Sebastiaan. Bien is familiar with the round space, as he has exhibited there. Also works from the FIUWAC are used, pastels, drawings, sculptures, objects, photos and a slide show by Kloppenburg. To provide the audience with an insight into the ongoing Kloppenburg affair, a number of documents are enlarged and put on the wall: Letters from Walter Hopps, v.d. Grinten, Ron Manheim, municipal threat of DESTRUCTION, newspapers, articles and a new generation of F.I.U. Public Protest Artworks (F.I.U. study collection) by Hofstede, Alt, Healy, Bien… Subsequently, the video registration of the visit with the ICN to the containers, with the text:

PLEASE FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS

Jacobus Kloppenburg, his wife Eva and children come to Vlissingen for the opening. Bien is complimented with the presentation. Kloppenburg feels completely "at home, as if I did it all myself", and both laugh heartily.

Bien and Beuys

K with Cross

College Amsterdam

Alfons Alt, Bien and P. Healy

K and P. Healy

K’s sculpture design

F.I.U. Summerschool, Normandy, France

Waldo Bien and Eva Kloppenburg

2004, 4 May: P/C Provinciaals Zeeuwsche Courant, by Ernst Jan Rosendaal:

AGAINST DESTRUCTION OF NATURE AND CULTURE. Article on the Bison Caravan, …"The top two floors are dedicated to the 75 year old Amsterdam artist Jacobus Kloppenburg. It goes surprisingly well with the Bison exhibition. Kloppenburg has been assembling strange objects all his life. Objects somewhere between artworks and 'ready-mades', found objects labelled artworks by the artist. Kloppenburg has literally stamped them with a red K. He thinks of his collection as a coherent artwork (just like the artists of the Bison Caravan, who do not mention the artist with the works), an archive which has a lot to say about the art of the 20th century, and hence possibly also about the art of the future. But in 1997 the City of Amsterdam has evicted Kloppenburg's atelier on Lauriergracht due to a fire hazard. Ever since, his collection has been hidden away in 13 containers. KIDNAPPED, thinks Hofstede, who strikes a blow for Kloppenburg. Therefore this exhibition of a number of objects from Kloppenburg's curiosity collection, also features a protest. Not against a government destroying nature, but against a government destroying culture."

ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST ON ART MUST GO ON ART MUST GO

2004, 27 April, Founding Day

Stichting  FREE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY AMSTERDAM f o u n d a t i o n

Founders: Waldo Bien, Jacobus Kloppenburg, Patrick Healy and Eliane Gomperts.

Certificate composed by notary M.J. Meijer, Amsterdam

The foundation has the following goals:

• · a. To support and enable activities taking place in the spiritual context of the "Free International University, as principally defined by Joseph Beuys, Heinrich Böll and others.
• · b. To carry out interdisciplinary research and education.
• · c. To produce publications and exhibitions and to carry out social projects and activities in the field of: Art and science, ecology of the future, socio-economic models, questions of law, archive keeping and the transference of knowledge .
• · d. To assemble study collections (FIUWAC) and educational aids, all in the broadest definition of the word and in a free international universal spiritual domain, and to visualise world-wide the process of social sculpture and subsequently everything related to it.

NOTE: Dr. Brendan O'byrne is present for F.I.U. Dublin (F.I.U.archive).

2004, 26 August: DE VOLKSKRANT, by Rutger Pontzen,

"ART IN HOLLAND HAS LOST CONNECTION. Over the past fifteen years, Holland has entirely lost its connection to the international art world. … As solid as the image of museum-country was in the past, it has now been bartered. The tide is dead in Holland."

NOTE: This criticism comes from 4 renowned foreign museum directors: Harald Szeemann (CH), Kaspar König (BRD), Jerome Sans (F) and Frans de Baere from Belgium.

2004, 14 October, and on the day 7 years after…

PPP Paleo Psycho Pop Nr 29, with an "in progress" version of the Kloppenburg 'all-in-one' biography and overview of works 1930-2003.

At this point I (Bien) will stop, to prevent time from getting ahead of us. Jacobus Kloppenburg is alive and healthy, reads Rudolph Steiner, creates art as usual and takes interest in the work of young artists. He seldomly comes to Amsterdam. Landlord Ruska, a.k.a 'the Pelican', collects the rent of his luxury apartments every month. The damage caused has as yet not been compensated. The Lord Mayor of Amsterdam, Schelto Patijn, now Job Cohen, and the Aldermen have never responded to the letter of Hans v.d. Grinten, Director Museum Schloss Moyland in Germany (October 1997). Nor on any of the hundreds of other letters and appeals that followed. The 10 Questions also have been left unanswered. The Art Council wants to advise the City of Amsterdam in the case Kloppenburg, but Mayor and Aldermen stubbornly refuse to ask them for advise. The thousands of Kloppenburg works are rotting away in containers. Amsterdam has started an advertising campaign with the slogan: "I AMSTERDAM". Staatssecretaris Medy van der Laan has repeated the stance of her predecessors in a recent letter to F.I.U. Adam; the City of Amsterdam has to solve her own problems. F.I.U. Amsterdam goes on doing what it has always done: Social Sculpture, FIUWAC, Archive, study, interdisciplinary research, networking, lectures, exhibitions, publications, artwork >>> F.I.U.TURE >>>

WIR PROTESTIEREN GEGEN DIE ÄUSSERST RESPEKTLOSE BEHANDLUNG VON KUNST UND FORDEREN DIE AUFHEBUNG DER 'GEISELHAFT' VON KUNST, DIE BEHEBUNG VON ENTSTANDEN SCHÄDEN UND DIE ÜBERNAME VON VERANTWORTUNG SEITENS DER STADT AMSTERDAM IN DER AFFAIRE "ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE" VON JACOBUS KLOPPENBURG.

WE CONGRATULATE JACOBUS KLOPPENBURG ON HIS 75TH BIRTHDAY

1 January 2005, Lgr. 123, VI WALDO BIEN >Hüte die Flamme<

2005, 20 March , 7 a.m. Pacific Time : Walter Hopps died in Los Angeles.

2005, May the 3rd: Letter from the secretary of O C en W, Medy van der Laan, to Waldo Bien, F.I.U. Amsterdam:   Based on a report of the I C N investigation commission, the Artchive for the Future of Jacobus Kloppenburg is considered  “Total Loss” and, also saying, that further discussion of the subject is closed”.

2005 December: KUNSTBEELD, “Artchive (not) for the Future” by Anne Berk

2006 January: Arti et Amicitea, Amsterdam: exhibition ‘Jacobus Kloppenburg, ARTCHIVE FOR THE FUTURE’
Curated by Waldo Bien. The opening speech is held by Mr Luk Darras, the (former) Belgian Ambassador and FIUWAC advisory board member.
Also: the launching of the publication of a book, by Waldo Bien and Patrick Healy, on the Artist work and the ongoing affair around the continuing destruction of the Artchive For The Future on behalf of the City Council. The concept for the exhibition was a further development of the FIU/PPP Protest exhibition that was held at the Water tower in Vlissingen, april 2004. The artists biography and several affair related documents were glued onto the wall. A video installation showed the disastrous storage conditions under which the Artchive is kept and an AT5 television report on the visit of the ICN investigation commission, 19^th of November 2001, that resulted in the conclusion that the Artchive for the Future is “total loss”.
The exhibit included the first full photographic report on the Artchive for the Future, Kloppenburg’s photo registrations from 1990/91 (see 1990 text). Only a single photographic overview of the Artchive had been mounted together in 1990 (FIUWAC 005, now installed at Triodos Bank Zeist). All other photo recordings were caught in the so called ‘sofa fire, at studio Neubrückstrasse Düsseldorf, December 1990, where a serious amount of photo’s and negatives was destroyed, leaving behind a puzzle that took years, until 2006, to sort out.
This work is still in process. The show was received well by the public and the press. The Amsterdam City Council and Mayor Job Cohen stayed ignorant and refused to respond to the invitation for the exhibition. Mayor Job Cohen also refused to accept the Kloppenburg Book, that the F.I.U. wanted to hand over officially.
TV station TALPA produced a 30 minutes interview with Harmke Pijpers. (F.I.U. archive)

2006, January 7: Het Parool; “De restanten van een artistieke composthoop” by Corry Verkerk

2006, January 7; Het Financieel Dagblad; “Godswonderen, het grootste deel van het Artchive for the Future van Jacobus Kloppenburg ligt begraven in 13 containers” by Anne Berk

2006, January: Arti et Amicitiae Journal; “Locus Solus” by Franck Gribling

2006, 11 January: Echo magazine; “genie of afvalverzamelaar” by Wietse Schmidt

2006, 3 February: HP de Tijd: “Alles was van Waarde” by Bert Nijmeijer. Note: this article was based on personnel investigations and a visit to the containers as well.

2006, 15 February, 12.05 pm: WDR 3 Scala; Jacobus Kloppenburg - Ein Unkünstler? Report/interview by Claudia Friedrich/Red. Winfried Fechner

2006, 2 May: Brabants Dagblad: “Gallerie” Review from the exhibition at gallery Luca, Zaltbommel, NL. On exhibit: Waldo Bien/Jacobus Kloppenburg and Virgil Grotfeldt.

2006, May: Participating in the exhibition ABFALLPRODUKT, Mehrzweckhalle, Berlin (One liter Kloppenburg)

2006, July/August: W 139 Amsterdam; “BIG LOGOS BANG,” a solo exhibition by Jacobus Kloppenburg. Note: The exhibition was curated by Gijs Frieling. On show: Around one hundred pastel drawings, sketch/note books and a series of Artvocadorunen. Also: the onley surviving large constructivist artwork from the 1970/80  period, today in the collection of Museum Schloss Moyland.

2006, September: KUNSTZEITUNG; “Affairen: AMSTERDAM: Das Werk von Jacobus Kloppenburg droht die Vernichtung” by Anneke Bokern

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