Moonrider Floating Café in Transvaal

Tatsurou Bashi 'rebuilds' existing objects in public space. By additions and interventions he provides existing sculptures and monuments with a new function. He built a living room around a statue, completely furnished with bookshelves and chairs. In this way the official memorial changed into a domestic environment. The living room could be visited which caused the experience to shift from public to private. In Transvaal his view on public space acquired a personal connotation.

For OpTrek he conceived Moonrider, a café in a container hanging from a crane. The crane was situated on a wasteland near the Wesselstraat. Once lifted upwards, the café provided the residents with the opportunity to look down on their neighbourhood from a great height. But Transvaal's surroundings, the centre of The Hague and the sea were also visible. Sometimes even Rotterdam could be seen in the distance. From this vantage point the residents saw their familiar environment in a new perspective. And back on the ground, perhaps their view of the old neighbourhood was transformed.

period: September 29 through October 2, 2005

location: Wesselstraat, wasteland.

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