at the office - POPOP - nijmegen

Bart Drost has been able to do many work periods as artist in residence. In November he was the guest of POPOP in this capacity and worked for one month in the former tax office in Nijmegen.Five days a week from 09-17h he worked 'at the office'.

He was very surprised at the start of his work period in the abandoned office space allocated to him, to find in a cardboard box, among other things, thirty sheets of lined paper written in a convulsive handwriting. With red ears he read the notes (of a former civil servant?) and he had no doubts that he would make at least some of these absurd writings public. While reading he made 54 pencil drawings and collected them together with the text fragments in the booklet 'zonwering' .

In addition to the brooding, bizarre, confused and sometimes confusing world that is evoked in the notes, Drost created a sober counter-image by means of a subtle intervention in the office space.

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blinds

As a counter-image to the 'notes of a civil servant', Bart Drost created a modest overall image in the former office space.


He painted thousands of light blue waves on both walls by hand with a small brush and turfed all the waves with pencil on a pillar. Wall clock and crucifix were added. A pair of black leather men's shoes and a cardboard box. In the middle of the space on the floor he placed a small, frail figure sitting at a table. Prominently present is a larger-than-life black-and-white photo in front of the window. The photo was part of the exhibition
'beelden van jongens' in 1990, but has been transformed for this occasion.


Out of the cardboard box comes a
soundscape, based on 'notes of a civil servant'.

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drawings

Bart Drost made 54 pencil drawings for the notes of a civil servant. 25 landscape and 29 portrait.

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drawings

Bart Drost made 54 pencil drawings for the notes of a civil servant. 25 landscape and 29 portrait.

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notes of a civil servant

The reason for the eventual presentation of the result of the working period at POPOP are 30 fully described sheets of paper that Drost 'found' in the workspace of an anonymous civil servant in the former tax office in Nijmegen. It was the intention that Drost would recite the text by means of a performance-like event on 27 and 28 November. Due to the measures to combat the COVID virus, he has waived this. Visitors could still listen to the lecture via their own telephone via a QR code.


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a book

Bart Drost has also compiled a booklet for this project. This includes 'the notes of a civil servant', 54 pencil drawings and some photos of the installation he made in the former tax office of Nijmegen during his period as artist in residence at POPOP.

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Bart Drost

free artist

Graafseweg 183a
6531ZR Nijmegen
The Netherlands