Amsterdam Art Weekend at IDFA: Human Nurture with Jeroen Jongeleen

A length of string, good running shoes and stamina are enough for Jeroen Jongeleen to make his mark on public space. His video work Running 1000 Steps Along a 5 Meter String (2015) will be featured at 'Amsterdam Art Weekend at IDFA: Human Nurture'. Saturday 25 November, 14:00-15:41 hours

However chaotic city traffic appears to be, the way people behave in public space is generally pretty predictable. There are unwritten rules for what you should and shouldn’t do in streets, squares and parks. Jeroen Jongeleen breaks through these conventions with interventions to propagate a freer use of public space. With spray paint, stickers and posters, he leaves messages in the urban landscape. He collects litter and makes it into flags, which he flies from bridges and church towers. His performances are more ephemeral, but they have the same aim: an unconventional conquest of space. He jogs for hours in fixed patterns in parks around the world. He did this last summer in the Vroesenpark in Rotterdam, keeping himself on his circular course with a piece of string. As bystanders eat their ice creams, kick a ball around or read a book, he leaves his mark: a circular trail worn in the grass. "Jeroen Jongeleen was here."

Publication date: 18 Nov '17