Dazzle Trip June 2023 NDSM Amsterdam

ART PROGRAM BY STICHTING NDSM-WERF

Dazzle Trip’ is a series of new works shown in various art installations that celebrate gender diversity in the public space and provide a glimpse into the universe of artist, designer and queer activist Yamuna Forzani. From June 22 a video installation in a shipping container, three images on the NDSM Billboards, and the inflatable A Big Heart (in collaboration with Blow Up Den Haag) can be seen at the NDSM wharf. In addition, a Dazzle Ferry sails between the NDSM wharf and Amsterdam Central Station (in collaboration with Amsterdam Ferry Festival). With ‘Dazzle Trip’, Forzani aims to raise awareness and celebrate the multitude of roles and identities that everyone embodies within social structures.

DAZZLE FERRY

A Dazzle Ferry sails between the NDSM wharf and Amsterdam Central Station: a special GVB ferry wrapped in Dazzle wrap designed by Yamuna Forzani (partly made possible by Amsterdam Ferry Festival). The Dazzle Ferry is inspired by the Dazzle Ships used in the First World War. Intended to use abstract patterns in contrasting colors that made it more difficult for the enemy to judge the speed, distance and direction of the target. The term Dazzle also refers to the dazzling patterns that Yamuna always uses in her work. Inspired by provocative prints and graffiti influences, Forzani makes contemporary collages and graphic patterns with tags for NDSM. Those who zoom in on the patterns see references to pop culture (symbols and emojis), but also an activist attitude, such as statements such as ‘trans rights are human rights’, a statement that, according to Forzani, is about pride.

VIDEO INSTALLATION

The video work that can be seen in the shipping container on the Smederijplein is a compilation of images from the Utopia Ball x Fashion Show that Yamuna (co-)organizes and for which she won the Dutch Design Awards in 2022 considering her art direction. You will also see images from her residency at Worm Rotterdam, a performance with self-made designs called Angel’s Delight. The video shares stories of diversity, acceptance and the normalization of all bodies in the public space at a location close to the ferry landing.

A BIG HEART INFLATABLE

Dazzle Trip is a visualization of ‘planet Yamuna’, in this context a large inflatable planet called A Big Heart is placed on the shipping container where the video installation can be seen on the Smederijplein. This inflatable was previously shown during Blow Up The Hague.

VISUALS ON THE NDSM BILLBOARDS

On the three large NDSM Billboards scattered around NDSM, three images from Forzani’s work can be seen on massive scale. They are images from the ballrooms that Forzani has supervised and organized, performances and interventions that she has done in combination with her own (fashion) designs. With an eclectic mix of fashion, photography, performance, installation and design, Forzani explores identity, the body and femininity with these images, intertwined with a psychedelic-inspired visual language.

Photo credits- Benjamin Kotek