the Service
Martijn Engelbregt was asked to make an artwork for a new building of the Dutch Parliament. Coincidentally, the budget was 160.000 euro – exactly 1 eurocent per inhabitant of the Netherlands. De Dienst (the Service) presented a number of works of art, asking the Dutch people to react and vote. People could also send in their own ideas and were involved in the process of choosing those works of art that would be installed in parliament.
De Dienst can be seen as research into the (im)possibility of combining art and democracy. In 2006, nine of the submitted works of art were installed in the Dutch Parliament.
Visit the website (in Dutch only)
Assignment: Dutch Parliament, Rijksgebouwendienst Photography: Appie Bood and Paul Gofferjé