Delfshaven Project, Musicographics

My post content

It was quite challenging time for performers during COVID19. Without any concerts, commissions or any ability so socialize in public, it became both financially and artistically impossible to survive.

During those dark times, I started to take walks from my house in Beukelsdijk in Rotterdam. Like a Flâneur, I tried to notice things I would have usually ignored. Few things caught my attention, some turned into other things some just stayed as observations.

Along the Beukelsdijk, there is a long stretched park area for people to enjoy. As the COVID regulations of social distancing started, the municipality drew circles on the glass with white spray paint so that there wouldn't be gatherings of more than an unhealthy amount of people. The seagulls and ducks did not care about this at all of course.

Then I had the idea to just continuously film the canal. In the end I would have a rolling score of things passing through the water like, ducks, seagulls, garbage, planktons, wind sweeping across the surface. However this process proved to be quite monotone and not much inspiring.

After finishing walking along the canal, I reached the historical harbor of Delfshaven. Filled with sailboats, small bridges and historical buildings (such as the pilgrimage church), it was much more quiter than usual with noone on the streets. I looked down to the water in the harbor, the reflections of the old buildings looking like an impressionistic painting. This was very inspiring and meditating, however I did not feel like I needed to add anything to it artistically.

Then I looked up the the buildings themselves. Very impressive, almost looking like model homes. But what took most my attention were the windows. It was as if the windows were not windows anymore, but they really represented the people that were stuck inside. Each window a different person, different personality, confined in their own quarters. This was it, an idea to go with. So I called up my film director friend Emre Namlı and he started taking videos of different windows. 

As a contrast, he suggest also taking footage of the only people moving in the city, the couriers. Thus we had two parts for the composition, first the windows, the still-life people. Second, the couriers, the only moving people in the city.

Below is the video we produced together with Emre. I have kept the original audio of the video footage as well and used it as a tool in the composition (car horns, people talking, machinery noises). Emre made cuts between the footage at a meter and bpm I suggested, so we had a built in rhythm.

This video was not released until today, 29-09-25 as I was not satisfied with the product. The abrupt ending is also a part of it. However today, I find this experiment a very interesting window into the past. A window to frustration, unknown and lost.