Notes from the opening weekend of the Miss Rockaway Armada’s project as part of Heartland.

- Riding down the Dommel river in Eindhoven as dusk turned to night on one of the three boats made by some of the crew for the installation.
- Tattoo artist Brian Kelly set up shop in the printmaking studio at Stroomhuis during the opening. A handful of the crew got some new ink, myself included. One of our group didn’t have any money or anything to trade, so he offered up part of his leg to let Bryan practice with a new super-wide fill needle.
- We’ve had a really great experience here in Eindhoven, but were a bit put off by how rude some of (very drunk) guests were at the opening. From tagging on some of the paintings, to badgering one of our performers off the stage, and even one guy who was having some inappropriate-touching problems with our female crew members. We were kind of hoping Mr. Touchy-Feely would come back the second night so we could tackle and hogtie him.
- Some of the installation getting wrecked by drunken craziness on the opening night, including the giant sign from the Van Abbemuseum we had outside.
- Mike and John getting wasted and busting out some crazy freestyling for a good half an hour (see video below).
- Waking up one morning and finding a giant wok full of lobsters. They were from the night before and were all cold and fishy, but whatever. Lobster is lobster.
- Part of the installation was a small diamond cave inside a treasure chest with a huge caveman SpongeBob Squarepants. It also was a very cozy bedroom and effective hot-box.
- It’s interesting to have helped build an installation with such varied parts as: a bar, a stage, a shadow puppet screen, two crows nests, a paper chandelier, a chapel, a cave, a dragons tail, and even a merch table.
- Wrapping up the opening weekend with a movie + pizza night in the installation. We piled a bunch of cot mattresses on the floor with blankets and watched movies projected on the shadow puppet screen.It was cold in there, but everyone was all on top of each other so it was fine. Spons brought us curly fries too. And shoarma pizza kinda sucks, by the way.

(photos and videos from the opening of the Miss Rockaway Armada’s installation at Stroomhuis in Eindhoven, as part of the show Heartland at the Van Abbemuseum. Please click “Continue Reading” below to see more (including the videos), there is also a full gallery here.)

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From the second half of the build at Stroomhuis by the Miss Rockaway Armada:

- I am able to convince friends of mine from Brooklyn, the band Team Robespierre, to come and play at Burgers in Eindhoven before they head to Amsterdam while touring Europe. A bunch of the Rockaway crew goes to the show and the band plays to a pretty full (although somewhat static) house.
- Andre cooking amazing dinners for us while we watch YouTube videos about stuff we’ve done.
- The separated bike lane here are one of the best parts of the Netherlands. However they cause you to let your guard down, which is partially why I almost collided head-on with a motor scooter tearing down the wrong way on the bike path.
- Going to the Election Brunch at the Van Abbemuseum and feeling a bit out of place since we couldn’t understand all the things being said about our own country and election. At the same time it was probably better we couldn’t participate, it probably helped move things along quicker.
- While I was checking out the museum’s exhibition of the “Heartland” show, I stumbled upon a video featuring my friend Dana at the Braddock, PA space talking about the artist-run space. Love the randomness.
- Did I mention how good stroop wafels are?

Below are photos from the second half of our stay in Eindhoven during the construction of our installation as part of the show “Heartland”. Please click “Continue Reading »” below the last photo to see more.

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Tod Seelie is a photographer and part of the Miss Rockaway Armada team. Here he reports on their encounters in Eindhoven. GO TO everydayilive.com/eindhoven to see more imagery from Tod Seelie and the encounters of the Miss Rockaway Armada in Eindhoven, read below what they have experienced in Eindhoven so far….

- Going to a thrift store in an old school to find John some new pants after he blew the seat out of his old ones. The old lady who was helping us insisted on leading him by the hand around the school showing people the hole in his pants, and then made him change out of them before he could leave the store.
- Rescuing damaged abandoned bikes and fixing them up to get around.
- Staying and working at the long-established squat Stroomhuis run by Andre Amaro, who on top of being amazingly generous, also happens to be an incredible chef.
- Working outside in the cold/rain.
- Competing for who has sustained the worst concussion so far.
- Feeling almost respectable when the Van Abbemuseum throws a welcome dinner for us.
- Finding it to be colder and damper than expected, which leads to the need for and the subsequent hunt for long underwear (which resulted in settling for blue camo stretchy pants from the little boys section of a fire-damage store).
- The resident chickens keeping us company, roosting in the bar we built, and of course shitting everywhere.
- The group attending an art opening at MU, and then promptly turning it into a crazy dance party. The momentum came down a bit after one of the crew broke the glass of a display case, but only momentarily. I heard there was an after party at a nearby bar where the remaining Rockaway members got thrown out, more than once.
- Andre cooking amazing dinners for us.
- I am able to convince friends of mine from Brooklyn, the band Team Robespierre, to come and play at Burgers in Eindhoven before they head to Amsterdam while touring Europe. A bunch of the Rockaway crew goes to the show and the band plays to a pretty full house.
- Going to the Election Brunch at the Van Abbemuseum and feeling a bit befuddled since we couldn’t understand all the things being said about our own country and election. At the same time it was probably better we couldn’t participate, it probably helped move things along quicker.- Planning a bit of waterborne adventure for the coming opening weekend.
- Really enjoying waking up (in the living room) of the nice artist housing and peering out into the back courtyard space. One almost is forced to feel civilized regardless of how late you were up hanging from dusty scaffolding screwing pieces of mismatched soggy scrapped wood together into something you hope can support its own weight.

Click “Continue Reading” for more photos. Furthermore check out the weblog of Tod Seelie at: suckapants.com

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