Willem
film, 10 minutes, 2018
Willem sat on one of the benches in the citycenter of Doetinchem,The Netherlands. All pedestrians passing by in the city were in different
ways touched by his presence. He got a lot of attention from people and it made many uncomfortable. People
would kick him, shake his hand, ignore him, touch him or comfort him. Whenever you saw him, Willem would always be in a different position. It seemed like
he had come to life.
Intrigued by the reactions this work evoked I noticed the way people and environments can transform a
lifeless object into something that seems to transcend itself. The performative doll playfully invites you to wonder about the meaning of this lone little
man sitting on a bench in the shopping district of the city centre.
