Tolerance Strikes Back (Gallery IJburg, November
29, 2009-January 13, 2010), is a video installation
intended as a contribution to an ongoing public
discussion on populism organized by Daniel van der
Velden, tutor at the Sandberg Instituut Design
Department in October 2009 at De Verdieping,
Trouw Amsterdam.
Entitled "Geert Wilders’ New Ideology: 2010," The
video takes the right wing Dutch politician's
inflamatory words from a speech in Los Angeles
and gives them new form in order to convey a
more constructive and progressive message. The
device recalls "Fitna the Movie," a collage
that is created using verses of the Koran.
Contrary to demonizing Wilders, he is used as
a puppet to deconstruct his own message.
The process of the video-making was personal
on on a number of levels as Viola is from
the Netherlands and Pinar from Turkey, where
the default religion is Islam. Pinar is not a
practicing Muslim, but her dearest grandmother
is, as is many of her family and friends.
Contrary to what extremists portray (both
extreme Islamists and extreme right-wing
populists), Pinar's grandmother views the
essence of Islam as "welcoming".
Upon completion of the video, we posted the
site to numerous video broadcasting sites and
blogs in order to expose the work and allow
people to leave comments instantly.
Melchior Jaspers, the owner of Gallery IJburglaan
,saw our work online and invited us to exhibit
the work as an installation in a physical space.
We feel this work stands out among our previous
efforts as the first produced as an immediate
reaction to politics. We are the first to admit
that we are not sociologists who have devoted
themselves to the study of human culture and
socio-economic behavior. This is merely the
statement of two designers who are tired of the
cliched gap between "us" and "them" as if the
mingling of two different social groups can be
distilled to a sporting match in a stadium full of
hooligans.
This video installation is a light hearted comment
on the dark hostitility that is just under the surface
in some segments of Dutch society. Although we do not
know the solution to the complex social clash between
the West and Islam, we feel that as designers we can
regenerate positivity and stimulate dialogue in a climate
where fear and ignorance has led to intolerance.
This video-installation creates a "what if" scenario
using the words of Wilders to create a work of art that
posits the question: If Geert was as passionate and
enthusiatic about tolerance and understanding as he is
about xenophobia, where would that take us? We wholeheartedly
reject the politics of polarization that has allowed Wilders
to benefit from his so-called underdog status where angry
reactions to his rhetoric often returns as a public image gain.
Pinar Demirdag & Viola Renate
