Report Okay People!
The Monument for Okay People is located on a dike in the Flevopolder at the exact geographic center of the Netherlands. The five-meter-high concrete statue is in the shape of a pentagram and has two thumbs up. The sculpture was created to commemorate special, unknown and mostly living people and their stories and thus write an alternative history: one that is contemporary and relevant and one to which the public can contribute.
The Monument for Okay People started with the idea that I wanted to promote my rare and obscure inspiration sources. There are such a lot of great artists and obscure makers who have not gotten enough recognition or attention for devoting their lives to doing great projects.
Slowly the monument grew into an ongoing participatory monument. Every year I include new names, engraved in cement tiles, at the feet of the monument. From 2018 onwards, people can download a form from my website, collect 10 signatures and add the name of their ‘okay person’.
The first 70 names
In popular ‘occupy (Wall Street) terms’ I call it a monument for ‘the 99%’, for those people who are not mentioned on monuments. A monument for friends and obscure inspirators, artists, writers.
Suggest someone yourself? This can be a mentor, inspirator, friend or muse; a person who carries an inspiring story or who has a special meaning.
Submit your name via the form below, motivate your choice, collect 10 motivations and signatures from people who support this choice and donate € 100 together to realize the tile at the monument.
Read the linked description carefully and report Okay People here
Press release under the following picture.
BIDDINGHUIZEN – The Monument for Okay People, a five meter high concrete pentagram, with two thumbs up as a tribute to the ‘okay people’, was opened this week on the dike at the Veluwemeer, the Netherlands. This artwork was created by social artist Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries, from Amsterdam. The monument is part of the art route Flevoku(n)stboulevard.
‘In the digital domain, there is a non-binding commitment of ‘liking’. Himmelsbach argues that this non-committal nature must be broken and translated into praise serenades in public space. A concrete homage to the okay person; a memorial to inspiring garbage collectors, artists, writers, gurus and friends. The monument should inspire the people of the Netherlands to fresh optimism and serve as a connecting story between excellent people.
Excellent people will be immortalized in name tiles under the artwork. If the Netherlands will ever be flooded in the future, Himmelsbach aims that this statue, consisting of 8.000 kilos of concrete, will rise above the water as the last vestige of our civilization. So the surviving story will be the one of the ‘okay people’. This will provide the surviving generations with inspiration. The ambition is to develop the monument into a place of pilgrimage for okay people.
New names will be added every year, starting with okay people of residents in the area. In the future, an okay person can be nominated through www.himmelsbach.nl. One condition is that ten other persons must support the nomination. A fine person is honored with his or her name on a tile that is placed next to the work of art. More information about the entire art route can be found at www.flevokunstboulevard.nl.