When we walk past A.A.D., the project of graduate student Bart Eysink Smeets, we see three statues of nice ‘uncles’. Inspired by all the fake things we surround ourself with, like fake flowers, Bart wants to focus on fake objects. What happens when you put a life-like person out of plastic in a real-life context, like a hospital bed, a birthday party or…..the graduation show?
We see little boys and girls stroking A.A.D.’s knees and face and climbing into his lap. Kids love A.A.D.! They are absolutely not afraid of him.
Bart is not surprised: “I haven’t created A.A.D. to criticize fake objects. Our lives are filled with it, even my house is full of it. I just wanted to enlarge the concept of fake. A lot of visitors and also journalists think I designed a social project, that I wanted to help lonely people. But this was not my motivation at all.”
A.A.D. can be followed on Twitter. Bart: “A.A.D. is here all night, he is the only one who stays when the doors close. He sees a lot of things.”
Lunch with A.A.D.? Visit the show tomorrow, Tuesday 22 October at 13:00 and meet him!