An Industrial Orchestra? FXO scratches the surface and kicks out its sounds from a stage of scaffolding, surrounded by almost 100 gas bottles, spewing out pyrotechnics that kept us warm on an early autumn evening. Sounds a bit bizarre and slightly romantic? It was. Welcome to Robodock 2010. This event has been running since 1997, and both participants and the organisers are an international mix of alternative and free-thinking artists and musicians.
Robodock was situated this year in a space that Sloped down towards the river Ij, just across from central Amsterdam. We found an abundance of various stalls selling freshly cooked food, bars, steel forests filled with birdsong and a dizzying array of sculptures of varying size, function and shape. Some looked ominous and some were just a great sensory attack. Of course, the “industial arts” activity was accompanied by music of many different genres: industrial techno, percussion, hip-hop, ska, punk and a range of African sounds… basically, something from all over the world.
In one corner you found a “garden” filled with electronic appliances and people queuing up to take their turn in demolishing them with sledgehammers and iron bars. Freedom to express and vent anything you needed, or wanted to.. and of course, it’s just gritty fun.
In another corner a mechanical drummer.. also a sculpture, although this time fully robotic, it battered out Blitzkrieg Bop, by the Ramones and other heavy tunes, on its own full-size drum kit. A group of welders had been busy for two months, putting together these steel sculptures that spat out flames and poured out water, a real assault on the senses.. You’re afraid to look in the other direction, as you know for sure you’ll miss something…
Leinard D. from Amsterdam tells us that the wooden sculptures were constructed from 700 pallets and 24.000 screws, arranged by Lucas and Ide from BV De Gasten. Leinard built his own sculpture in just a couple of days.. A free hanging bench for him, and anyone who wants to, to relax and share his “shisha”, a pipe filled with apple flavoured tobacco.. And the point of his creation..? Just because he could, and it was something to share.
That seemed to be the reason behind the whole idea of Robodock… because they could and it was something to share… purely non-profit, it’s very possibly the future of artistic and musical expression, fused with our industrial and electronic age. If you want an extraordinary experience and some full-on entertainment, don’t miss it next year.
