Happy House: when art meets living room walls

Those of you who read our last interview will understand we arrived late for our appointment with Sofie Teugels, creative brain behind Happy House. Therefore the least we could do was make a quick stop at patissier Joost Arijs to buy some of the best macarons in town. You can't buy time, but you sure can buy a caramel excuse.

Happy House is a recent and refreshing art concept in Ghent that gives young artists the opportunity to exhibit in a very informal atmosphere. During the third edition from 9 till 11 November, you can walk into Sofie’s living room to enjoy the creations of five young artists, ask what is driving them and even buy their work.

Time for an interview with this charming and inspiring lady!

THE RABBITS: Do you remember where, when and how you came up with the Happy House idea?

SOFIE TEUGELS (owner Happy House): I think it popped into my mind when talking to people. I know quite a lot of artists in my personal life and have always wanted to access the artistic area from a professional point of view as well. Unfortunately it's very difficult to enter the world of museums and galleries if you have no relevant experience. That's when I started to think: "Is there anything I can do myself?". I looked around and started with the things I had available: our house was a good setting and at a certain moment everything merged.

Moreover I wanted to step away from the arty farty gallery world in general. We once went to a gallery in Antwerp and didn't get a drink because we were young and dressed casually.

THE RABBITS: Did other initiatives or cities inspire you?  

SOFIE TEUGELS: Not in a direct way. But if you look at Berlin for example, you see a very dynamic place where a lot of things are going on. Of course in Berlin the situation has been growing historically since the reunification in 1989. Nevertheless I want this atmosphere in a city like Ghent as well and I hope I can contribute to that with Happy House. It has to remain an informal, spontaneous and organic event, not based upon rules. I don't want to meet certain expectations either. Qualitative art is of course a requirement but besides that it should be free. What we had in mind when thinking about Happy House was: why not?

THE RABBITS: How do you pick the artists for Happy House? Can anyone apply?

SOFIE TEUGELS: I look for them myself. For the first edition I got in touch with KASK and received the names of some promising students. I keep an eye on HISK and the “open ateliers” of Nucleo, and look into my own social circle as well. And of course the internet is a very handy tool to discover new talent.

THE RABBITS: Is it limited to local artists?

SOFIE TEUGELS: No, Happy House is not geographically limited: we have quite some artists living in Ghent but it’s not a requirement or condition. On the contrary, in the future we would also like to show some international work. However in the beginning you often need to start close to yourself for practical reasons.

THE RABBITS: We heard you mentioning the future. What are the plans for Happy House?

SOFIE TEUGELS: I can’t say I have particular plans, but there are opportunities from time to time. During the weekends before the third Happy House edition, you can go to domain De Campagne in Drongen for example where we took care of the young artists section in the Versus expo: experienced artists versus new artists.

THE RABBITS: Do you do this on your own?

SOFIE TEUGELS: Yes, at least for now. I do have people helping with the website and things like that, but right now I don't really have the ambition to involve a lot of people. It's also very site specific. Soon our rental contract will end and we will probably move. Actually I’m not sure how this will evolve: I don’t want to become a gallery because I don’t want to tie artists to it. And at this moment I don’t even have any resources to do so. I’m doing this because I believe in it and I don’t want to limit artists nor myself to only one direction.

THE RABBITS: How do you usually start organizing a Happy House edition?

SOFIE TEUGELS: I invite the artists to come here on beforehand so they can see the room and we can discuss where we will hang or put their works. Unlike in a gallery they don’t get a complete wall to dress up themselves and some are afraid their work will not be shown in its purest form or will not look optimal next to someone else’s work. But that is exactly what distinguishes Happy House from a regular art gallery. I want a real house feeling as well: the cupboards for example remain where they are and if certain artists don’t like that then I probably won’t work with them.

THE RABBITS: Did you ever receive negative comments on Happy House?

SOFIE TEUGELS: No, all comments are rather positive. However you need to take certain things into account: this edition we have an artist connected to a gallery. Therefore the gallery owners came to have a look to see if the setting was OK, since it might also influence their image indirectly. But they really liked and “approved” it. Well, I don’t want to be of any competition either; the concept is very different, I don’t think we’re in each other’s way.

THE RABBITS: Are the Happy House editions organized around a certain theme or subject?

SOFIE TEUGELS: No, it’s very simple: the artists are free to bring whatever they want to show. The only guidelines I give are: bring something that truly represents you today and that you really want to show to others. They should be able to show who they are and what they stand for through only a couple of works. Drawings, paintings, pictures, sculptures, it can be anything. And although the visitors can buy their work, it’s not a problem if they bring something which is not that “marketable”.

THE RABBITS: This third edition will be spread over 3 days for the first time. What was the reason behind that?

SOFIE TEUGELS: During the last editions a lot of people said they really wanted to come but couldn’t be here that particular day. So nothing more than practical reasons really.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have no caramel excuse this time. If you still can’t make it 9, 10 or 11 November, you can always go and have a look at Happy House Toont (Drongen) this weekend or next week from 1 till 4 November. Jeans and horrible shirts allowed.

www.happy-house.be

Eco-hostel Andromeda: if only we were tourists...

Andromeda is a such a beautiful name for a ship. We automatically associate it with black skies and shiny stars as well as with loyalty, as prescribed by ancient Greek mythology. It’s a close friend who told us about this ecological boat hostel at Bargiekaai 35, which is the only eco-hostel in the country and has been elected Belgium’s best hostel in 2010. 

To be honest we had no clue what to expect, but our rather skeptical prejudices where completely disproved after a couple of minutes. Liselot Claeys and Maarten Verbrugghe welcome us on board and suggest we first make a tour. The rooms are colourful and spacious, the showers better than at home. The only things reminding us of being on a boat is the rather narrow corridor and the impressive ABC engine flaunting behind glass. We’re so pleasantly surprised that we cannot wait to ask our questions.

THE RABBITS: What is the story behind the name Andromeda?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE (owners): The boat’s name was Andromeda when we bought it. Usually, when people name their boats, they often combine the first letters of their names, or their children’s names. In our case it could have been Lima or Mali, but since Andromeda sounds quite good, we didn’t want to rename it.

THE RABBITS: How long have you been running this eco-hostel now?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: We started four years ago. We had been talking about it for a long time before actually doing anything. I was studying, then started to work and didn’t have much time to think about it really. After a while we said to ourselves: either we stop talking about it or we start taking action. At first we had to arrange the required licenses, take care of the administration and look for money. Two years have passed from buying the boat to opening the doors of our hostel.

THE RABBITS: How did you prepare?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: Of course we did some limited market research and went to have a look in cities such as Amsterdam, where boat hostels existed already. On the other hand we didn’t want to investigate too much in order not to get influenced.

THE RABBITS: How did you find this boat? Did you buy it for the hostel or was it already yours?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: We have always lived in this street. At a certain moment we started looking for a boat, found this one by coincidence and turned it into the hostel we wanted to run. When thinking about it now, it perfectly fits in our concept and philosophy: reusing something which normally would have gone to the dump. Secondly we don’t occupy any house and it has a very low impact on both the city and the environment. The barge is very much related to our local history as well: it’s a typically Flemish ship and belongs to the disappearing patrimony. Ghent and Flandres are designed for these kind of boats.

THE RABBITS: How is a boat different from a regular building? In what respect do you have to arrange things in another way?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: Actually it’s not that different. Well, let’s say we never saw it as a restriction to our plans. Our goal has always been to offer exact the same quality to our guests as a regular hostel, regardless the eco and bio aspects. The price-quality ratio had to be the same. We had a certain standard we wanted to reach and it was up to us to achieve that; the boat couldn’t be an excuse. The only thing that might be different is the concept: the setting is quite unique and the boat appeals to people’s imagination.

THE RABBITS: Which ecological measures did you take to lower the impact of your hostel?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: On top of the roof we have our own reed water purification system. We use this water to flush the toilets. The beds have 100% biodynamic latex mattresses. Water and rooms are heated in a CO2-neutral way by using pallets. Just to give you an idea: we have the same heating cost as one family, while twenty people are staying and showering here! All thanks to well-insulated rooms and a well thought ventilation system. And in the morning you get an organic, fair trade and vegetarian breakfast.

THE RABBITS: Unfortunately ecological and biological are very fashionable terms. How do you distinguish between the real thing and the commercial claptrap?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: First of all you cannot focus on “biological” too much, since biological isn’t always ecological or durable. We didn’t use eco-paint for all the walls for example since it’s very susceptible to scratches. So then you have to ask yourself: what is the most ecological solution? Repainting the walls with eco-paint every year or painting it once using regular lacquer which lasts for at least ten years? Another problem is the lighting: we don’t use energy saving lamps since you cannot put a timer on them. Besides, they consume less energy but need to be processed as chemical waste. That’s also the reason why you won’t find any solar panels on the boat: they just cannot be recycled. In the future we do want to install a solar water heater.

We didn’t even receive a single subvention for our project: subventions are inevitably related to checklists, while we wanted to judge things ourselves and make our own choices. Therefore we indulged ourselves in the cradle to cradle principle: how are things produced? How are they used? Can they be reused or recycled afterwards? Unfortunately 100% ecological is impossible: you need to compromise from time to time, e.g. in order to get a fire permit.

Sadly, tourism is one of the most polluting sectors. Here in Ghent tourism is currently booming and no one seems to be thinking about the environment, while you really can make a difference and make sure your guests don’t have to make any effort. If people have to take action themselves, it often doesn’t work.

THE RABBITS: How do your guests react to the ecological aspect?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: The funny thing is: some of our them don’t even know they booked a room at an eco-hostel, let alone on a boat. They’re the kind of people who arrive here and say our garden on the deck looks like a jungle. And a lot of them are very disappointed that we don’t have solar panels. Of course it’s about personal preferences as well; some think it’s nice we have a push button for the showers since it increases awareness on how much water you’re using, while others absolutely hate it. Anyhow, people remain who they are, even when travelling; it’s not because they’re on a trip that certain people will stop complaining.

But in the end, the majority of our guests are very positive and they do appreciate how much effort we put into this.   

THE RABBITS: Did you develop some kind of interest in boats during the years? Are you going sailing with the Andromeda from time to time?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: To sail a ship like the Andromeda you need a skipper, we are not even allowed to go sailing with her ourselves.

But we are more interested in boats now, yes. Living on the water is very pleasant. When walking down the steps, you really enter another layer of the city: we look out on the green banks of the canal, we can watch the animals on the water surface, the birds for example are coming for bread in the morning. We’re sitting more outside than other people as well. We experience city life in another way.

THE RABBITS: What kind of people come to stay the night here?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: Our type of guests differs according to the season: in the spring time and autumn we have the traditional backpackers, which are very different from the people coming here during Gentse Feesten and I Love Techno for example. Then you have the city trippers as well of course. In general they come from all over the world, except for Africa perhaps. African people are more used to staying at a friend’s house when visiting Europe.

The multicultural aspect opens up your world and makes it close a bit at the same time. Clichés are both confirmed and invalidated, which is very interesting. Our hostel is a very social place: travellers also come here to get to know others. The hostel is rather small and informal unlike big ho(s)tels where people are just numbers. And the boat makes it impossible to avoid or ignore each other.

Anyhow we trust our guests: they can take drinks from the fridge and note it down on a sheet. We have our own books in the cupboards, which they can take with them to read. Some of our friends say we’re too naive in these things, but honestly we have never had any problems. The last thing we want is to make people pay on beforehand, let them sign a list of rules and start checking everything they do.

When going up the stairs, leaving this lower level of the city behind us, we’re already late for our next appointment. And if our next interviewee had not been waiting for us, we would still have been on that boat. Maarten and Liselot have the guts to make their own choices and therefore it’s a pitty that so few inhabitants know about this well kept secret. Therefore: spread the word to your foreign friends and decline their requests for staying the night at your place. There’s such a lovely low impact boat waiting to welcome them.

www.ecohostel.be

C is for Coffee / Den Hoek Af

8:00 a.m. is early for a Sunday morning, but the thought of discovering a new coffee bar is the kind of fuel I need to get me on my bike. On my way to the centre a question pops into my sleepy mind: wouldn't it be great to walk into a coffee bar, feel like home, get the service you don't have at home and watch city life from behind large windows? Well, ladies and gentlemen, search no longer and go drink coffee at Den Hoek Af. Its location is revealed by its name: look for the building that "misses" a corner and you will automatically end up at Vlaanderenstraat 1 where Tom Coone succeeded in creating a place that is inviting and durable. A coffee, a coffee! Our questions for a coffee!

THE RABBITS: We must admit we noticed Den Hoek Af only recently. When did it open its doors for the first time? 

TOM COONE (owner): We have been here since July 2011. Back then the Gentenaar wrote an article about us, but I guess you’re right: I probably should promote it a bit more.

THE RABBITS: How did you get the idea of having your own coffee bar? And how did you prepare?

TOM COONE: I had a soup bar in Ghent before, which doesn’t exist anymore.  Of course I completed a barista training cause making coffee is not as easy as it looks. You have to adapt to the circumstances all the time: coffee is a natural product and very much depending on temperature. Moreover the way in which you make coffee is very subjective and personal. That’s one of the reasons why it’s important to learn to make coffee in all its forms and variants (strong vs. soft, etc.)

THE RABBITS: Why was Vlaanderenstraat the ideal location for your bar? Were you really looking at places with the idea of ending up here?

TOM COONE: There’s no way you can reflect on the location on beforehand; you just don’t have the luxury to choose whatever you want.  The only thing you can do is keep your eyes open and grab the chances you get. Nevertheless I do want to challenge myself in finding a new location that is even better. I was very lucky when this spot became available, but actually I was looking for something with a sun terrace, in the centre. For the ideal location I would voluntarily pay a bit more.

THE RABBITS: It didn’t take us long to understand that the interior of the bar is an important part of the concept. Was this the purpose from the beginning?

TOM COONE: Definitely. All tables come from the thrift store (Kringloopwinkel), as well as the lamps illuminating the counter, and we got second hand chairs from Holland. The fact that I used to work as a furniture maker allows me to customize things according to my wishes: I split some of the original tables for example, in order to make two tables out of one. But I spent most of my time on making the counter, which consists of three hundred coloured laths.

THE RABBITS: What kind of people walk in for coffee?

TOM COONE: Our audience is very diverse. In general a bit older maybe, but it’s a good mix and it’s nice to have young people sitting next to older people. We have our regular customers as well, who by the way always order the same thing. Students are perhaps less represented here since the coffee bar is a bit outside the student area. On the other hand this location allows us to get some tourists in as well. However, because of the crisis we do have less Spanish and Italian customers.

THE RABBITS: Coffee bars are a real hype right now. In which aspects do you want to be different from other coffee bars?

TOM COONE: I try to be as personal as possible, for example in the interior design. And I try not to jump on every trend: five years ago no one wanted slow coffee, but since it’s fashionable in the US right now, everyone suddenly wants filter coffee. My intention is to make good coffee for my customers without too much blah blah. That’s my philosophy in general as well.

THE RABBITS: Have you ever been contacted by artists or creative people who wanted to work with you?

TOM COONE: We do get these questions in, yes. There was for example a pianist who wanted to come and play at the bar. And as much as I would like that, my first concern right now is being able to pay my seven employees. The financial aspect often hinders the creative part. In the beginning you need to think and act from a commercial point of view.

Nevertheless, within short, illustrator Stijn Felix, who is a friend of mine, will start painting something on the side wall outside.

Tom shows us the draft: a cubist and modern version of Alice in Wonderland. Alice is sitting at a table with a stylish rabbit next to here, sipping from a cup of coffee. As you can see: rabbits are well-represented in this wonderful city. And if you ask us, this just might be the eyecatcher Den Hoek Af needs.

www.facebook.com/pages/Den-Hoek-Af

Red, green and blue for warrior Bue

Some things are just very hard to ignore. Whether you like it or not, even when closing your eyes, your visual memory reconstructs them in a couple of seconds and *BAM* there they are again. If I would ask you what kind of graffiti you have seen in Ghent lately, I’m quite sure that the happy, colourful and stylistic creatures of street artist Bue The Warrior will pop into your mind very quickly. If you don’t recognise the name, just scroll down to the pictures below for the AHA-Erlebnis.

Despite the fact he undeniably contributed to Ghent’s current identity, Bue‘s accent when talking ruthlessly echoes Antwerp – his mom is from Ghent, his dad from Antwerp – but he can guarantee he has been living in Ghent for a longer time now than he ever lived in Antwerp. That’s a relief; it gave us just the right energy level to jump into the questioning.

THE RABBITS: Do you remember when you held a spraying can in your hands for the first time?

BUE THE WARRIOR: I must have been sixteen, I think. Back then it was different of course: it had to be sneaky, quick and we could only work in the dark.

THE RABBITS: Now that street art has become quite transparent and public, do you sometimes miss that sneaky aspect?

BUE THE WARRIOR: Well, not really… the circumstances as mentioned before weren’t ideal to work in. Nevertheless I still go out and leave my traces on abandoned buildings or bridges from time to time.

THE RABBITS: One of the strong points of your work is that it’s very recognisable. How long did it take you to develop your own unique style?

BUE THE WARRIOR: Let’s compare it to Willy Vandersteen’s Suske & Wiske: after all those years it was still the same, but you could clearly see the evolution. My work has been evolving for the past 20 years. In 2005 I did simplify my style. I thought: if it’s simpler and more direct, it automatically becomes stronger and easily recognisable. I still prefer to put one big figure on a wall to get people’s attention than to create a cacophony where everyone just walks past.

THE RABBITS: Some of your creatures make me think of the Happy Tree Friends cartoons: cute little animals with blushing cheeks and sparkling eyes that in the end get killed because of dreadful accidents. Are your characters just happy happy or is there some kind of twist underneath?

BUE THE WARRIOR: No, it has never been my intention to add that kind of twist to it. My work is genuinely innocent and pure and therefore very child friendly. My goal is to make people laugh spontaneously when passing by and looking at it. Therefore I don’t understand people who hate my work. I understand some don’t like it, but to hate it just seems unnatural to me.

THE RABBITS: Do you pick out the walls or are the walls being picked out for you?

BUE THE WARRIOR: I explore the city and look around: it has to be the right spot, it should reach as many people as possible and it needs to go with the setting. What I don’t like is people who offer me a wall and think they do me a favour. If I think your wall is perfect, I will paint it for free, but I will always reject a wall that has been imposed to me. I don’t want to sound like the arrogant artist, but people should respect my work.

THE RABBITS: You’re well-known outside Belgium as well these days. You exhibited in Turin (Italy) and even have pieces in Mexico. How did that start?

BUE THE WARRIOR: I’m traveling a lot, I always have, and on my trips I leave my street art traces anyhow. Of course today’s social media help a lot to spread my work and to reach a wide range of people. The Mexico story started when some Mexican lady saw a wall my friend Chase and I had painted in L.A. She invited us over to Mexico and arranged everything just so we could paint a wall.

THE RABBITS: Now you mentioned your friend Chase, do you often work together with other street artists?

BUE THE WARRIOR: Let’s say it’s fifty-fifty: I equally divide it. But I must say I will start working on my own more often, since working together isn’t always rewarding. Even if you involve people, they don’t always involve you in return. Moreover the different styles need to go together and most of the time that’s not the case.

THE RABBITS: For those who want to smuggle a part of your work into their houses, there’s a collection of caps you decorated for Toykyo Kids. Is the merchandising part becoming more important?

BUE THE WARRIOR: Street art is a very appealing subject and tool for all kinds of markets: from the fashion world to automotive brands; they all want to use street art in order to reach their target audience in a “cooler” way. I truly admire artists who don’t ever compromise, but the truth is, as a street artist you also need merchandising to financially be able to continue your street activities. However, you can be sure about one thing: if I don’t believe in something, I won’t do it.   

THE RABBITS: Do you have the ideal job?

BUE THE WARRIOR: I have the ideal passion. Sometimes I need a break, like writers having a writer’s block, but that doesn’t happen too often.

THE RABBITS: Are there other dreams & plans?

BUE THE WARRIOR: Of course there are. Designing my own playground or even a carrousel would be very nice. But I prefer to carry out my plans instead of talking too much about them. What I can say is: if my ideas become reality one day, you will not be able to ignore them!

www.facebook.com/bue-thewarrior

www.toykyokids.be

Pictures: Bue the Warrior

C is for Coffee / Clouds in My Coffee

Everybody should believe in something. I believe I’ll have another coffee. Although the poster with the flashy pink words transferring this message is a bit hidden, it shows very well what Clouds in My Coffee intends to be: a trendy, dreamy coffee bar that makes you wanna stay. Veva van Sloun and Jan Wauters spent two years on renovating the place and after two and a half months of making latte macchiato, espresso doppio and cappuccino, we are quite curious to see and hear how things are going.

Although I’m going for breakfast on a Sunday morning, it’s crowded at Clouds in My Coffee, but it’s not the kind of fuzz you want to run away from. I must say the interior seems to have a compensating role in that: the walls are painted white and give a very fresh impression. Nostalgic photographs, humble yellowish flowers and silvery decoration keep them from being dull. The caption on the black & white menu lying in front of me says Drinks & Dreams. This is the place where I need to be.

THE RABBITS: Is there a certain philosophy behind Clouds in My Coffee?

VEVA VAN SLOUN (owner): Our basic philosophy is 'We like to make coffee for the neighbourhood'.

Together with 9 couples we bought the school building behind the bar and created individual homes. The former schoolyard has become a shared garden. The janitor’s house in front, at Dendermondsesteenweg, was included in the project, but not very popular due to its location. So we decided to establish a coffee bar in it, also because we thought the neighbourhood needed to revive a bit. A lot of young families live in Sint-Amandsberg but it currently isn’t offering a lot of cosy bars or restaurants. And even if there is a coffee bar hype at the moment – people don’t just want to drink coffee anymore; they want a double shot latte or a cappuccino with micro-foam – we knew there was a place for Clouds in My Coffee.

THE RABBITS: How did people react to your ideas of opening a coffee bar in the Dampoort area?

VEVA VAN SLOUN: When telling people we were about to open a coffee bar at Dendermondsesteenweg, they all said we were crazy. Nevertheless after two months we can start to look back and say everything is going smoothly. We have a lot of regular customers living nearby, as well as people coming from the city center, Antwerp, etc. Ghent is expanding its territory and the outskirts are becoming more and more popular to those who want more space to live. Moreover coffee bars are the perfect place to bring people together.

THE RABBITS: Anyone walking in can feel that you spent a lot of time on what the bar would look like. You’re also running the interior webshop I/OBJECT. How does Clouds in My coffee fit into the I/OBJECT concept?

VEVA VAN SLOUN: Interior design and decorating are the things I like most. My cousin Maurice (MM Design) has a lot of experience with designing restaurants, bars and retail shops so it was obvious to involve him in the project. He designed the interior of the bar in a way it perfectly complies with our wishes and in which I could integrate the I/OBJECT concept. That’s what all the cupboards are for!

There are a lot of I/OBJECTS in the bar: the magazine rack, lamps, bar stools, books, napkins, placemats for children, vases, plates, cups, glasses, etc.

Since I/OBJECT is a collection of nice interior objects and wannahaves it was fun to combine both.

Besides, more and more customers living in Ghent wanted to pick up their orders directly at I/OBJECT. Now you can spot our latest things and pick up your orders at Clouds in My Coffee.

THE RABBITS: Besides drinks, are there still dreams?

VEVA VAN SLOUN: In March we will have a B&B room and we will expand the I/OBJECT shop corner.

Furthermore we’re looking into our customers’ wishes and we will try to respond to those as much as possible. Next summer for example we might change opening hours to 8pm instead of 6pm. We’ll see!

  

www.facebook.com/cloudsinmycoffee9000

www.iobjectstore.com