Leaving the asbestos behind and joining the bees

Bee study, 2012 watercolour, c. 14 x 10 cm 

July 2nd,2014, I reported the presence of asbestos in the house I lived in. By December the landlord still had not taken any action to solve this matter, and thus I decided to find another place, and I succeeded.  Since mid-March I live in a house adjacent to the communal garden “Bikkershof” (Click for website in Dutch). I feel deeply moved by the presence of three wooden beehives, where the insects are busy, flying to and fro.  I like to remind that the German artist Joseph Beuys (1921 – 1986) was taken away by the insight, that a principle of honey and milk in nature showed the possibility of unity among living things, transcending species boundaries. In his view the life of bees also exemplifies socialism as the insects live and work together. (Click here for more on Beuys on bees).

I am fine, but ...

Asbest 2 juli 2014 (watercolour & pencil, 17 x 17 cm)

 For some time, I did not made my regular postings on "Signs Of Activity", and some readers of the Blog informed if I was fine. And yes, I am. The reason for not posting however, is that a few months ago I learned that there is asbestos used in the construction of the house I live in. So I had to take care of a lot of things instead of my art work. Recently I was informed that no action will be undertaken before September 2014, and presumably it will be even later. Supposedly, for the rest of the year 2014 I will be occupied with  going through my things and deciding what to keep, storing my belongins and unpacking again. It is not the most cheerful activity one can imagine, but it has to be done.