The Dommeltunneltje
(Little Dommel Tunnel) in Eindhoven runs, as the name suggests, parallel to
the river Dommel connecting the TU/e university campus with the Fuutlaan on the
edge of the Villapark. The route is a
designated slow traffic route for pedestrians and cyclists for crossing
underneath the large railway yard and platforms at Eindhoven Station and the
Professor Doctor Dorgelo Park Way. Thus creating a safe route from the city
centre to the university and further into Woensel. The rather bleak concrete
construction was graced with a mural depicting a riverside landscape. In the
decades that followed the mural completely faded.
The Eindhoven City Council started a program to
upgrade public spaces. Part of this effort was an initiative to "make the
city more fun". The public servant tasked with public spaces -a fan of
outdoor art and especially Banksy- commissioned Studio Giftig to create a new artwork in the tunnel. The 130 metre
long graffiti work was made by graffiti artist Niels van Swaemen in
collaboration with Kasper van Leek.
To bring a smile to all that pass through the tunnel
the Monty Python sketch Ministry of Silly
Walks was chosen as the inspiration for the art work. This sketch is one of
the best known of the Monty Python team and dates from 1970. Both artist
weren't even born yet then, but know the sketch nonetheless as it is a persistent
hit on -for instance- Youtube. April 2016 John Cleese officially opened the
refurbished tunnel with the art work Silly
Walks of Eindhoven.
At either end the face of John Cleese welcomes the visitors
and invites them to do some silly walks.
The silly walks are treated as stills from the sketch.
Each is reduced to a pose that grace the wall as moments in a silly walk.
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