The Box
Take a look at the other side of the street. Can you spot the box on the roof of restaurant Loetje?
This is an (almost) two-dimensional representation of an essentially three-dimensional object. The designer, Jeroen Henneman, calls it “a standing drawing”. However, the contours of the box are not on paper but are carried by air (and surroundings). Henneman only gives the ribs and the outer lines of the opened lid to this box.
Perhaps this open box reminds you of all the packages you ordered these last months (or wanted to but didn’t, because your income doesn’t allow it.)
Maybe the box also brings up the famous Greek myth about Pandora’s Box (which originally seemed to be a jar, but was
mistranslated). Read her story and reflect on the two questions
beneath.
But as you can see: this box is empty. There even isn’t hope left at the bottom, as in Pandora’s Greek myth. This is, in short, her story:
Zeus sends the first beautiful woman that has been created, named Pandora, down to earth with a closed box. All the gods have hidden ominous gifts in the box, so Zeus urges Pandora never to look inside. On Earth, one day, the curious Pandora decides to open the box. All the disasters that have plagued humanity since then, such as famine, disease, earthquakes, and war, escape, while until then mankind had lived free from trouble and disease. Startled, Pandora closes the box again, but only Hope is left at the bottom. It was the only good gift that was hidden in the box, though according to another reading, hope should also be considered a poisonous gift.
Take some time to think about these questions: