The neighbourhood Broekhoven in Tilburg, The Netherlands, is a typical Dutch "vogeltjesbuurt". It is a district that is very social and practically lives outdoors during the summers. Everyone knows each other and walks through each others houses without hesitation. Being social is of the utmost importance. It is a village hiding in a city.  

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The project is called Broekhoven: "I live my life as I please". It is a quote from a tattoo of one of the inhabitants. It is actually a couples tattoo, of which this is the woman's. Her man has the quote "I live my life as she pleases" on his arm. 

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The project was a cooperation between the city Tilburg and students of the nearby art academy. The city wanted to improve its relationship with the neighbourhood using projects that told personal stories of the inhabitants. 

 

"I live my life as I please" is created by the people of Broekhoven itself, and is filtered and curated by me. I collected found footage of all that the people shared online. I strived to create an honest, surprising, but also representative view of the neighbourhood and its people. 

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The typical internet-quality images were presented as 2x2 metres wide canvases. Pixels were embraced. I wanted to show the ordinary as art during the exhibition in the neighbourhood. On the final canvas, which was blank, the inhabitants could leave behind their signature. Art is all around us and very important. But the message that was even more important is the fact that everyone should be able to create it.