as mentioned earlier, i turned various pages from smallritual.org into postcards back in march. it was always kind of intended, that's why the image format is the way it is. although i did have to do some splicing to get the multi-image sequences onto one card.
in june, i met with a group from the protestant church of the netherlands [pkn], who were researching 'fresh expressions' of church in england. when we had finished talking about Grace and similar things i gave out a few sets of my postcards to see what they made of them - the first public airing outside of Grace. a few months later charissa bakema emailed to ask if her community in utrecht could make their own versions of my cards, based on some of my ideas but changed to suit their local cultural situation, and using their own graphic designer who does all their stuff. so i was pleased to say yes, and here are some of the results.
[front, detail - places in the city labelled as 'church'. probably based on this.]
[back - 'what is your church?']
[front]
[back - 'draw your own church']
[front - 'the world doesn't revolve around you'] [back - 'what does your world revolve around?']
the above are all pretty close to my themes, although with much more polished graphics - i never have time for more than the sketchy version, but hey it's the idea that counts. but this one amused/weirded me out:
barbapapa morphed into a church - 'are you joining us in reforming?' [text on back - 'don't let the church die out']. now this is one dutch cultural reference where i'm not sure what the english equivalent is!
blossom030 intend to put the cards out in the churches and pubs of utrecht. i hope to hear what the reactions are. i haven't dared put mine out in public, although one of my work colleagues has a set pinned up on his filing cabinet.
i'd blutac them to my wall if i had some :)
today my wife & i started to plan a trek to the uk, scotland, ireland, starting at gb13, looking forward to seeing u again :)
Posted by: darren | December 15, 2012 at 09:02
i might have set 2 to give to you by then
Posted by: steve collins | December 15, 2012 at 13:35
It is a Dutch wordplay. The back literally says 'don't let the church become past perfect.' 'reformed' is a word that refers to lots of churches in Holland. It is also a word in the past form. We don't want the church to become the past, hence the changing capacities of Barbapapa combined with church.
Posted by: @woutnieuwenhuis | December 17, 2012 at 20:34
...and hence the invitation to join us reforming...
Posted by: @woutnieuwenhuis | December 17, 2012 at 20:36
Mooie kaarten die je niet zomaar op de schoorsteen zet. Daar moet je even over nadenken, maar dan neem je de humor ook en de intense boodschap ook wel lekker in je op!
Posted by: jack3007 | December 18, 2012 at 10:46
Hey Steve, You've inspired us, hope we'll inspire you! Lets continue to use our creativity to colour the Church, sometimes as workingmen, sometimes as underground Grafitty artists, whatever is needed! Thanks for supporting us! Charissa
Posted by: Charissa Bakema | December 27, 2012 at 14:10
excellent! how can I get an English set Steve?
Posted by: craigmitchell | January 05, 2013 at 00:07
right now the only way is to give me your address and i post them. that's the trouble with physical commodities. i wonder if there's a print-and-deliver-on-demand online way?
Posted by: steve collins | January 07, 2013 at 00:01