Guest blackboard

Rotterdam, August 2013

” Leave a comment ” may you read under this text and that image. Electronic contemporary spaces often established interaction as a central principle , the host receiving comments from readers responding, or, when things went wrong, banning their utterances . Other guests had the same principles before : the guestbook is an indispensable device in memorials and art exhibitions, although some visitors will use them to express sharp criticisms.
And then, there are those of the guest rooms where the compliments and thanks bloom page after page, and where silence means disappointment. But here, in this house built between two water canals, things are different: chalks and blackboard , which still stand in the classroom, were subverted. The latter is no longer a transitional space where layers of calcium carbonate are accumulated when needed, until a sponge restore its virginity.
In the center, you see a welcome message of the owners, and all around the track of the passing travelers who wished to testify to their satisfaction, their joy and their gratitude to have been hosted. The blackboard is covered with signs, there is no more empty space: would you give yourself the right to recover their messages or is it better to leave them as they are?
This is not an aggregated crowd which has assigned a rating, but couples, friends, from here and there, in all languages, who loved this place. Maybe hosts erase their board with every new year, so you photograph this unique guestbook to keep it here.