Friday, June 8, 2012

Sculptor Maria Rossen's (with the assistance of Arild Veld) Monument for Dutch writer Anna Blaman Blaman was the pen name for Johanna Petronella Vrugt. Blaman is short for van Ben Liever Als Man (I'm a better man).  
Rossen uses this object, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, in memorial to the spirit of  Blaman; an object often associated with brazen, independent, men. We can only imagine that when The author rode her motorcycle through the war-torn streets of Rotterdam in the late 1940's, she turned many heads. Some journalists and biographers have commented that she lived the lonely, unhappy, yet flamboyant life of a lesbian writer. Whether these descriptions and pieces of information are truth or fiction, this memorial gives Johanna the freedom to ride forever in legend as Anna Blaman- "Ben Liever Als Man"...." Via: jjmadison

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