Wikipedia

De WAR

De WAR (Dutch for mess, chaos, confusion) is a social centre for the arts and citizen science, including a fab lab at Amersfoort, the Netherlands.[1][2][3] A fab lab (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication. De WAR is a nonprofit volunteer organisation outside of Dutch academia and educational system, and is part of the Dutch maker and hacker culture scene. It organizes public events, exhibits and workshops connecting technology, sustainability, science and arts. FabLab Amersfoort opened within De WAR in 2010, as one of the first grassroots fab labs.[1][2][4]

De WAR
Formation2002, FabLab Amersfoort since 2010[1]
FounderDiana Wildschut, Harmen Zijp
PurposeFree fab lab, incubator, showroom and platform for citizen science and other research, art, technology and sustainability
HeadquartersHeiligenbergerweg 34, 3816 AK Amersfoort, the Netherlands
Location
Region served
The Netherlands
Productsselfmade prototypes, equipment, works of art, workshops
Servicesannual conference Koppelting
Fieldscitizen science, arts, science and technology outreach, maker and hacker culture
Official language
Dutch, English
Websitewww.dewar.nl

History

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De WAR dates back to 2002, when a group of performing artists, "De Spullenmannen" created a laboratory in an old factory complex in Amersfoort.[5] Leading artists of the "De Spullenmannen" (English: The Spullenmen; the Dutch "spullen" meaning "things" or "stuff") were Diana Wildschut and Harmen Zijp. They make visual theatre and theatrical installations, and work often with garbage from the consumer society. The Spullenmen act on the interface of art and science.[6] The Spullen laboratory ("Spullenlab") was established in the abandoned factory of Warner-Jenkinson (part of Sensient Technologies), where dyes were made.

Around 2007 the first steps in creating "De WAR" were taken. The idea was to create an open workspace for artists, (citizen) scientists, starting entrepreneurs etc. An important factor in the foundation of De WAR was the start of the so-called "festival Franje", ("Franje" meaning "fringe"), that continued as an autonomous fringe festival in Amersfoort, Arendal (Norway) and Potsdam (Germany) until 2017.[7]

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    De WAR Fab lab, 2024.
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    De WAR Fab lab equipment, 2024.
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    De WAR Fab lab equipment, 2024.
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    De WAR Fab lab equipment, 2024.
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    Citizen science: Weather balloon launch, De WAR, 2017.
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    Citizen science: Microscope view of a metallic micrometeorite (pointed eggshape) including a dust mite, De WAR, 2024.
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    Showcase for discarded domestic electrical appliances (toasters) at De WAR, 2024.
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    Poster for the Koppelting Citizen science conference, August 2024.
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    Former location of De WAR, former Steam Match Factory, Eem River, Amersfoort, the Netherlands, 2016.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Smith et al. 2017.
  2. ^ a b Troxler 2014.
  3. ^ Wildschut 2017.
  4. ^ Zijp 2011.
  5. ^ "De WAR". VVV Amersfoort (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  6. ^ "The Spullenmen : theatre, installations, visual art and purposeless contraptions". spullenmannen.nl. Archived from the original on 2019-02-18. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  7. ^ "festival Franje (2007)". franje.nu (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-10-27. This gives the line-up of all the festivals from 2007 until 2017 in Amersfoort, Arendal and Potsdam.
 
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Literature

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