#BEATPLASTICWASTE At Landpark Assisië
Download the brochure about this project here (in Dutch).
The Art of Sound – a project at Landpark Assisië
Plastic plays a major role in our daily lives. From packaging and cling film to all sorts of everyday objects—it’s all around us! This versatility makes plastic incredibly practical, but unfortunately, it also has a downside. Plastic is incredibly difficult to break down, causing it to accumulate in our garbage dump. The result? Plastic waste is found absolutely everywhere, even in space and at the bottom of the deepest oceans! As an ordinary citizen, you didn’t choose this and might feel powerless against the industrial giants who dictate how the world deals with plastic.
But nothing could be further from the truth; there’s work to be done in your immediate environment as well. You’ll be surprised how much plastic waste occurs in your daily life. #BEATPLASTICWASTE takes place at Landpark Asissië, a healthcare facility that, as a mini-society, also faces the consequences of the throwaway society with its various waste streams. By literally working with plastic waste, we learn to work with it in a circular way in the #BEATPLASTICWASTE project.
From garbage dump to artwork
Residents of Landpark Assisië, led by drummer and composer Rogier De Nijs, launched the #BEATPLASTICWASTE project in March 2025. As a music therapist, De Nijs also understands how to use music as a tool. During this project, plastic waste was collected, sorted, and given a new life in the form of an interactive music installation. Each plastic object ended up on the carefully constructed waste mountain; the artwork #BEATPLASTICWASTE. The participants are the residents, caregivers, and local residents of Landpark Asissië.
Each plastic waste object has its own unique sound, color, and shape. Hit a used plastic bottle with a stick, and you’ll hear a completely different sound than rubbing two plastic bags together. A beautiful palette of sounds resides in everyday plastic waste, and this is what makes Rogier De Nijs’s heart beat faster. Together with all the participants, he captured this palette of sounds as audio and video files and used them for an interactive music installation. Visitors were eventually able to play this musical waste mountain themselves, creating their own rhythms on the spot.
Landmark
Just as every artist likes to sign their work, we too, with a sense of proportion, mark our surroundings. Everyone knows the large letters, for example, IAMSTERDAM, with which a self-respecting city or province prominently presents itself. Large, upright letters, #BEATPLASTICWASTE, were placed in the Landpark to form our own Landmark as a reminder of the project. The letters, made of plastic waste, are made in collaboration with residents, making them co-owners of this artwork.
Festival Nabij
The musical waste mountain was officially presented during the Festival Nabij at Landpark Assisië on May 10th and 11th as a culmination. During the festival, the Rogier De Nijs Group performed on the mountain using various instruments made from plastic waste.
Partnerships
This project is a collaboration between Studio Assisië, the foundation that coordinates the cultural program at Landpark Assisië, and organizes the Nabij Festival. This project is also considered a residency and social pilot project. For more information, visit the Studio Assisië website.
Prisma Foundation, the foundation that provides support from various departments and locations in the areas of communication, participant guidance, coordination, and use of facilities.
And Rogier De Nijs, drummer, composer, musical instrument maker, and music therapist.
This project was made possible in part by the “Levendig Brabant” subsidy program by the province of Noord-Brabant.
Download the brochure about this project here (in Dutch).