Amsterdam , 1998

DREAMKEEPER

Collection: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.

‘Suffering from lonely nights? Phone the Dreamkeeper. She’s in town for 40 days. Wandering through the streets with her sleeping mat wearing her star dress and Moon Shoes,’ art critic Ineke Schwartz wrote about Dreamkeeper. ‘If you make an appointment she’ll come to you. For 12 hours she’ll stay by your side. As long as you sleep, she’ll watch. In the morning she’ll pick up her mat and leave again. Don’t ask what will happen in the period in between. It all depends upon your dream.’

While the person was sleeping the artist made a piece of art with something found in the house. There was no more contact afterwards.

Beginning in Amsterdam, the project was continued in other cities. The experience was shared solely between the artist and her client. Nevertheless, the viewer could create his own fantasy of it when looking at the series of photos that Framis took of the sleeper when she herself was awake, with exposure times of up to seven hours. This series is called Petite mort quotidienne – the small daily death called sleep.

‘Suffering from lonely nights? Phone the Dreamkeeper. She’s in town for 40 days. Wandering through the streets with her sleeping mat wearing her star dress and Moon Shoes,’ art critic Ineke Schwartz wrote about Dreamkeeper. ‘If you make an appointment she’ll come to you. For 12 hours she’ll stay by your side. As long as you sleep, she’ll watch. In the morning she’ll pick up her mat and leave again. Don’t ask what will happen in the period in between. It all depends upon your dream.’

While the person was sleeping the artist made a piece of art with something found in the house. There was no more contact afterwards.

Beginning in Amsterdam, the project was continued in other cities. The experience was shared solely between the artist and her client. Nevertheless, the viewer could create his own fantasy of it when looking at the series of photos that Framis took of the sleeper when she herself was awake, with exposure times of up to seven hours. This series is called Petite mort quotidienne – the small daily death called sleep.