Lyn de Weijer, Dirkie

When my friend or niece came over, we used to have so much fun with Dirkie. We used to put him in a plastic ball so he could ‘run’ around the room, hitting every corner and cautiously closed door. He had a blast, pumping out his pent-up energy.

One time we came up with a new plan. I was probably the one who came up with the plan; it was my hamster and I’ve always had a heated and militant edge. It takes four hands to handle this trick.

We both took two corners of one of my dress-up cloths and put little Dirkie in the middle of it.

Tighten and release.

Tighten and release.

Tighten and release.

Dirkie was seeing stars, was among the stars. Dirkie was one of us, part of the sisterhood. And because he was so small and fragile, he was spoiled.

I still cannot imagine how it is practically possible, or let alone must have felt, to shit droppings while flying.

Dirkie is a video (15’40) and consists of both photographic and moving images, held together by a voice over.