Concept of the Exhibition

The aim of this exhibition is to reveal the man behind this death mask and make him come alive again, overshadowing the “death” element for a while. At the same time, after having learned about Otto’s life, the visitor is requested to reflect on the death and to ask him/herself: HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED?

The exhibition is based on personal stories of Otto Lanz, giving the visitor the opportunity to identify him or herself to the character of Otto Lanz. On the first sight, the death mask and scary looking portrait of Otto, are intriguing but don’t invite to learn more about the socially engaged and sometimes funny man. With new techniques and an interesting storyline, visitors are asked to learn more.

The exhibition exists of different components

1.The storytelling part, made by:
An interactive 3D map of Museum Square, where visitors can hear the story of Otto from his voice, in relation to the 3 main buildings: Rijksmuseum, Zuiderbad and his house in Museumplein 9. By moving his 3D mask over the map and putting him near these buildings, Otto’s voice will start telling a personal story related to the specific building the 3D mask has been placed in front of. Especially, these stories will make him come ‘alive’.

2. The izi.Travel app. By visiting the Museum Square in real, the visitor can hear the story of Otto Lanz in front of the above mentioned buildings.

3. A fake facebook page (“FakeBook”) sharing some anecdotes and life elements of Otto, including the list of main friends: www.bit.ly/ottolanz. At the same time, visitors are invited to reflect on their own facebook behaviour. Is this the way you want to be remembered?

The engagement part is aimed at asking the visitors to take some actions, for this purpose:

1. A photobooth of the most famous portrait of Otto Lanz. You can put your head in the portrait, take a picture and share it on social media with the hashtag “#IamOttoLanz”.

2. A small contest: visitors are requested to write down how they would like to be remembered. At the end of the exhibition the two best stories will be rewarded with a prize offered by the Allard Pierson Museum.
Visitors are ‘called’ by Otto Lanz, hearing him say: Hey, psssst, how do you want to be remembered?

List of group participants: Merel Boes, Hans Bruinzeel, Tiziana Lombardo, Astrid Stevens