Post by University of Twente

𝐇𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐣𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫   Wim T. Schippers, artist, television maker and cultural provocateur, passed away last week at the age of 83.   Many will know him as the voice of Ernie and Kermit the Frog in Sesamstraat. Others from his absurdist VPRO programmes, or the peanut butter floor. But at the University of Twente, we know him for something else: het Torentje van Drienerlo.   Since 1979, a church spire has been sticking out just above the surface of the pond in front of the Vrijhof Schippers predicted what would happen at its unveiling: "At first there will be resistance and people will complain about the cost. But if I were to tear it down a year from now, they would stop me, because they had grown used to it." He was right.   The tower has outlasted the controversy, the complaints and the kale, his original proposal was to dump a truckload of it into the pond, which the university politely declined. What remained is a quiet, stubborn, slightly absurd piece of campus life. Exactly as he intended.   Rust zacht, Wim #utwente 📷 Marcel Douwe Dekker