British typewriter artist draws André Rieu's Vrijthof concert live: “André's curls are made from the letters of his first name” The Limburger, July 20, 2024, by Ronald Colée Photocredits: Raymond Brekelmans, James Cook. Translation: Ineke, edited by Diana D. Le He is originally an architect, but for the past three years James Cook (27) from London has been earning his living as a typewriter artist. On Thursday and Friday, he was a guest in Maastricht at the invitation of André Rieu Productions to record a Vrijthof concert with punctuation marks and letters. “For a school project, we had to investigate how artists, past and present, use technical tools to produce art. And so I came across the work of the American Paul Smith (1921 -2007), who was born with cerebral palsy and received a typewriter as a gift from his parents so that he could learn to read and write. Holding a pen or pencil was impossible for him. But that typewriter opened up a world to him. He discovered that you could also draw with it by putting punctuation marks and letters - partly overlapping - on paper. In this way, he 'painted' portraits of people and animals, buildings, and landscapes for almost seventy years. When I saw his work I thought: this is impossible. But I also thought it was fun and special to try it myself. And now I have been earning my money from it for three years.” James Cook arrived in Maastricht by train on Thursday afternoon with two typewriters in his hand luggage. “An Underwood number 5 from 1927 and a Brother typewriter from the 1970s. The Brother is light and handy, making it ideal for drawing portraits, while the Underwood is very heavy. It weighs 24 kilos. That is why I also travel by train, because transporting it in the hold of an airplane is far too risky. However, this machine has the great advantage that you can also feed A3 sheets. And that was necessary in this case if you had to get an entire Vrijthof on paper.” Instagram Because that was the question after Raymond Brekelmans of André Rieu Productions saw a video on Instagram of how Cook drew all kinds of buildings with his typewriters, such as the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. “Raymond asked me if I wanted to come to the Netherlands to also record a Vrijthof concert by André Rieu in this way. I didn't have to think about that for a second, because my mother and my sister are both huge Rieu fans and are now green with envy that I am in Maastricht at a concert of their great hero. It won't surprise me if for that reason they don't even want to see the drawing when it's finished, haha.” What started as a hobby ten years ago has now grown into a full-time job for the architect who graduated from the University of London. “I am actually asked all over the world to come and make typewriter art: London, Amsterdam, Taiwan, Las Vegas, and so on.” In total, Cook has about a hundred typewriters. “The oldest is an Oliver 2 from 1897. But in practice, I only use about four. Many machines were donated to me because the owners hoped that they would get a second life this way. Because in their homes, those devices are just collecting dust in the attic.” Preliminary work A job normally takes two weeks. That is why he did preliminary work for his André Rieu request in his studio in London. “To finish a job, you have to feed and output a sheet of paper thousands of times.” Which letters or punctuation marks he uses most varies. “If you have to draw a lot of stone buildings and walls, there are often underscores and capital letters. I often use capital letters E and H for window frames, small zeros or eights for leaves on trees and at-signs for hair. But they are often no longer recognizable because there is a lot of overlap in a drawing.” Some of Cook's works contain more than a million characters. “Now, in the case of these Vrijthof concerts, I think there are around a hundred thousand. As an extra, I also made a smaller portrait of André himself. I think it contains something like forty thousand letters and punctuation marks.” Hidden messages What makes Cook's works extra special is that he always adds a second layer of hidden messages: names of squares, cafes and streets, or years. For example, the Maastricht orchestra leader's curls in the portrait are made up of the letters of his first name and at-signs, and the Vrijthof drawing includes the names of churches. “Like a kind of ‘Where's Wally?’ puzzle book or, if you don't know it, an Easter egg.” Cook doesn't know yet when the big reveal will take place. “That will probably happen online on the social media of André and myself. But both works are as good as finished. However, there was also a making-of video made while I was working where you can see the work being created from scratch. I hope to have that video finished sometime before the end of next week.” Will he also have the opportunity to meet Rieu himself? "No idea. I don't suspect so because he is fully concentrating on the concert and I am going home on Friday evening. But that would be the icing on the cake,” he said on Friday afternoon. Only to have his wishes granted a few hours later.