Review by Lee Halvorsen •
This book is a collection of magical, imaginative moments in what must have been a difficult, almost grieving time for the artist and her father. Her father, mostly “invisible” in the book, was leaving his Amsterdam apartment of thirty years because the building had been sold. He was downsizing and was selling many of his things, but I think, selling is what he did, who he is. This book brings the reader into part of that process.
The book is comfortable to hold, surprisingly sturdy because of the French folds and it exudes informality and familiarity…it just felt good! How informal? Well, the title on the spine was misspelled! Was that a mistake? Perhaps, but I think not, I posit this was the publisher’s subtle way of saying, “…this was a real experience with real people, jump into the journey and imagine the experience with the artist.”
The little volume is filled with wonderfully toned images of “things,” “things” posed in a way “things” are typically not posed. For instance, a cheerleader squad-like pyramid of chairs on a bed; two dozen remote controls crawling up the arm of a sofa and rising up like a prairie dog on alert; ladder laying on ladder laying on ladder with a glimpse of feet where the ladders and the person disappear into the ceiling. And lists, and lists, and lists of things for sale along with a list of comments that I think were about van Leunen’s father as a seller, hence “Responds Quickly. Friendly.”
And so…through those things, I “met” her father. A collector. A seller. Perhaps on the Dutch marketplace “Marktplaats.nl.” Perhaps a hoarder, but a hoarder with a plan: collect, catalogue, sell. And then suddenly, the collecting space is being taken away and everything and everyone must go. Perhaps even the process. A shock. A loss. Entering the unknown. I thought of the two of them selling, cleaning, donating and recognizing the impact of the tsunami-like life change. And, I imagine, that’s where their enhanced sense of “what if” took over and they said to one another, “What if we posed some of this stuff as we take it out?” Tadaa! And the book emerged. And a little of van Leunen’s father did, too. I think he liked to collect electronic gear, things with remotes, things with speakers, things with monitors. He loved books, and more books. The posing of things emphasized geometry, symmetry, and never-ending attempts at organization. Perhaps the move itself was a realization of that organizational nirvana.
Of course, I could be completely wrong but that’s the wonder of this book. With little explanation the reader is dropped into a world not normally experienced, images of another reality but with familiar things. Perhaps it all started when van Leunen may have said, “With a little work, we can make that pile of speakers look like a part of the Alps”…and so it was…thing after thing became a steppingstone out of the loss and onto the next place.
This is a fun book, an usual book, but, comfortable, puzzling, sad, joyous, and a super exercise into “what if.” The book has a special place on my shelf; I will revisit that apartment whenever I need to step into a world of smiles and what ifs.
Lee Halvorsen is assistant editor, writer and visual artist living in Virginia.
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Responds Quickly. Friendly by Marens van Leunen
Artist: Marens van Leunen, working in Amsterdam
Photographs ©2026 Marens van Leunen
Publisher: Void. Athens, Greece
Design: João Linneu & Myrto Steirou
Printed in Latvia by Jelgavas Tipogrāfia
Language: English
Softcover with French Folds, 64 pages, 16.8×23.8cm, ISBN 978-618-5479-48-0
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