Harrie de Kroon, Artist in distribution, Netherlands, 1948

Harrie de Kroon is one of the earliest group of Dutch performance artists. Before he performed for the first time in De Appel (Hollandse Week: Project) in 1976, he had been active as a performer for several years. His choice of performance as a medium was well-considered. He was looking for 'a piece of work that was just as true as everything (he) ... around him (saw)' and opted for 'as low a specific weight as possible'. Form was unimportant, he even hated it. He could best express his ideas in performances, which met his requirements with their transience and formlessness (Stokvis). His performances consist of performing simple tasks, emphasizing the intensity and concentration of the action. De Kroon thus occupied itself with visual alienation. This is beautifully captured in the artist's book Arte Actual Holandesa, published in 1978 by Gamm(a) Utrecht. This includes a photo of De Kroon balancing above the ground. Tied with a rope to his feet and with his hands he holds the rope on the other side.
The generation of sound is also an important factor. An example of this is the performance he performed in Warsaw in 1978 at Galerie Remont. The Crown was kneeling in front of a washbasin with a sieve in his left hand. With his right hand he turned on the tap and then held the sieve under the jet of water. The moment the water hit the sieve, De Kroon let out a scream. He performed this action three times in succession.

Other artist books are:
* Hand-coloured, Self-published 1977 (edition of 150)
* 'identity': I lay on the bottom of a tank, which is filled with water. The surface of the water burns. One hears a tape recording of a heavy breathing during this 20 minutes, Cres publishers Amsterdam 1979