2. t h e p r o p het of mag i c amste rdam:
r o b e rt jas p e r g ro otve l d
Robert Jasper Grootveld, the Prophet of Amsterdam, was a genius of the absurd. He relished carrying his strong convictions against tobacco and nicotine addic tion to creative and extreme conclusions . Though his performative rationale hung together intellectually, the actual ex pression of his ideas bordered on sublime inanity, often illuminated by an uncanny penchant for accurate prophetic prediction. Much of what was going on in Amsterdam by 1 965 seemed due to the fact that Robert Jasper Grootveld had willed it. And by then he had been busy for four years with the bizarre incantations that came to serve as trademarks of Amsterdam's ' 60s heritage. Grootveld himself never wrote much, save for some mani festos and one short article . However, two Dutch journalists , Dick P. J. Van Reeuwijk and Henk Meier, have published books about Amsterdam's hectic alternative lifestyles in the early ' 60s and have managed to capture much of Grootveld's flair. The earliest accounts of the Provo movement , written by politically oriented observers who didn't care to delve into the drug culture or the complex ar tistic phenomenon of the Happenings , either ignore Grootveld or gloss over his activities with a few general statements . However, the prophet should be restored to his rightful position and his ge nius accorded the recognition it deserves if Provo is to be fully ap preciated in its miraculous and artistic dimensions . Robert Jasper Grootveld was born on July 1 9 , 1 93 2 in Am sterdam. His father was an anarchist , a recognized member of a community with a rich tradition in the history of the city. Groot veld himself was a school dropout who got much of his education through working some sixty-odd j ob s , becoming a furniture maker, an advertising copywriter, a window dresser, a window washer, a seaman, and a hospital janitor, among other occupations , before as suming the role of full-time happener. Grootveld's diverse work history shaped many of his ideals
••••••• p rovo : amste rdam 's anarc h i st revolt•23
