Riff, PD#18245 opens in stages

Landscape and ecology Project

Artist: Bob Gramsma
Where: Dronten
When: 2018-2019
Curators TAAK: Petra Heck, Nils van Beek
Client: Provincie Flevoland


Artist Bob Gramsma is currently in Dronten, working on the artwork Riff, PD #18245, the eighth landscape artwork in Flevoland. The artwork is built up in several stages, each of which is important to both the creation and the meaning of the artwork.

The composition and firmness of the soil on site affect the construction and appearance of the exterior. The excavation process leaves its mark. Wind, water, temperature and other weather conditions play a role as well. All these influences and processes will not come to a sudden standstill as soon as the concrete object has emerged.

In light of these conditions, Riff does not have a particular opening moment. In several different stages, visitors will be able to witness the building process of the complex construction consisting of rafters, ribs and braces such as those used in bridge and boat construction, before they are finally hidden from view once the artwork is finished.

In September, under great public interest, the first pile of the artwork was driven into the ground: the first stage. The static construction will be presented on 14 November, coinciding with a symposium on the centenary of the Zuiderzee Act. Depending on the onset of winter weather, later to be determined public moments will be held so that visitors can witness the digging of the large cavity, the placement of the concrete reinforcement and the spraying of the concrete. And finally, the uncovering of the created form will also be presented as a public event. This, then, will function as an open end, since subsequent stages will see the construction of the natural area that surrounds the artwork, the first vegetation in the form of mosses, and possibly the first inhabitants of Riff: a pair of breeding birds or solitary bats.

Read more about Riff, PD #18245