Unveiling Riff, PD #18245 on 12 October 2019

The festive opening Riff, PD #18245, a land art monument celebrating 100 years of the Zuiderzee Act, took place on Saturday 12 October 2019.

On 12 October 2019 the artwork will be opened to the public. After the opening acts, children (4+) can make their own little "riffs" (with local sand and plaster) during the children's workshop, while the other visitors can climb up the stairs to let their gaze wander over the impoldered landscape.

What: Unveiling Riff, PD #18245 by Bob Gramsma

When: Saturday, October 12, 14.00 hrs to approx. 16.00 hrs.

Where: On the plot between the Spijkweg and the Bremerbergweg, municipality of Dronten. (Navigate to: Bremerbergdijk 10, 8256 RD Biddinghuizen)

Program

13.30: Walk-in at Beachclub NU

14.00 hrs: Welcome by gedeputeerde Rijsberman

14.10 hrs: De Zandprinses (The Sand Princess)
The Sand Princess throws, scatters and shoves sand over a light plate and shows the story of 100 years of the Zuiderzee Act in an enchanting way.
Location: Beachclub NU
(free access)

14.30 hrs: Walk to the artwork, opportunity to view the artwork

15.00 hrs: Opening of Riff, PD # 18245
Opening ceremony with artist Bob Gramsma and others.
Location: at the artwork
(everyone welcome)

16.00 hrs: End.

Meanwhile:

14.00-16.00 hrs: Children's workshop 'Riff if yourself'
For children there is the children's art workshop 'Riff it yourself': young landscape artists-to-be make their own plaster object in steps, by means of a similar creative process as the artwork. First they make a pile of polder soil, then they dig a hole and fill it with plaster. After the plaster has hardened, they remove the sand and have an object formed by the polder soil.
Location: next to the artwork
(continuous, participation free)

About the artwork

Riff, PD #18245 was created on the occasion of 100 years of the Zuiderzee Act. Just like the polder, the artwork was created in several phases. On three pile foundations and a complex construction, Gramsma poured some 15000 cubic metres of agricultural and Zuiderzee soil. In this heap, he made a large opening, which was then covered with a layer of shotcrete and fitted with both a roof and stairs of concrete. After that, the monumental cast was excavated, and the earth scattered back over the surrounding landscape. Like an archaeological find, the monument reminds of the special geology and the history of Flevoland.

Riff, PD#18245 is a trace of the artistic and the production process, outlining an interstice between the present and the past. The monumental blueprint of an excavation, which has since before disappeared, turns into a poetic landmark, a hollow body for the flora and fauna with a natural patina growing over time.

A new nature is reserve is being created around the artwork in the ‘Nieuwe Natuur’ (‘new nature’) program. Insects, birds, reptiles, mosses, weeds and grasses are already welcome to inhabit the surface and the inside of the artwork.