PIER+HORIZON (2016)

Cyclists in the Noordoostpolder can attest to it: in this flat land, there is always wind. Paul de Kort makes this wind visible in his artwork PIER+HORIZON, located in Kraggenburg. On both sides of a long pier, tree trunks float in the water, attached to poles. As the wind changes direction, the tree trunks rotate accordingly.
When De Kort examined historical maps of this area, he saw that there used to be a 6-kilometer-long breakwater here, before the Noordoostpolder was constructed. This breakwater connected the mainland at Genemuiden with an artificial islet that had a lighthouse keeper's cottage on it. This cottage still exists today, but is now located in the middle of farmlands. At normal water levels, part of that dam is still visible in the Zwarte Meer (Black Lake). Another part returns in the straight concrete bicycle path that leads like a ramp to PIER+HORIZON. De Kort extended that line behind the Zuiderzee dike - in the original design with a real pier that projected more than 100 meters into the water here from 2016 to 2022.

Around the axis of PIER+HORIZON float tree trunks, which are attached to a pole on one side. The title of this landscape artwork refers to the painting Pier and Ocean (1915) by Piet Mondrian. In the vertical poles, combined with the horizontal trunks on the water's surface, you can recognize a similar composition. The 36 poles are arranged according to the Central Place Theory from 1933 by geographer Walter Christaller; the polygon that also influenced the layout of the Noordoostpolder. But despite that strict arrangement, the wind has free play with the tree trunks. The pulling wind and the waves seem to constantly emphasize that the landscape here is in motion, that it is continuously changing.

With this change in mind, the artwork itself has recently received an adaptation. The force of the water proved much stronger than initially calculated, and when PIER+HORIZON was severely damaged by Storm Eunice in early 2022, the municipality of Noordoostpolder and the artist mutually agreed that it would not be restored to its original state. Paul de Kort proposed replacing the floating mats (kraggen) of the original artwork with tree trunks. 'Watered' wood is durable for a long time and, if necessary, easy to replace in the future. By using local wood from the Kuinderbos, a sustainable future for the artwork is possible.

Paul de Kort’s 135-m-long PIER+HORIZON is located on the Zwartemeerdijk in Kraggenburg, The Netherlands. Find its address and coordinates here.

Read more about Paul de Kort's PIER+HORIZON

Artist: Paul de Kort (1961)
Title: PIER+HORIZON
Unveiling: 7 October 2016
Location: Zwartemeerdijk, Kraggenburg
Commissioned by: province of Flevoland Managed by: Municipality of Noordoostpolder The dike is managed by the Zuiderzeeland regional water authority and the area by Natuurmonumenten.
Made possible by the Waterschap Zuiderzeeland, Bouwfonds Cultuurfonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Provincie Flevoland en Gemeente Noordoostpolder.

Podcasts over PIER+HORIZON

Kunstjournalist Luuk Heezen interviewt historica Eva Vriend, die met kunstenaar Paul de Kort een passie voor de Noordoostpolder deelt. Dit interview is opgenomen in De Verbeelding, Zeewolde tijdens het Land Art Luisterweekend 2020.

Op 25 januari 2023 was Paul de Kort te gast bij Mister Motley's Kunst is Lang. Een gesprek over zijn werk en bijdrage aan de Nederlandse landschapskunst.