On the line

2021

metal, wood, textile

+/- 375cm (height) x +/- 10 mt (length)

Towering above the landscape on seven mooring posts are skylines, composed of iconic buildings along the Ijssel River. In the middle of each form mesh material serves as a water level, through which the visible skyline is ‘reflected’, as if was surrounded by calm water. At high tide, we experience more water but less buildings, the banks flooded by the water. At low tide, the skyline is fully visible.

The mooring posts are positioned in such way that the skyline remains the same height. However, the water level, “set in motion” by the moiré effect, rises with each post, increasing its surface area, and gradually causes the buildings and their reflections to disappear. Visitors are invited to walk between the posts, to look up and experience the transition from high to low, or low to high tide. The increasing ‘water level’ blocks the sky and makes the buildings disappear. Walking in the other direction, the surface opens, and the skyline appears gradually. This sculpture was commissioned for the 2021 IJssel Biennial 2021.