Out of Focus

Status

Permanent

Category

No longer exists

Since

01-07-2018

Explanation

When Scheveningen's boulevard underwent an overhaul in 2018, this particular Biesieklette house by British artist collective FAT (Fashion Architecture Taste) was removed as a precautionary measure. Since the original intention was to put it back after the redevelopment, it went into storage. Gradually, however, the Biesieklette house proved unnecessary in the new situation. It was therefore parted with in 2023. This fanciful structure will not return to the Scheveningen art.

Artwork Data

Title

Biesieklette-huisje Noord-boulevard

Artist

FAT (Fashion Architecture Taste) Sean Griffith, Charles Holland en Sam Jacob

Year

2003

Material

Diversen, o.a. beton

Artwork Location

Address

Noord Boulevard, Den Haag

City district

Scheveningen

GPS data

52.117230700104, 4.2868022191185 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

The artists' collective FAT (Fashion Architecture Taste), which operates from London, prefers to occupy unexplored areas. The artists who belong to the collective claim the entire field between architecture and art as their playground. The FAT artists satisfy their hunger for new challenges both with the design of useful objects and with the creation of unusable objects.

The pursuit of cross-fertilisation and the need for cross-border experiences (whereby the distinction between the various artistic disciplines is wholly or partially eliminated) run like a thread through the collective's projects. Assignments that offer opportunities to enter the domain of unprecedented possibilities, experiences and contrasts are grasped with both hands.

When carrying out assignments, the artists of FAT (Sean Griffith, Charles Holland and Sam Jacob) unscrupulously enter the twilight zone where commerce and art meet. The challenge lies in finding tactical and creative solutions to spatial problems, design issues and dilemmas in the design or decoration of public space.

The realisation of the Biesieklette guard house on the Noord Boulevard in Scheveningen was such a challenge. The house consists of a white mound (the supervisor's residence) that is crowned by a small Dutch house made of concrete. Crenellations of a grey castle wall cut through the mound. An accessible design that clearly refers to the bathing culture and miniature house of Madurodam. With the flaming light effects that sometimes strike the windows of the small house, FAT refers to the effect of primeval Dutch lighthouses in the mist.

In 2005, the guard house was awarded the prestigious British 'FX Award' for 'Best Public Project'. It was even included in a series of 'art stamps' in 2006.

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