Artwork Data
Title
Nonsite Outside Territor – Floating Point
Artist
Year
1998
Material
Glas en licht
Artwork Location
Address
Rooseveltplantsoen, Den Haag
City district
Scheveningen
GPS data
52.095356968864, 4.2852801754631 View on map
Artwork Description
Text
On the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the city of The Hague in 1998, the Nederlandse Waterschapsbank donated the artwork Floating Point by Arno van der Mark to the municipality. Literally translated, Floating Point means floating point, or floating comma. And the work of art is a bit like that. Although it is neither a comma nor a full stop, but an oval.
On his own website, Van der Mark calls it 'A transparent but inaccessible oval architectural space without function'. A hermetically sealed structure of glass and light that seems to float in the transitional area between city and greenery. This floating is especially emphasised when the work of art is illuminated at night. During the day, four sensors capture light. In the dark, sixteen coloured halogen lamps emit a computer translation of the light output. The brightness of the lamp light depends on the seasons and weather conditions.
By day, the oval is dark grey. Then the words 'nonsite outside territory' on the glass are also clearly legible. They refer to the location, where the urban area changes into a more rural setting. When the work of art was placed, the Rooseveldtplantsoen was still a piece of no man's land; grassland between office buildings. Van der Mark often allows his works of art in the outdoor space to merge into their habitat. Not so with Floating Point. This is a true landmark: a point that you cannot ignore. With his art, Van der Mark explores hard borders and soft transitions between the built environment and the green environment.
After several years of HTS, Van der Mark was trained at the Academy of Visual Arts in Arnhem in the early 1970s. There, environmental design was an important aspect of the study. His paintings, drawings, graphics, sculptures and installations are collected by private individuals and leading museums. Around 1990 he works in interdisciplinary teams in his own studio 'Drftwd' for projects on the border of (landscape) architecture, urban planning, art and economy.