Artwork Data

Title

Poort Noordzijde

Artist

Nout Visser

Year

1987

Material

natuursteen / graniet

Dimensions

700 cm

Artwork Location

Address

Kortenbos, Den Haag

City district

Centrum

GPS data

52.0752341430868, 4.29755333766821 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

One should not be able to pass by a work of art unnoticed. Otherwise I might as well have put up lampposts'. This is what the Hague sculptor Nout Visser said in 'Dagblad Zaanstreek' of 28 December 1992. His two striking gateways in the Kortenbos neighbourhood park on Sirtemastraat are not something you just walk past. They form an emphatic intervention in the surroundings. One is on the north side of the park, the other on the south side, with respectively an arch and an inverted triangle as striking opposing forms. The gates were made in 1987.

The northern gate gives the impression of being a very old structure. This is due to the way the huge, tapering stones are stacked in an arch. They are loose, but press themselves together by their own weight. This is a law of nature that the architects of classical antiquity already used. The Greeks and Romans, however, did not have such a wedge-shaped stone piercing the arch. It seems dangerous to cycle under the gate, because that middle stone hangs over your head like the sword of Damocles. A work of art should also be exciting, Visser believes.

In addition, Visser always tries to create a contrast when placing an object. He wants his sculptures to stand out against the backdrop of their surroundings. Visser's use of colour for parts of his objects around 1990 contributes to this. He combined natural stone and brick with steel painted in the primary colours red, yellow and blue.
These sculptures are large, but they stand out because of the strong colour accents they incorporate. His uncoloured objects also do so because of their size and, for example, because they are reminiscent of (pre)historic monuments. The northern park gate is an example of this.

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