Out of Focus
Status
Permanent
Category
No longer exists
Since
01-09-2021
Explanation
In 2021, NS destroyed Auke de Vries' Spoorbeeld. The NS called it "a painful decision." How could it happen that an image-defining work of art, a key work in Dutch sculpture, could still be demolished? It all started with a commission from PTT Post. This company had been commissioning artists since the 1920s and commissioned The Hague sculptor in the mid-1980s to create a monumental artwork for their new shipping hub next to the old station post office, behind Hollands Spoor. The narrow, elongated and abstract sculpture De Vries created at the back of the expedition hub became a striking landmark on the route for all train passengers heading to Amsterdam. The Spoorbeeld even had its own platform.
Only: a steel sculpture does require maintenance. With the privatization of the PTT in 1989, the departure of the forwarding hub in 1998 and the changes in ownership that followed, that maintenance became increasingly out of sight. In 2015, the former dispatch building, and with it the artwork, came under NS ownership. Despite being in prolonged discussions with the municipality, Stroom Den Haag and the artist about possible relocation, the NS had the work destroyed.
The loss of De Vries' Spoorbeeld is especially regrettable because in addition to being an image-defining sculpture on that site, it was a key work in the collection of outdoor art in the Netherlands. It marked the transition from environmental design to environmental art. During Reconstruction after World War II, art was mostly 'nail fixed', art that was attached to buildings such as mosaics and reliefs. From 1965 onward, art became increasingly detached from architecture and served not only to beautify, but above all to contribute to the livability of the environment. This environmental art is usually totally abstract and often takes the form of masonry level differences, color systems, paving elements and play sculptures. The experience of the place is central in each case. In the 1980s, the emphasis shifts from being subservient to the environment to more self-contained art. De Vries' Spoorbeeld is exemplary of this.
Whereas works of art in museums rarely fall victim to neglect, sculptures in public spaces regularly appear to be outlaws. While they are of great importance to our experience of public space. Spoorbeeld by Auke de Vries has fallen victim to the many changes of ownership.
Artwork Data
Artwork Location
Address
Station Hollands Spoor, Den Haag
City district
Centrum
GPS data
52.069940890053, 4.3238846574249 View on map
Artwork Description
Text
Waiting for the train bound for Leiden and Amsterdam at NS station Hollands Spoor, you look directly at a sculpture you can't ignore: Auke de Vries' elongated sculpture behind the former Hague shipping hub of PTT-Post.
The PTT commissioned the creation of the sculpture at the time. De Vries chose the illogical narrow strip between railroad tracks and building at the rear rather than a more obvious location at the front of the shipping hub. The risky spot that other sculptors would probably resolutely reject inspired De Vries. "How plastic can flat be?" was the question he wanted to explore. 'Very plastic,' we have known since 1986 when the sculpture was placed. De Vries succeeded in using flat forms to evoke a three-dimensional representation. By having the strips and slabs lean towards both the façade and the track, he breaks through the two-dimensional, façade-bound design. There is not much room to play. But just enough.
There is another means the sculptor employs to make the flat plastic. He allows a shape to break out of the frame. At the end of the bouncy zigzag line, the curly triangle protrudes over the concrete foundation. In doing so, the sculpture crosses the boundary between building and track. It becomes detached from the facade. This effect is reinforced by the fact that the leaden forms shine feather light: as if they are blown along the facade like the loose sections of a newspaper. Different forms balance on and next to each other. They threaten to fall but the thoughtful composition keeps them in balance. A steel curl looks like a ribbon moved by a gymnast. Typical De Vries. With tons of heavy steel he makes work that looks thin and fragile: depicting the unbearable lightness.