...a year ago on the Maasvlakte beach, Rotterdam
Mon, Feb 8 2010
Dibbets realised the original version of this classic work on the Dutch coast near Zandvoort in February 1969 and this 'second attempt' (the artist rejects the notion of a ‘remake’) was shot forty years later to the month, in February 2009 on a beach that will disappear with the construction of Maasvlakte 2. The eight minute film was premiered in the FutureLand visitor centre every Sunday during June 2009 and was screened on loop in New York, during Latitudes' participation in the non-profit festival 'No Soul for Sale' (24–28 June).
6 Hours Tide Object... records the drawing of a trapezoid shape in the sand during low tide using a bulldozer which drives back and forth along the beach. The shape consequently appears as a rectangular ‘frame’ in the resultant film due to the angle of perspective distortion in being shot from an elevated platform. Subsequently, the incoming tide washes it away. A formalistic reflection on geometry, representational illusion and the camera-’eye’, Dibbets reasserts the freshness of this fleeting filmed action with no hint of nostalgia. Within the context of the development of Maasvlakte 2 the work allows our fresh interpretations: concerning the physical modification of Dutch coastline, or new perspectives of construction, destruction and change, for example.
Watch the 'making of' by Olaf Schuur.
6 Hours Tide Object... was produced in the context of 'Portscapes', an accumulative series of ten new commissions by initiated by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and financial support from SKOR (Foundation Art and Public Space, Amsterdam) curated by Latitudes, Barcelona.
An exhibition is currently on view at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen with the resulting works realised throughout 2009. On view until 25 April 2010 - free entrance.
