“The principle is simple; the outcome is complex.” That’s how Peter Vink describes his installation, which he named after the location it is placed in, the bridge 'Mr. J.J. van der Veldebrug'.
The bridge is made up of two arches for walkers and cyclists and a drawbridge for shipping traffic, but it was the many triangles that formed the starting point for Vink’s design. He traced the lines of the triangles with bright white light and extended them into and out of the water, almost like bringing back the lines that the original architects erased from the drawing board during the design process. This is how the bridge’s skeleton formed the basis of his very large and impressive light sculpture.
Designed in 1992 to connect the Oosterdokseiland with the IJ tunnel and the city centre, the architects deliberately opted for a relatively light, open steel construction to keep the view of the Oosterdok as unobstructed as possible. That’s why the bridge is quite modest. Vink reverses that and transforms the bridge into a striking piece of art, a real beacon of light in the Oosterdok. As is usually the case with Vink’s work, this artwork could not exist in any other place – it is interwoven in the structure and the shapes of the bridge.
Since the 1960s artists have opted for more monumental buildings for their artworks and have attempted to transform the environment in which they are located. Where the famous artist Christo, for example, chooses to draw attention to buildings by wrapping them up (like he did with the Reichstag in Berlin), Vink highlights the shapes and lines of the bridge by illuminating and extending them. Not only does he give the Mr. J.J. van der Veldebrug a whole different look using light, but the entire area of Oosterdok too. Would you otherwise have noticed how wide the skyline is, how beautiful the reflections are in the water, or how lively it is with pedestrians, cyclists and boats?
MR. J.J. VAN DER VELDEBRUG IS SUPPORTED BY:
Mondriaan Fonds
