Waterline Monument, the latest artwork by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, was recently installed on the slope between the A12 motorway and the green recreation area Laagravense Plassen in Utrecht (Netherlands). The new work depicts in a contemporary manner the ingenious hydraulic engineering of the New Dutch Waterline.

▼项目概览，Overall view © Johnny Umans

The New Dutch Waterline was a historic defence line measuring 85 kilometres in length. This ingenious system of dykes, sluices, canals, forts and bunkers, capable of creating deliberate floods, was used in the period between 1815 and 1940. The Waterline made it possible to flood kilometres of land in the west of the Netherlands, thus making the area inaccessible to the enemy. The New Dutch Waterline has been on the Unesco World Heritage list since 2021. To mark the occasion, the Province of Utrecht launched a competition for the creation of a new work of art in honour of the New Dutch Waterline. The competition was won by the architect and artist duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh.

▼纪念碑所处的斜坡与水面相平行，The slope onto which the work is placed runs parallel to the water © Johnny Umans

The Waterline is an extensive system that lies hidden in the landscape. Gijs Van Vaerenbergh chose to work with the figure of a lock, one of the most important elements in this system, used as a gate to hold back the waters. As such, it forms a crucial link between dykes and embankments. When it is opened, the defence system is activated, causing the water to overflow the banks and inundate the area. The artwork is an abstract reconstruction of the figure of the lock. Placed on top of the slope next to the motorway, it is given a prominent place in the landscape.

▼纪念碑近景，A close view to the monument © Johnny Umans

转化 | Shift

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh enhance recognisability by making reference to familiar architecture and traditional building elements, which are part of our collective memory. By presenting the lock in its essential form, that is, three arched openings at right angles to the viewing direction, the image is shifted from that of a lock to that of an (entrance) gate. As the sculpture is situated on top of the slope, it is also reminiscent of a triumphal arch. The artists’ play with the recognisability of these different forms imbues the work with ambiguous meanings. Gijs Van Vaerenbergh demonstrate that form, architecture and space can be fluid and not limited to a singular image. They provide references and depict typologies, which they simultaneously call into question and deconstruct.