Partial cladding of parking garage Kraaiennest in steel plate. The red and white “pixels” are mounted on the front and south facade. Two specially designed pavilions and an office on the rooftop are integrated in the work. The rooftop is open to the public during manifestations and special events.
ZIEZO spreads across Kraaiennest [=‘crow’s nest’] car park like a virus. But it is a buoyant, proud and gregarious virus. It has completely transformed the car park, a notorious concrete colossus from the 1970s. Once a cheerless urban slab, today it is a statement of optimism and hope. ZIEZO reflects on the changes that are taking place in the neighbourhood at the moment: it is the expression and representation of the new future projected for this part of the Bijlmer. At the same time, ZIEZO [‘there we are!’] can be read as two separate words, ‘ZIE’ [‘see’] and ‘ZO’ [‘like that’], prompting people to take another look at the ‘old’ Bijlmer (ZuidOost), as a unique environment with characteristic architecture. The red and white pixels are made of the material that is often used to fence off construction sites as a clear sign: no entry beyond this point. But here it seems to have taken on the impossible task, with its own particular grid, of completely hiding the car park. In all its optimism, the eventual fragmented result at the same time calls this goal into question, demonstrating the value of both the existing architecture and the desire for renewal. The rampant growth of pixels eventually leads up to the roof in the office of Open Source Amsterdam: balancing on the façade, this new crow’s nest provides a view of one of the most characteristic vistas of Southeast Amsterdam.
Peter Stel
1964, Vlaardingen, NL, Lives and works in Amsterdam Zuidoost, NL
One of Stel’s main stylistic devices is presenting mundane visual elements in an unconventional context. In doing so he plays with language, and with concepts such as ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’, for instance producing large-scale sculptures resembling stage settings that initially appear to jar with their surroundings. On the other hand, his subtle, carefully modulated interventions may teach us new ways of looking. So he often places his work in locations that people would not normally visit to see works of art, such as a waiting room or a car park next to a motorway. By doing so, he draws attention to the surroundings, or rather, to the behavior of the people who go there.
