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The Land Art collection of Flevoland was expanded in 2016 with a seventh landscape artwork: PIER+HORIZON by Paul de Kort. The artwork is situated in the Zwarte Meer (Black Lake), the bordering lake that separates the Noordoostpolder from the mainland of Overijssel, a vast landscape where the horizon is always visible.

More than a century before the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed, a 6 km long breakwater, the 'Zuiderkrib', connected the shore of Overijssel with a lighthouse keeper's house in the middle of the Zuiderzee. Now a national monument, the former lighthouse keeper's house 'Oud Kraggenburg' sits on a mound amidst the fields of the Noordoostpolder. A straight and almost one-kilometer-long concrete path connects the Zwartemeerweg with the Zwartemeerdijk and reminds us of the line of that former Zuiderkrib. The stone breakwater itself has largely disappeared into the waves of the Zwarte Meer, but in calm weather, several hundred meters beyond the concrete path in the Zwarte Meer, we can still see a remnant of the breakwater emerge above water.

For the foundation of the Zuiderkrib and the lighthouse keeper's house in the middle of the 19th century, not the traditional sinking material of willow twigs was used, but so-called "kraggen." Kraggen are intergrown remains of water plants, especially reeds, that float as islands on the water. Kraggen are common in the peat lakes of northern Overijssel. These kraggen were cut into long strips and towed toward the Zuiderzee to be weighted down with rubble and sunk.

With PIER+HORIZON, Paul de Kort wants to bring the former Zuiderkrib back above water. He does this by placing a 135-meter-long boardwalk pier extending from the concrete path into the Zwarte Meer. In an area with a diameter of over 250 meters around the outermost point of the pier, 36 poles stand in a strict pattern. Floating on the water are 15 kraggen, each measuring 20 by 2 meters and planted with reeds. Each krag is anchored at the short end to one of the poles and can, directed by wind and current, rotate freely around its anchoring point.

During the walk along the straight concrete path from the Zwartemeerweg, the Zwartemeerdijk blocks the free view of the Zwarte Meer until the very last moment, but once on top of the dike, the vastness of the Zwarte Meer reveals itself in a single glance. At the foot of the dike, the perfectly straight line of the pier extends far into the Zwarte Meer. The field of poles and kraggen stretches as far as the eye can see.

From the Kadoeler lock, the artwork is introduced from afar during a longer walk along the Zwartemeerdijk and unfolds very gradually. The remote location and the effort required to reach the artwork contribute to the experience of it, but the ultimate experience is when you stand alone at the very tip of the narrow, long pier, amidst the vastness of the Zwarte Meer and surrounded by the field of poles and kraggen.

From the Zwartemeerdijk, a webcam takes photos of the artwork every day, including the special moment when the rising sun in the east forms a straight line with the pier and the camera (azimuth 108°). The photos testify to seasons that slowly transition into each other, the floating tree trunks that rotate around their poles, the sunlight that sparkles on the waves around the pier. Sometimes it's heavily clouded, then again the sun shines brightly, it's misty, or a strong southwesterly wind forces the tree trunks into strict formation, while a fierce rain shower lashes the water of the Zwarte Meer.

This is a selection of atmospheric moments captured by the webcam between September 22 and November 21, 2024.

This time-lapse shows three hours of the autumn morning on September 28, 2024, in just one minute. The webcam sees how the sun comes into alignment with the pier, the wind direction sways back and forth between northwest and west, while several substantial rain showers move rapidly toward the h

Paul de Kort bij Kunststof - Radio 1

Paul de Kort werd geïnterviewd door Frenk van der Linden voor het radioprogramma Kunststof over zijn ontwerp PIER+HORIZON voor het werd gerealiseerd. Luister het terug op de website van NTR.