Two 200-meter-long walls of “water-cold concrete”, the landscape artwork SeaLevel that the American artist Richard Serra built in Flevoland in 1996 is being rebuilt. That plan the Zeewolde municipal council announced on Thursday.
SeaLevel, which is located in a residential area in Zeewolde, is one of nine landscape works of art that have been created in the province in recent decades. It depicts the location of Flevoland below sea level, with two walls that are in line with each other over a distance of 600 meters. Rijkswaterstaat gave the work as a gift after the construction of Zeewolde.
The reconstruction of the artwork is estimated to cost 1 million euros. Serra has agreed to largely pay the costs himself. The province of Flevoland had already made 175,000 euros available for repairs to the work.
The municipality of Zeewolde is happy with Richard Serra’s gesture, says councilor Erik van de Beld (Culture, Christian Union). “Serra is now world famous. If we were to create such a work of art by him now, it would cost 10 million euros.”
Gray paint
That SeaLevel is in poor condition has been clear for years. The biggest culprit is the gray paint with which the municipality had painted the artwork in 2011, with Serra’s permission, to protect it. “That layer of paint spontaneously cracked,” says curator Martine van Kampen of the Land Art Flevoland foundation, “and then pieces of concrete came with it.” There was also a color difference after removing graffiti.
The foundation, which makes nine landscape artworks in the province accessible, would have preferred that SeaLevel would be modestly restored. After research, including by concrete specialists, Land Art Flevoland advised to only use the paint SeaLevel to remove, repair damage to the concrete, and apply an anti-graffiti coating.
Van Kampen: “Concrete ages, you can see that. And in thirty years you will have the same problems again.” The foundation also took into account that concrete construction produces a lot of CO2emissions. A more expensive and radical restoration, in which the artwork would receive a new layer of concrete, was also an option.
Intellectual property
However, artist Richard Serra (1938) opposed restoration, because he is committed to the original, dark glossy appearance of the concrete. He promised to raise the money for reconstruction and maintenance costs for the next twenty years.
Councilor Van de Beld: “Certainly if we were to apply a new coating, we would harm Serra’s intellectual property. We did not want to end up in legal proceedings.” Van Kampen says he understands the municipality’s choice. “We are happy about that anyway SeaLevel will soon look beautiful again.”
SeaLevel is one of Richard Serra’s greatest works of art, and one of the few that he executed in concrete. He is best known for minimalist, monumental sculptures made of corten steel, such as Open Ended in Museum Voorlinden.
Floriade
The subsidy from the province for SeaLevel, which has yet to be formally provided, comes from a pot of 500,000 euros that Flevoland set aside in 2021 for thorough restoration of four of the oldest works of landscape art. The aim was to renovate them before the Floriade in Almere in 2022. Since then The Green Cathedral (Marinus Boezem, 1996) and Observatory (Robert Morris, 1977).
SeaLevel and Earth Sea (Piet Slegers, 1982) still have to be done. Earth Sea is an undulating site of five hectares in the flat arable land near Zeewolde. The original recovery plan had become too expensive due to increased construction costs and has now been adjusted. That work of art will be restored next year, just like SeaLevel.
A fifth work of landscape art in Flevoland has now fallen into disrepair. Pier+Horizon (Paul de Kort, 2016) is a long wooden gangway in the water at the Noordoostpolder, originally with floating mats around it. However, the decking planks came loose so often during storms that the municipality of Noordoostpolder has stopped repairing them. Artist De Kort is working on an alternative design, for which Land Art Flevoland wants to seek financing.