KEERZIJDE (Reverse)
commissioned by the town Velsen and the county Noord-Holland and in collaboration with the town Beverwijk in spirit of the construction of the Westelijke Randweg (N197) around Beverwijk.

In the 8th century Scheybeeck was already the border between the estates Adrichem and Beverhem. To this day this dune stream forms the municipal border between Velsen en Beverwijk. In the 17th century, Vondel wrote the poem ‘Beecksangh’ at the Scheybeeck and Herman Gorter wrote ‘het heele begin van Mei’ (i.e. ‘the entire beginning of May’) in the spring of 1887 at the Beecksangh estate.

The subtle line of the Scheybeeck is now crossed by the thick line of the Westelijke Randweg. ‘KEERZIJDE’ consists of RVS-strips on floorboards parallel to each other and the road, but perpendicular to the direction of the stream of the brook. Halfway, the strips twist, creating the image of a silver wave rippling through the smooth surface. The strips also represent the page of a strophic* poem. On the side of Beverwijk various strips have the words of Beecksangh by Vondel polished onto them. On the side of Velsen, various lines of Gorter’s ‘May’ can be read. By lifting the line of the Scheybeeck of the Westelijke Randweg, ‘KEERZIJDE’ connects the history of this place with the reality of today. In this sense, it marks a turning point on the border between two towns as a reversal (keerzijde) of contemporary times.

Design: 2010
Construction: May 2011 in collaboration with Segno d’Arte
For more information about this design, see the booklet REVERSE (English)

*A strophe (or verse) is a part of a poem between two blank lines, ‘strophe’ from the Greek -‘strophé’ literally means rotation, revolution or ‘re-verse’.