Voorhout Monumentaal

3 March 2025

From May 10, a new artwork of mine can be seen on the Lange Voorhout in The Hague during Voorhout Monumentaal.
This time, the artwork will be made out of Hague red, orange and pink plastic waste. The preparations have been in full swing for a while now, which means that first of all my existing collection of plastic waste has to be replenished. Fortunately, I am being well assisted in this by a number of regular suppliers including NV Haagse Milieu Services, Return Club/Kringloop Den Haag and the Spullenbak.

If you want your red/orange/pink broken colander/bucket/washing basket/etc to be part of my new artwork, come and hand it in on Sunday March 23 at my studio at Prinsegracht 64 in The Hague.

UP-DATE April 3
On Sunday March 23, as many as one acquaintance stopped by my studio with an orange crate, thanks for that Ineke!
Following the interview that appeared in the AD on Wednesday  March 26, I received a phone call from José (no acquaintance of mine) that the Blokker in De Weimarstraat was being emptied and at her request they kept baskets and crates aside for me. 
From Monday March 24, I have been working temporarily at 16A Wegastraat and I like it very much. June 2024 I was also working there when I could not work in my own studio due to renovations. It's a sunny spot and what's especially nice is that I'm just around the corner from the HMS location Binckhorst. After lunch I always cycle by to see if anything is ready. The neighbours, preschoolers from KC De Binck, also came to take a look.

UP-DATE  April 23
Two more weeks and then I will start building the work on the Lange Voorhout. Broadly speaking, the composition is ready, a few pieces still need extra attention. It is now time to connect all the parts and work out a good plan for reconstruction in a fortnight. Everything has to be labelled with a sticker with a label and number to make the rebuilding time as quick as possible.
Every day I cycle past the HMS to fish out any interesting items from the container that can be given a place in the artwork right away.
On 14 April, I could be heard in Jessica Mendels' programme at Den Haag FM.

UP-DATE April 27
Cycled around the neighbourhood after King's Day and found some small orange and pink litter.

UP-DATE May 8
On Tuesday morning, May 6, I transferred everything from Wegastraat to Lange Voorhout. In my matching orange overalls, I had to give chase to a seagull that made off with my tyraps. Even the locked container the gull managed to open. The gull did not give up and I had to give a second chase a little later.
For the build-up time, I had assumed that it would not succeed in 1 day. Home at 9 o'clock in the evening and and Wednesday morning attached the last parts.
Pleased with the end result.

Opening Saturday May 10 - 15:30 Lange Voorhout The Hague.
My work is on the Korte Voorhout side.

UP-DATE June 8
The work has now been on the Lange Voorhout for a month and is attracting plenty of attention. Unfortunately, some parts have already come loose, but I have reattached them at another place in the work. This keeps the total number of parts at 734.
When constructing the work, I took into account that visitors might touch parts, pull them loose or even sit or stand on the work.
To avoid the latter, I put “small” cubes almost everywhere but did not implement this consistently - not a good choice in hindsight. The temptation to take a seat among the plastic rubbish proved to be great.
Unfortunately, the work is not sturdy enough for that. Therefore, I added extra parts to prevent this from happening more often.

On Wednesday July 9 at 5pm, I will give a presentation at the Pavilion of West, right next to my work. You are most welcome!

UP-DATE July 14
A few days before the presentation, I spent some time removing the black deposit - honeydew/ sooty mould coming from the Lindens - from the artwork. It looks much better again.
On 9 July, I gave the presentation next to and about my artwork on the Lange Voorhout. I talked about my fascination with plastic, how this project came about, and the ideas behind it. The meeting was a great success: twice as many people came as expected - it felt like a warm bath.
Less pleasant is that recently, more and more parts of the artwork have been disappearing. Some parts I can replace, but unfortunately not all. For instance, the highest peak - consisting of an inverted red traffic pylon topped by an orange vuvuzela - has disappeared without a trace. Other parts, such as a tower of storm seals, were fortunately easier to replace.

UP-DATE August 19
On Monday, August 11, after my holiday, I was back at the Lange Voorhout to carry out some repair work on my artwork. The following day, recordings were scheduled for the TV program Binnenste Buiten (broadcast on September 15).

With the warm summer evenings and a few beers, it seems all too tempting for some to damage my work. During the night of August 12–13, it was pulled at and kicked with great force. The damage was considerable. Someone sent me a photo via Instagram, and when I went to see for myself, I was momentarily speechless. This wasn’t mere mischief—it was vandalism. Fortunately, I managed to repair it well enough for the artwork to remain on display for the final days of the exhibition.

On Monday, August 18, I arrived early at the Lange Voorhout to dismantle my work. The exhibition Voorhout Monumentaal had come to an end, and the plastic waste that had drawn attention for more than three months in a prominent spot in The Hague’s city center partly returned to where it came from—the dump. Since I don’t have enough storage space, I couldn’t keep everything. Luckily, a large portion went back to the Return Club, where it will be shredded and given a new life.

Dismantling takes quite some time, as the waste has to be sorted. What do I want to reuse myself (once again, I ended up bringing too much back to the studio), and what can still be of use to the Return Club—who are also struggling with storage issues. This turned out to be a good opportunity to create a red line with the red plastic waste. The plan didn’t go entirely smoothly: on that very day, hundreds of Leiden students were having their introduction event at the same location. Due to a miscommunication about permits with the city of The Hague, I suddenly found myself boxed in between market stalls and a hotdog truck. But in the end, the red line was made.

THANKS to
- Andre van Lier and Pulchri Studio for the invitation.
- N.V. Haagse Milieu Services, Aad and his colleagues at the Binckhorst waste disposal station.
- Return Club/Kringloop Den Haag
- Trash bin
- All the acquaintances and strangers who donated their plastic waste for this project.
- Denis Oudendijk of Refunc for the use of the shop window on Wegastraat.