Nature reserve De Oeverlanden has been created on the reclaimed soil from the waters called the Nieuwe Meer since the 1950s. Over the years it became an area with rugged nature. When the municipality of Amsterdam wanted to use the area for housing in the 1980s, this was met with protests. De Oeverlanden remained a recreation and nature area on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Especially during the pandemic, it could get very crowded.
This series records the evidence of the presence in the absence of the body. It is an area strewn with the debris of human (inter)action.
The empty spaces demand that the viewer fill in the blanks; we almost feel compelled to complete the picture in front of us, to give it meaning and narrative. We people it ourselves. How would your initial made up narrative change if I’d told you this is one of the biggest gay cruising areas in Amsterdam?
Next to the concept of exploring the idea of spaces with queer signification, the series is also looking into the notion of the context vacuum.