Foundation Art and Public Space
artist: Paulien Oltheten
located in: Maasvlakte, Rotterdam,
client: Havenbedrijf Rotterdam
Pauline Oltheten made several visits to Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte for Portscapes, the series of art projects in connection with the construction of the new Maasvlakte II. Without any preconceived plan and with the intention to keep everything open, so as to enable her to be surprised about the place.
Paulien Oltheten
for Portscapes, Maasvlakte II
Paulien Oltheten
Paulien Oltheten’s work area is public space. With her still and video cameras, she generally searches with apparent casualness for moments when there is contact between people, objects and public space. She has a remarkable eye for the small and subtle, which often endows her photographs with great poetic force. Her photographs, film images and drawings testify to how people move around in the public domain and how the personal stands in relation to the public.
On the Maasvlakte, Oltheten was faced with the fact that the familiar frame of reference of natural elements, such as trees, bushes and people, was almost completely lacking. Oltheten decided to make use of this alienation by arranging meetings with people. This resulted in a series of photographs and two short video pieces. These stagings mostly take place in locations on the Maasvlakte that will disappear or be displaced during the coming years. The photographs and videos are sometimes variations on the theme of ‘one becomes two’, referring to the Maasvlakte, of which there will later be two.
On 14 August 2009 a billboard by Paulien Oltheten is being placed along the A15 on the Maasvlakte. From 1 until 30 October 2009 a presentation of Oltheten’s photographs and videos can be seen in and around Futureland, the Maasvlakte visitors’ centre. From there, visitors can set off with a route description to the locations on the Maasvlakte where other work by Oltheten can be seen.
