photos: copyright Pedro Sluiter
Anyone driving on the A28, north of Zwolle, has seen a huge firebird since late September. It looks like it is taking off. It is the most recent work of art by Giny Vos, who made it on commission from the province of Overijssel. Such prestigious commissions are rare, a reason for Esther Didden to talk to Giny Vos.
With the program "Room for the Vecht," the province of Overijssel has been working for ten years on the sustainable development and awareness of the Vecht Valley, a vast area along the river Vecht, from Gramsbergen near the border with Germany to Zwolle. Within the program are several projects including the construction of an exit towards Dalfsen and a fly-over at Zwolle-North. The construction of the exit ramp created a so-called eye, a green circular empty space between the network of roads. That eye was designated as the location for a landmark, a work of art that can be seen and experienced from the car.
Like over a hundred other artists at the time, Giny Vos decided to respond to the advertisement in BK Information in which an artist was sought to create this landmark. The commission was very ambitious. That was also why Vos applied for it; the opportunity to create a work of art on this scale is simply special. For the selection procedure a committee was composed of experts in the field of visual arts and employees of the province who are closely involved in the developments around the Vecht valley. After a pitch to which ten artists were invited, three artists were commissioned to make a sketch design. In the end, Vos' design was chosen.
Realizing such large-scale art commissions takes a lot of time. Now on top of that came the corona pandemic which caused a delay anyway. That gave Vos the opportunity to do extensive material research. Since the early 1990s Vos has been working with light: LED and neon. Now she felt the need to work with light but without using electricity. An urgency prompted in part by the energy transition underway, but also her body of work itself challenged her to take new steps. "Light is my material," she explains "like a painter has paint." In the 1990s she pioneered, "nobody believed then that you could make something poetic with LEDs." And she continued to pioneer, now with another unique material: titanium. Through word of mouth, she came across a small Japanese company that makes sheets of colored titanium. Vos traveled to Japan to witness the manufacturing process firsthand. What she got to see there was enchanting. An extremely strong wafer-thin material in bright hues, just the way she wanted it. She had test strips made and then it was up to the Department of Public Works to evaluate them. Would motorists soon be bothered by the glare of this material, or not? Rijkswaterstaat advised positively; an important next step had been taken.
"Light is my material, like a painter has paint."
The Myth of the Phoenix is a story of light, energy, nature and renewal, of saying goodbye to the old in order to continue it in something new. This touches on one of the biggest problems of the present time, climate change. The earth is becoming depleted. Can it, like the Phoenix, renew itself? This Firebird near Zwolle faces south. She overlooks the city and the Vecht valley. Also at night, the Phoenix will play with the light from the surroundings but milder, less fiery. And every day, under the influence of the sun, she comes alive. The titanium flares up as soon as the sunlight falls on the bird. Where the colors appear purple and orange from one angle, they look blue and yellow from another. The sunlight makes the colors even more intense.
Also at night, the Phoenix will play with the light from its surroundings
The Phoenix stands at the gateway to the Vecht valley. She makes a connection with nature, after all, the water of the Vecht meanders at her feet. And she connects with the city, welcoming you as you drive into town via the exit. To get a sense of the size: she is 18 meters high and the span of her wings is 22 meters. She stands on her own tail feathers, although firmly anchored to the ground, but it looks like she is taking off, facing the sun with her wings spread. The Phoenix is constructed of 1763 steel box sections, one or two sides of which are coated with titanium.
Vos commissioned the artwork from the province of Overijssel and the work was co-financed by the municipalities of Zwolle, Dalfsen, Ommen, Hardenberg and the water boards Drents Overijsselse Delta and Vechtstromen. After the corona pandemic, prices rose and fortunately this was met by the Mondriaan Fund and BPD-Cultuurfonds, the municipality of Zwolle and the province. Metal company Qumey in Maarssen dared to realize this work for Vos, where other firms did not dare technically, but also financially. It is thanks to the efforts of many, but above all thanks to the craftsmanship of Vos himself, that the Netherlands now has a monumental work of art.
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