Like a present-day dolmen, Wessel Couzijn’s Groot Landschap (Large Landscape) rests on a hill in Sloterpark: a 22-metre sculpture of corten steel that seems to slowly merge with its surroundings.
That it’s still there is far from self-evident. At the end of the last century, the work was balancing on the edge of extinction: rust holes, spray paint, and — lacking a foundation — a real risk of the entire colossus rolling down the hill. Designer Geert Lebbing stepped up as its rescuer, enlisting museum directors Edy de Wilde and Jean Leering. After years of lobbying, the necessary €80,000 was raised — and in 2006 the restored sculpture was unveiled anew.
This text is from the book You are here – Art in the public spaces of Amsterdam. The book is available via this link.
