It stands a stone's thow away from the Buiksloterweg ferry stop in Amsterdam Noord. With its rough concrete and rusting steel, the viewer fits in well here on the northern shores of the IJ. One could almost think it's always been here. But the viewer is a temporary artwork for public space, from the Amsterdam-based artist and filmmaker Sarah Payton.
A video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kENa7aVxMU
You look through the eyepiece expecting to see the central city, but instead you are offered video images of the city. Glimpses of people and buildings, neighbourhoods and industrial areas. There is music, a melancholy soundscape from Dutch artist Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek), and the voice of a woman, speaking about the the city. She speaks about things, such as a journey to another country, the properties of water, and the wizard of Oz. Of potatoes, immigrants and homeless men that she encounters in the city. Threaded throughout is the search for a story in which everyone in the city could feel at home.
'what it seems to be / wat het lijkt te zijn' is presented in partnership with de Tolhuistuin, Stichting NDSM-werf Oost, de Overkant, M-Lab en de Zamenhofstraat ateliers. Made possible with support from the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, the Netherlands Film Fund, Amsterdam city district North and Super-B.
released November 29, 2017
This release presents the soundtrack of the installation
’what it seems to be / wat het lijkt te zijn' by Sarah Payton.
Concept, words and narration by Sarah Payton
Music by Rutger Zuydervelt
Realized in 2012
Mastered by Ian Hawgood