Étude Gothique
Yesterday I visited Marinus Boezem’s Étude Gothique at the Kunstlinie Almere, where Rheims Cathedral’s ground plan has been delineated in birdseed. It was also a happy reunion that started last March at Amsterdam’s Oudekerk. Here, I filmed and photographed The Weather, a performance involving his weather map projections and cello music by Frances-Marie Uitti.
In the 1980s, Marinus worked on several major projects where landscape plays an important role. His greatest and most important work from this period is The Green Cathedral (1978–1987), which Étude Gothique is based on. For The Green Cathedral, 174 Italian poplars were planted in a polder landscape in Flevoland. The trees reproduce the ground plan of Rheims Cathedral. Much of Boezem’s spatial work can be located in the tradition of Land Art, and motifs such as landscape, space, climate, light, air and cartography play a central role in this work.