A monument to freedom in a neat new neighbourhood.

I was invited to make a memorial for the people of the Maastricht resistance. I adapted this commission to the given location, the end of a street in a new neighbourhood where the work will function mainly for residents.

Using the concept of freedom as a starting point, I created a work of art in the form of a circle of glass plates within which wild plants grow. The work forms a strong contrast with the surroundings where the front gardens express a strong need to control nature. Within the glass circle, nature is given the ‚freedom‘ to unfold without human intervention.

Allowing nature to take its course produces exciting unexpected results, but there is also the law of the jungle which means some plants will prevail; freedom without organisation means chaos.

Plants grow, flower and die back in winter. They spread out and the composition of plants will vary each season. Unexpected plants will be added by overflowing seed and seed dispersal by birds. The wild garden will become a breeding and feeding ground for butterflies. You will find white sweet clover, field thistle, barnyard wormwort, hartspurge, liverwort, hairy willowherb, meadowsweet, snakeweed and goldenrod.

2006