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de rechte weg – from 2017 onwards
Research has been carried out into the extent to which a path six kilometres long and one metre wide can be constructed on a dike along the Waddenzee in the Westpolder in Groningen that can be walked on. A path that runs completely straight and does not follow the bulge of the earth. You experience the earth directly and physically, and because of this you are aware of the earth, your unique place on it and responsibility for it. This work of art with the title 'The Straight Road' by John Körmeling would be the only road in the world that really runs straight, like a plank on a football.
We will continue it, but the reality in that particular place is that we came across things that were not surmountable. At the last meeting with some of the farmers and tenants involved, good solutions were put forward, but when we talked to the water authority, things turned out differently. Due to the combination of the difference in height and the preconditions that apply to the slope, de rechte weg on that dike would give an unclear picture. Something as simple as a road that is a straight line is precisely what we do not want. We have therefore decided, in consultation with John Körmeling, that we should refrain from making any further progress in this area. Together with the artist, we are now exploring an alternative location.
For the first time, Welcome Stranger will be organising a manifestation consisting of a single work of art, not created in a private home but in nature.
Fortunately so far, our plans have produced something in the municipality of De Marne: John Körmeling made a wall drawing in Wongema in Hornhuizen in collaboration with Welcome Stranger. It was left there as a residue.
In the summer of 2019, Welcome Stranger also organised a small presentation in collaboration with the International Society for Education through Art (Insea) in Quinta da Cruz in Viseu (Portugal) about, among other things, 'de rechte weg'. Other participating artist was Sander van Deurzen.
13.03 – 19.05.2017: test rig with clay shell for De Rechte Weg near Westpolder. A local farmer IJsbrand de Weerd made his land available for the test.
