Robert Morris, Observatory, 1977 - Flevoland, Netherlands (July, 2024)
Background
This is the fifth post of five Land Art Flevoland sites that we visited in July, 2024. (I’ve repeated the next two paragraphs for all five posts)
Flevoland is the twelfth and newest province of the Netherlands. It exists in the Zuiderzee / Lake IJssel (a shallow bay connected to the North Sea, which they somehow converted from a body of saltwater into fresh water now), and almost the entirety of the province was added in mainly two separate land reclamation projects or polders. The first was in 1942 and the larger second started in 1955 and was completed in 1968. Flevopolder (as this new island was called) is the world’s largest artificial island at around 1,500 square kilometers.
Land Art was in its hayday of the 1960s and 1970s. In conjunction with the opening of this new land, the planners decided to add some land art pieces to become a part of Flevoland. Thematically it makes a ton of sense. Both creating Land Art and the empoldering process share a strong connection to the Earth and transformation of the landscape. You could even say that reclaiming this island was an even grander land art project. They’ve added 10 land art pieces now, with the most recent being completed in 2018.
Observatory consists of two concentric earth circles with precise alignments to capture sunrises on the solstices and equinoxes. There is a stone marker in the center for the optimal viewing. It was designed to evoke connections with ancient megalithic structures like Stonehenge. There is a straight path through both circles from the west. Both circles are tall enough that your view you cannot see past, and most sound is limited as well. A rarity in the very flat Flevoland. The interior ring is walled with wood panels with three additional openings in the east to view gaps in the exterior ring.
The exterior ring contains "frames” made of Bavarian granite for the summer and winter solstice sunrises. There is one protusion in the exterior ring that has a steel “frame” for the spring and autumn equinox sunrises (which never occurred to me would be the same place, but I suppose that makes sense). These “frames” for lack of a better term are basically shaped like the letter V, so the sun at sunrise will peak over the horizon directly at the base of the V.
The entrance through the exterior ring is a triangle, inverse from the three V’s in the east, its point is at the top. Though I can’t find any record of it, it’s possible that this means looking west at sunset on the equinoxes, that you may be able to see the sunset this way (if that’s how celestial events work). Also when you’re in the center, you can speak and the wood panels surrounding you create an echo.
The view from the center, the interior circle lined with wood, and the frames in the exterior circle seen through these gaps
Travel
It is a little less than a one hour drive from Amsterdam. It is only accessible by car, there is no public transportation options to this very random location outside of Lelystad.
Observatory sits right on the N307 highway. You can hear it at points and see it from certain vantage points. However, it is not actually at an egress to that highway, so you’ll have to exit a couple miles to the east or west of it, then travel on local roads to find your way there. Typing in Observatorium Robert Morris on your GPS should work fine, though it may suggest you park on Swifterringweg, which you shouldn’t do, there’s a separate side road you should park on that is closer to access Observatory and quieter.
We parked at the end of the side road, right by the entrance to Observatory. The road is well paved and it was completely empty when we visited. The walk is just a few hundred feet. The oath is paved and flat. No issues for any accessibility handicapped people, nless you want to climb a rampart and get a view from above.
There are no facilities here. There is an informational plaque at the start. It is very close to Lelystad, so you can probably find restrooms and restaurants there. It is free and there are no lights, so I would stick to daylight hours. Though, since dawn and dusk are the recommended visiting times, I’m sure it isn’t odd to be there in the dark.
Experience
This was our fifth and final stop of our July day, arriving at around 5 pm. We were the only people there for the half hour we wandered the installation.
While it’s certainly nice to have the space to ourselves, on a repeat visit, I would make an attempt for sunrise. Even if it’s not on the correct day for the perfect angle (which I believe they host events on said days anyway) it would be worth seeing it. Though, given Dutch weather patterns, it is often overcast / rainy randomly. In the interview, they estimated of the 38 times they’ve held events there (unclear if it’s only for the summer solstice, but that would be my guess), a clean sunrise has only happened 8 times. 20-25% success rate. So keep that in mind if you do attempt a sunrise view.
Because it’s quiet and all ours, we could test the echoes from the center and run around the space with no judgement.
Outside of the main path, the rest of the space is mildly maintained, so there are holes and uneven grass. Be careful or you could twist an ankle (especially if you’re running between the viewpoints to try and get into a panorama shot).
As you can see it was cloudy, and not near dawn, so much of the solar interaction was lost on us. It’s a cool idea, but probably benefits from some solar interaction, since that’s its main natural aspect it interacts with. Below is the official Land Art Flevoland playlist for your experience.
Summary
If you happen to be able to see this around sunrise, then go for it, but I may suggest skipping it if you don’t have clear skies and sun to really get that interaction going.
Podcast / Interview
This is a link to Land Art Flevoland’s podcast / interview about Exposure. It is unfortunately in Dutch only. But I did put it through a transcriber (notta) and translator (Google). I apologize to the original content creators, I had to edit and bridge some gaps, but hey, I don’t speak Dutch, and I just wanted to share their content with more people. Hopefully they don’t mind. Below is the badly transcribed, translated to English, and edited interview transcript. Also, around the 11th minute, the guest Thom Ummels, does a reading from a poet, worth listening to in the original Dutch.
Luke Heezen: Observatory by the American Robert Morris was the first foreign landscape artwork in Flevoland in 1977. It is reminiscent of prehistoric ritual places such as Stonehenge. On an empty lawn you see two walls of pushed up earth. Two perfect circles that have the same center. The inner one with a diameter of about 15 meters and the outer ring around it with a distance of about 8 meters in between. As a visitor you first walk through the entrance of the outer wall and then through the inner one. If you stand right in the middle, the sound will reflect back to you in a special way. And from that position, the observatory draws attention to the course of the seasons. From that center, you can see three shaped recesses in the ramparts. In the middle one, you can see the sun rise on the days that autumn and spring begin when day and night are exactly the same length (the equinoxes). In the left recess you see the sunrise on the longest day (summer solstice) which is usually June 21st. In the right recess you see the sunrise when winter begins and the longest night has arrived (winter solstice). For example, Morris places a century-old system that makes you aware of the changing season on a very young kilant [?] near Lelystad.
A festival is held on that piece of land every year, at least if the country is not plagued by corona, like this year. I talk about it with Thom Ummels, poet and co-founder of the Sensation festival. Thom, welcome. Thom Ummels: Good day.
Luke: A bit unfortunate now of course.
Thom: Yes, special circumstances for everyone, but also for Sensation of course, because we are used to organizing that festival at the beginning of the summer and we have hoped for a long time that it would be possible, because it is outside and because we do not work with thousands of people, but we are subject to the measure and we have therefore of course decided not to let it go ahead.
Luke: What does the festival normally entail?
Thom: Yes, you had a nice introduction about the observatory. Nice to hear that again in a compact way of what that observatory entails. I could also try to do that about Sensation, but then I would need a lot of time. But I will mention a few main elements. The festival is, so to speak, the lifeblood of the festival is the province [land / county?]. It floats on the province, but we have all kinds of other elements, so to speak. And those are music, theatre, dance, singing, all kinds of other visual arts, other artistic expressions. That are draped around that province.
Luke: And how long does the festival last?
Thom: The festival is a unique festival and we call that a lot of people. But we can make that happen, because it is at a unique time, at least for a lot of people. It's five o'clock tomorrow, because it's about sunrise. And that's around 5:17 AM, usually. If you see it rise, but the sun always rises, but not always visible, I always say. Then it starts and it ends nine thirty, sometimes a little bit longer. So it's in the morning at a very early hour. But we've also started on Friday evenings since a few years ago. So the prelude after Saturday morning, the prelude to the festival, the main element, that is on Friday night. So actually we now have Friday night and Saturday morning.
Luke: And you just said, when that sun is visible, when it rises, what kind of scenarios have you seen over the years?
Thom: Yes, I have actually built up a kind of meteorological experience over the years, because the sun, I think, has risen visibly. We have had 38 editions now. I think eight times, nine times maybe, at the moment, the moment Supreme, 5:17 AM or so, it rose visibly. So yes, thirty times not. So yes, actually it is the beginning of summer, is often a bit foggy in the morning, a bit cloudy. We also had a lot of rain there. Yes, no snow, but all kinds of wind, a lot of wind too. So the special weather conditions play a role, but also beautiful weather. And what you often see, and that is always a beautiful experience, that the sun does rise later. As if the sun plays with, well, you organize it, but I will not come up visibly at 5:17, well at 6:12 or at 9:01, and then it comes up visibly. And then yes, we will create a euphoria among the visitors, because that is of course what everything is actually aimed at.
Luke: It is very, in contact with nature I imagine. You are indeed exposed to all the elements, the seasons are in the work. How would you describe the atmosphere?
Thom: I am of course a fan, not only founder, but I am also completely in that atmosphere and I try to convey that. And I also notice that that is the case, because I always say, if you come to Sensation once, then the desire for a pickup [?] is so great that you keep coming back.
Luke: And what is that atmosphere then on freedom?
Thom: The atmosphere is of course personal, but I think that’s because it is in the middle of the wide landscape. That has changed over the years, but maybe more about that later. The wide polder landscape, that space. That observatory is placed in there, and that has to do with nature, with the sun, with the changing of the seasons. That is already a very time-bound element, which leads to reflection. Certainly if you are there alone, but also with several people, that is the case. And that connection with the wide polder landscape, nature, the open air, the changing of the seasons, the time element that is in it, that makes it very special, and that gives a special feeling. A spiritual feeling is of course perhaps a bit of a cliché, but that is what it is really; mysticism, mystery, spirituality. Those are the three elements that come together in it.
Luke: That it is quite clever that on such a young piece of land you put a centuries-old system of solar measurement in there and that you get a kind of spiritually charged place as a result.
Thom: That is actually almost very remarkable, you might say, but on the other hand you can also see that the polder landscape, that new land, can also bring with it very special elements and experiences. And many people don't know that, because we actually started it from, let's say, the activities in the city. There was very little to do in Lelystad at that time, we're talking about 1982. We wanted a special festival, linked to a special place, well that came together, but it has also increasingly become a promotional event. A promotion of the area, that's how you can also see it, that people come from outside and experience how beautiful the polder landscape is.
Luke: Yes, because who actually comes there? When you say a spiritual place, I also see people who are into nature religions or something. Are they among the visitors?
Thom: That is a very limited part, I think those people mainly come from outside to the event. Because you must not forget, we have the festival, but the observatory can of course be visited all year round. I am there myself often during the year, alone or with women or in the past with our children. That is actually how it came about and the experience alone or with a few people is of course also very big. And I think that those people in particular have more experience than during a festival, because there are a lot more people. There, all sorts of things are done on a stage and that is of course for the real die hard. And the whole precision is a bit distracting from the message you can actually get.
Luke: What is the best time to visit? What tip can you give your people?
Thom: That is the best moment to see that land art is not something for a small select group of weird and typical, but that it can also bring a lot to theater, to poetry, to culture, but also to cohesion. The atmosphere is also really great. If it was always like this in the world, there would be no war. There is a kind of peaceful, pacifying atmosphere and during that festival it is very strong.
Luke: Nice and if people want to go to the next months, because the festival is not taking place now. What are your time, advice, and weather condition recommendations?
Thom: Actually it is always beautiful, but in the morning it has of course certainly with some mist around that observatory, then it is very mysterious, mystical, but also towards the evening. So at the edges of the day I find, everyone can determine and experience it themselves at the edges of the day, then I find it the most beautiful actually. And yes, then I'm going to address everyone who is here now, stand on that stone in the middle of the observatory, on that stone and shout something, say something, say something more, make a heartfelt wish, whatever and shout it out loud, because then you have a very special effect, a special acoustic that you have much less with, when there are hundreds of people, but when you are alone or with a few people, then yes, that is fantastic.
Luke: Look, those are the tips we want to hear of course. Now there have been 38 editions of this festival. Many great Dutch poets, writers, Simon Vinkenoog, Jan Wolkers, Bartje Bodd, Ali B, also not a small boy from the neighborhood. But there is one poet who you think best suits the observatory, but who is that?
Thom: Yes, I think that would be Johan "Johnny" van Doorn, in the early years Johnny the Selfkicker, but later he became famous and remained famous, remained legendary. Johnny van Doorn is the man, the poet who fits very well, not to be short of others, but who fits very well with the observatory, with sunstation, because of the texts that they used. With Doorn the poem makki -stralen, radiant sun, which also literally of course has the connection with sunstation the observatory, but also in the construction, and certainly when he then presented that, which no one can improve and not equal either, then that is Johnny van Doorn, yes.
Luke: But I still want to hear him.
Thom: Yes, that is always difficult, isn't it, to delay that.
Luke: You have a suggestion, right?
Thom: I have the collection Johnny van Doorn with me here. And there is on one of the last pages, the poem Een Magistrale Stralende Zonn (The Masterful Radiant Sun). I'm going to start a little further into the poem, otherwise it would take too long.
And then it's knocking at a remote farm, that this old magician's long-sought teacher must be. Who on his way to the center he desires, will be his refuge in difficult hours. And when, after a grievous night's sleep, at the crowing of the cock, he turns his back on the house of his dreams, to continue his wanderings, so much has happened that in contrast to the night before, but he is filled with the new charge -life force, that makes him rejoice over the full of chirping birds, its nature that is illuminated in golden yellow, by a masterful radiant Sun. A masterful radiant Sun. A masterful radiant Sun.
Luke: Thom Ummels with the fantastic reading of Johnny van Doorn, Een Magistrale Stralende Zon. Thank you Thom, hopefully next year there will be another Sensation Festival. Number 39.
Thom: Very good, thank you.
Sources
Land Art Flevoland. “Robert Morris: Observatorium.” Land Art Flevoland. Accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.landartflevoland.nl/en/land-art/robert-morris-observatorium/.
Senses Atlas. “The Flevoland Observatorium.” Senses Atlas. Accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.sensesatlas.com/the-flevoland-observatorium/.
Socks Studio. “The Observatory by Robert Morris (1971).” Socks Studio. Accessed November 19, 2024. https://socks-studio.com/2014/10/29/the-observatory-by-robert-morris-1971/.
Flevo-landschap. “Observatorium Robert Morris.” Flevo-landschap. Accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.flevo-landschap.nl/gebied/observatorium-robert-morris.