Port Forever, Location Unknown

The project is about the disappearance of the port of Rotterdam from the city image and the replacement of landscapes. A place we take for granted.

My fascination arose from my family ties to the port. My great-grandfather and my grandfather both worked in the port, as marine engine engineers. They acted as cogs in a large wheel and thereby contributed to the growth of the port.

The Rotterdam port is a symbol of expansion, expropriation and exploitation. The visual language of the port anno 2023 gives me a feeling of desolation, isolation and anonymity; it is a landscape of discomfort. I feel this discomfort also about its history: the depletion of the earth, the exploitation caused by colonialism and imperialism, the monomania of accumulating wealth and the focus only on economic growth. This is not a place for me but a place for robots, steel and big vessels. The only warm familiar sensations I experienced are the screeching of seagulls, the salty wind in my hair and the continuous flowing river.

I present the story of the port in a Triptych. My Triptych consists of three parts: One of my field trips through the port, past the cranes, container terminals and oil refineries. An endless landscape dominated by machines and efficient algorithms that is disappearing in my rearview mirror, One of a map; map of the landscapes, an endlessly winding snake that makes its way through the land, in search of the sea and leaves a landscape full of scars and The final one of the shaping and using the landscape, from the container ships to my family story.

The port is a symbol of change but is disappearing from our view. The port is forever but the location is unknown.

video -> Part 1: the endless fieldtrip

video -> Part 2: map of the landscapes

video -> Part 3: the family port