Third and final chapter, 2019

Vincent Knopper is the first participant in Kunstfort Kasus (“Kunstfort Case”) a residency program which gives an artist or designer the opportunity to expand their studio practice to (the surrounding area of) the Kunstfort during one year. Knopper studied Fine Arts at the Rietveld Academy and followed the Master program Material Utopias at the Sandberg Instituut. In 2019 he continues his research into the history and archi-tecture of the fortress, as well as the programmatic and physical transformation of the historical site into a presentation space. In collaboration with the team and the relations of the Kunstfort, Knopper designs three presentations that are shown during the exhibition seasons. This Autumn he displays a final presentation in which he shares his findings, in combination with an article and a public program. Continuing in Kasus is research into the public and making heritage accessible, which once had to remain inaccessible. Kasus focuses on architecture such as fences, doors and paths. They are adjustments to the heritage for the benefit of the public.

In the final chapter of the residency, redevelopment, heritage architecture, parking garages and museum shop displays come together in a large site-specific installation. Kunstfort’s gravel plays the main part in Knopper’s third and final presentation. The exhibition space is filled with the so-called Ardenner split, a type of artificial gravel that is characteristic of the spatial transformation of this heritage into a public art institution. This gravel is also the most common type of gravel in Vinex-gardens and a similar type of gravel is used in the original concrete. The installation adapts to the space and follows the outline of the architecture. In addition it nearly touches the walls. Curved objects made of transparent plastic keep the doors free; a nod to the ideal of accessibility in re-destination. This sculpture, which also serves as a base and context, carries a number of sculptures. Those are made from the mdf tubes that were presented in chapter one (last Spring). They are tubular objects that are reminiscent of bumps, fences of brackets. The shapes are specific and the objects stand and lie loosely in the space, disconnected from their function. In total the installation evokes a distanced perspective on the architecture as re-destined heritage. The work is a reflection on how military heritage and redevelopment come together in materiality, design and functionality. The gravel work is a spatial sculpture, some sort of landscape, that brings the outside to the inside, thus isolating public space.

Final presentation: Sunday 17th of November, 15.00, Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen