‘Fort
Lux’
2000
Early in 2000, Peter Bogers was asked
to develop a work for a temporary exhibition at ‘Fort Lux’ near IJmuiden
in the Netherlands. ‘Fort Lux’ is a large underground fort of concrete
corridors and chambers, situated at the mouth of the North Sea Channel,
which connects Amsterdam to the world. It was used by Dutch and German
military recruits in the First and Second World War.
The work: Six monitors are placed on six large
tables in six underground chambers. The different rooms are connected
by open doorways. Every room has a sort of chimney built
in, through which water, formerly used as drinking water for the soldiers,
is dripping down day and night. Each monitor shows a different picture
of a person talking directly into the camera. The speakers are people
from different countries talking different languages. At regular intervals
they all stop talking at the same moment, and their face-expressions
transform into a state of concentration and quiet meditation. During
these quiet moments, the everlasting sound of the dripping water is
very present. |