ZieZo

The sketches for Open Source Amsterdam will not be made public before the end of April 2008. However, I do want to share with you this proposal by Peter Stel. Peter has a different commission than the other artists. His commission is to create a work of art that can function for several years as the nerve centre of the Street of Sculptures, which we would like to realise this year.

The location of the work is the roof of the - mostly empty - parking garage near metrostation Kraaiennest. The site is truly spectacular: the building is a brute from the seventies and the roof is a massive concrete landscape.

On the ground floor of the garage is a supermarket. A new super market is being developed on the other side of the road and when that one opens, the parking garage will be demolished - probably sometime in 2011.

Peter's proposal is ZIEZO. The word is a pun. Ziezo as one word can be translated as 'that's that' or 'there you are'. But separately, it can be read as 'look at the Bijlmer', since Zie means 'look' or 'see' and ZO is the well known acronym of Zuidoost (Southeast), the district of Amsterdam within which the Bijlmer is located. With both meanings, the letters exude something very powerful, very proud and perhaps a tat cocky even. All in all very in line with the general feel and culture in the Bijlmer.

ZieZo is a response to many issues. Within the context of the Street of Sculptures it is great, since it creates spaces on top of the building that can be used as an information centre or a meeting room. And it is a huge indicator for the art event. If people pass the building, either by car, by metro, by bike or on foot, it is very clear that something is going on.

But I think the work also adds something to the neighbourhood. As you can see from the pictures, the building is not maintained, since it will be demolished in the near future.

So now we have to figure out whether this idea is feasible. One headache is the construction, since the building is very old. Another challenge is getting all the 'stakeholders' on board (owner of the parking garage, owner of the super market, local council, etc.). And then there is always the matter of money. We need a serious amount of euros in order to make it happen financially.

Are you feeling generous?