The lines of this gate, made for the entrance to the schoolyard, are composed of the political borders of all the countries in the world.
Commissioned for the Da Costa School in the Hague, NL, with support from Stroom Den Haag, the Mondriaan Foundation and the city of the Hague.
Wrought iron, 220 x 270 cm
Scale: 1: 3,400,000
In principle, political borders are abstractions. They represent agreements (or disagreements as the case may be), but except in the case of physical boundaries such as mountain ranges or rivers, they only exist in the imagination. That is, until one tries to cross without the right papers. Then a border, however immaterial it may actually be, can become utterly concrete.
Borders shown are, among others: China/ Mongolia, Tajikistan/ Uzbekistan, Sudan/ Eritrea, Russia/ Lithuania, Uruguay/ Brazil, Germany/ Czech Republic and Sierra Leone/ Guinea.
Overview façade Da Costa School, Hollanderstraat, the Hague, NL.
