Fluxfields | 2008 – 2009

Fluxfields was an art project commissioned by De Blauwe Periode in Vlaardingen Oost, The Netherlands. De Blauwe Periode initiated art projects in a neighborhood slated for demolition, and in which the residents were still living, waiting to be rehoused. Many of the residents had lived for many years in their apartments, built in the post-war period in Vlaardingen Oost, in the Netherlands, and knew their neighborhood and the people in it extremely well.

During a series of interviews, 6 residents described their contacts with their neighbors to me, old and new. As a memorial to the close social networks of the residents, and to make visible something normally hidden from view one last time before its loss, I planted out the connections between residents in 3 housing blocks. People who knew each other were connected through lines of flowers, sweet alyssum, planted from door  to door.

By following the lines of flowers, the social network of the residents became visible, a final time before the networks were to disappear for good. Solid lines showed connections between people who at the time of the interview were still living there, while the dotted lines were for those who had already moved.

The project was resumed in the Autumn of 2008, in 3 apartment buildings in the next block, using winter pansies. This time each household had their own color. The lines go from door to door, sometimes intersecting the building in the middle to connect with someone on the other side. Solid lines show connections between people who at the time of the interview were still living there, while the dotted lines are for those who had already moved.