Seeds, roots and water streams: a walk in the surroundings of 'The sunken fountain at rest'

In 2005, visual artist Hans van Lunteren created the artwork The sunken fountain designed in response to the impressive soil remediation that took place in Kralingen between 1994 and 2000 on the site of the former gas factory. The underground fountain, on the corner of Eikenpage and Vredenoordlaan, was designed as a visible and audible image of the purified groundwater. Until 2023, the groundwater was pumped up and purified, but in the meantime the contamination of the soil has been resolved and no more water flows to the artwork.

In order to preserve the drastic soil remediation in the collective memory of the district, Van Lunteren is allowing the artwork to enter a new phase: from now on as The sunken fountain at rest (2024). The fountain is returned to nature and becomes a source for mosses, ferns and other plants. Nature is given free rein and the well can softly green.

Walk with Hans van Lunteren and Ienke Kastelein

To herald the new phase of the artwork, BKOR has asked artists Hans van Lunteren and Ienke Kastelein to develop a walk. On Saturday morning, October 19, the artists will take you on a quest for the layering of the neighborhood: how do you see, hear and feel the presence of underground life? We will search for the spontaneously emerging nature and investigate how it is interwoven with the urban environment. The walk offers a different perspective on apparent self-evident things and what this does to you. We will discover special features in an everyday environment and experience the difference between the designed greenery and the spontaneously emerging greenery.

Date Saturday 19 October
Time of up to 11 12.30 hours
Starting point The sunken fountain at rest, Oak Page 43
Participation is free
Sign up for via n.post@bkor.nl

About the artists

Hans van Lunteren (1945) lives and works in Utrecht and attended the art academy in Den Bosch. As a sculptor and conceptual artist, his concepts mainly focus on the substantive relationship that the work has with the environment in which it is situated. He taught at the art academy in Kampen and is a much sought-after artist for designs in public space. Since a gardening education from 2005-2009, he has expanded his assignments with greenery and environmental design.

Ienke Kastelein (1956) lives and works in Utrecht. She studied Art History at Utrecht University and also specialized in photography. She currently works as an interdisciplinary artist with relational practices such as walking, sensory research and collections. She presents her interactive work both in the Netherlands and abroad. Her work is included in the collection of the Centraal Museum, among others. In 2012 she won the Boellaard Prize.