The Bouquet, Monument of Reflection
2001

Situated on the public green space opposite the Railway Station Vlaardingen-Oost, in the Dutch city of Vlaardingen.

hardened glass, cibachrome transparancy,
stainless steel frame, concrete foundation
250 x 360 x 4 cm

The monument is unveiled on March 2nd, 2001, by the chairman of the National Platform Against Violence in the Public Domain, W.J. Deetman.

For the Monument of Reflection in the city of Vlaardingen, the form of a bouquet is chosen because it is a common habit that people bring flowers to the place of an incident when society is confronted with senseless violence. In this way, people show their compassion and express feelings of powerlessness and indignation. Through the spontaneous protest and gesture of bringing flowers, society is incited to discuss senseless violence in daily life.

Here, the bouquet is not made of flowers but is formed by a group of young people in a formal photo. In this age group, most acts of senseless violence are committed and victims found but it is also the group of people who are in the heyday of their life, full of hope, expectations, and idealism.

To give a metaphorical image of society, people from different backgrounds and classes are photographed.
The models look straight into the camera and they are well dressed, although fashion, aesthetics, or trendiness was not an issue; color was.

The image had to be an orgy of color like a carefully composed summer bouquet. The white sash that the people wear refers to vulnerability, the black band on their arms refers to mourning. Because the photo is contained between two glass plates viewers will always see their own reflection and thus becomes part of the group.

The photo of this group of people was made on the spot where the monument is situated now. When one is standing on the place from where the photo has been taken one sees the life-size image on the cibachrome and it coincides with the real surroundings. When walking around the sculpture one can notice, because of the static photo, that the surroundings constantly change. One can see busses passing by, people walking, sun and moving clouds, etc. The result is that the work itself constantly looks different.

The image is a transparent layer, a layer of memories put over reality. It is a frozen image of life but at the same time, it makes the viewer conscious of the continuity of life.