49m², year 5, winter 2021 | Observation Lise Lou Sore

At Zaartpark in Breda, you can find a marked-off piece of land with an area of 49m² where the municipality of Breda will not carry out any maintenance for the next 20 years, according to the agreement concluded with artist Gerrit-Jan Smit. My name is Lise Sore, and this winter I will be visiting 49m² as a guest.

Just too late for the snow photos, the land looks very similar to the rest of the surroundings. Except for the four posts in the ground, I would not have recognised the place. I feel disappointed; surely much more could have happened by now. The ground has apparently not been maintained by the municipality for years, but I suspect the opposite. Somewhere I feel the urge to lay down a block of concrete, but it feels strange to do so from my practice.

The question of who owns public space intrigued me. So I made a virtual intervention in this space, which I recorded on video. For some time now, I have been wondering what a virtual installation in public space could be. I am currently developing a plan for this, and this video is a sketch of it. On the 49m², I try to imagine what it would be like if there were Sahara sand there. The soil where I was born and where the foundation of my visual work lies, but then in Breda, well, virtually in Breda.