49m², year 5, summer 2021 | Observation Roos Vogels

At Zaartpark in Breda, you can find a marked-off piece of land with an area of 49 square metres that the municipality of Breda will not maintain for the next 20 years, according to an agreement concluded with artist Gerrit-Jan Smit. My name is Roos Vogels, and this summer I let my thoughts wander to what those 49 square metres could mean to me.

On 25 February 2021, I took part in a Zoom meeting with artist Gerrit-Jan Smit and the people from Witte Rook. Gerrit-Jan spoke enthusiastically about his project, but also about the fact that he had thought more would have happened with the 49m2 by now. ‘Nothing has grown extremely fast, and visitors to the park also seem to know little about what that place actually is, which is not a bad thing, but there is so much more potential.’ Every season, a photo is taken of the place with a story, and this summer I was asked to do this, approaching it primarily from my own artistic practice.

Great! I thought, a piece of land where I can do whatever I want. First, I googled what exactly Zaartpark is and found out that it is one of the most natural and nature-rich parks in Breda. In my practice, I work a lot with nature and see this as a combination of art and (almost) scientific research. It raised the question of what I could add to the 49m2.

That led to the idea of planting a tree. Trees have been central to my work for a number of years now, and I try to approach this in various ways by focusing on different aspects. Still, I would like to know more, actually everything, about trees. The best way, I think, is to plant a tree so I can follow its growth up close.

The choice of tree was quickly made: a white willow. I find this tree incredibly fascinating because relatively little is known about it. It is a fairly iconic tree in the Dutch landscape, known as a pollarded willow. The fact that we humans have pollarded it is because its branches are incredibly flexible and versatile to work with; for example, they are used to make baskets and garden fences by means of wickerwork.

Once the decision to plant a tree had been made, and which tree, the next question was: how am I going to finance it? Buying a tree is not exactly cheap. This spring, I wrote a project plan and submitted it as an application for a maker’s grant from the municipality of Breda. ‘Following the growth of the tree as a years-long research project. The plan is to document this research thoroughly and write about it on my website. Once the tree is big enough, I can gather the willow branches to use in my work. This will create a long-term connection between my work and the location in Zaartpark and hopefully give the 49m2 a new layer.’

Once the decision to plant a tree had been made, and which tree, the next question was: how am I going to finance it? Buying a tree is not exactly cheap. This spring, I wrote a project plan and submitted it as an application for a maker’s grant from the municipality of Breda. ‘Following the growth of the tree as a years-long research project. The plan is to document this research thoroughly and write about it on my website. Once the tree is big enough, I can gather the willow branches to use in my work. This will create a long-term connection between my work and the location in Zaartpark and hopefully give the 49m2 a new layer.’

At the beginning of September, I received notification that the grant had been awarded. From that moment on, I got to work quickly. There was still a lot to arrange and the summer was almost over. First, I had to find the tree. After a lot of phone calls and Googling, I finally ended up at onlineplantenshop.nl. After ordering the tree, I was ready to continue. I wanted to have a sign next to the tree so that visitors to the park could learn more about the project. I was advised to have it laser-engraved at the Makersbase in Breda, and a young volunteer who often works at the Makersbase helped me create the sign I had in mind.

On 15 September, I visited Zaartpark to take in the location and take the seasonal photo for Witte Rook. I got talking to a visitor who comes to the park every week. He asked me what I was photographing, so I told him about the place. That it is a work of art by Gerrit-Jan Smit and that it is the only place in Breda where the municipality has no say. ‘I always like initiatives and stories like that,’ he said. ‘So why are you taking a photo of this place?’ Well, I’m going to plant a tree here on Saturday, I told him. ‘What a lovely idea!’ We sat down on a bench for a while to chat about the park. He told me that he grew up nearby and had been visiting the park for years and that there are many different birds to spot there.

18 September: tree planting day. The tree was planted on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. It is a Salix Alba, or white willow. A young, narrow tree about 6 years old. There it stands, my own tree on Gerrit-Jan’s 49 square metres. I too will return every season to take a photo. The photos and the story will be available on my own website, www.roosvogels.com.