Under Heaven 02, Leonard van Munster, 2009
Wiltzanghlaan / A10
Leonard van Munster is a genius when it comes down to locating non-places
It happens frequently that I think I encounter an artwork by Leonard van Munster. His works are often in non-places: plots of wasteland or a pond in a park long forgotten by the park-keeper. A while ago I saw a plateau made out of twigs and bicycle parts in a dead-end canal, ideal for ducks to build a nest on. I suppose it is Leonard van Munster who’s behind this piece. Although sometimes such a nest really is the work of an overly enthusiastic coot.
What exactly is a non-place? Mexican writer Valeria Luiselli tries to answer this question in Sidewalks, her collection of essays on the imperfections of a metropolis. In one of the essays she contemplates Mexico City’s “urban absences”. In the places where the city is dissected by the highway ambiguous spaces appear, barren land occupied only by food stalls, street vendors, homeless people and garbage.
Amsterdam is not Mexico City and urban absences here are rare. In the Netherlands every single ambiguous place sooner or later has to show its true colours. Along and under the A10 this is no exception. Fortunately, Leonard van Munster is a genius when it comes down to locating non-places. He mostly makes his artworks specifically for such sites, usually architectural constructions or situations that are almost surreal, like a dream, or a nightmare if you will.
Under Heaven 02 appears to belong to the first category, until you realise there is no way into its oasis: a tantalising piece of heaven we can endlessly look at but which will never be able to reach.
More information
Luiselli, Valeria (2012) Valse papieren. Amsterdam: Karaat.