Epifyt-D sculpture

The temporary work of art that Niels Albers is building for the IJsselbiennale 2023 makes the history of grain transport experienceable again. Epiphyt-D is a walkable sculpture that seems to clamp around the elevator building, like roots do. If you climb it you can look inside through the windows on different levels. The substance refers to the grain storage that took place here in the 20th century and represents the consequences of the industry: pollution, smog and drought. Epifyt takes a cloudy look into an uncertain future.

The Elevator Building is part of a grain silo complex in the old port of Deventer. Fragile and worn, it stands orphaned in time and space on the waterfront. It looks vulnerable. Way past the shelf life of its functionality. The port area, which once belonged to the four largest inland ports in the Netherlands, is rapidly transforming into a popular residential/work area. The building is a protected industrial heritage that should not be lost. The last remaining industrial relics keep the port history alive and help determine the identity and unique atmosphere of the Havenkwartier.

Entering the Elevator Building is out of the question, but embracing is allowed, Niels Albers must have thought when he chose it as a location for his work. With a smart, walkable sculpture, Albers makes the elevator building temporarily accessible to the public. A robust sculptural bypass made of wood that is clamped to the existing building with surgical precision. Like an 'epiphyte' that finds support in its host. Building and artwork reinforce each other. The sculpture cannot exist without the building. The building comes to life through the sculpture. The shape refers to industrial extraction systems, flues, climate control systems and transport pipes in the interior. The structure resembles that of a climbing plant that hugs the building and uses it as a climbing aid. But perhaps it is the roots, whose soil has been washed away? At the two points where the sculpture touches the ground, you can enter (and leave) the construction via a staircase. Through the artwork we can look inside through the different windows and on different floors. As if in a show box, in which Albers stimulates our senses and makes the past come alive again.

Yet it is difficult to see what is inside the building. There appears to be flour and grain dust flying around the building; Will flour and grain be skipped again? We vaguely see the remains of the installation that used to suck the grain from the ships, weigh it, remove metal residues and prepare it for transport to the silo. The dust simultaneously represents the consequences of industry: pollution, smog and drought. Every now and then the sculpture changes into a balustrade or balcony and Albers turns our view from the inside out. He seduces us with sweeping views of the harbor. As if he wants to show us how beautiful the world can be if we broaden our clouded view and focus all our attention on what we are in danger of losing.