FLACC
WORKPLACE FOR VISUAL ARTISTS
In 2010, Wapke Feenstra will explore the Limburg landscape by following the movements of land-related products.
19 January 2010 – Bichterweerd
Gravel extraction and landscaping go hand in hand. On the river foreland, three men are engaged in stone-laying. This has to be done by hand, while a crane grabs some more stones from a heap. Bichterweerd´s washing, crushing and sieving unit lies idle. This is a shame, economically speaking, but for the guided tour that Pierre Prikken gives, it´s a lucky break. We walk inside water discharge pipes. Stand beside conveyor belts. Orange plastic sieves stand out against ash-grey metal. "Plastic is stronger than metal and makes less noise", Pierre explained. Today he´s clearing out a cupboard; he retires in eight days´ time. He has worked here for 47 years and ran the warehouse.
20 January 2010 – Sonnisheide
All the sheep have to be sheared, ready for lambing. Today, there´s still four rams left to do. These are young Texel sheep. Johan Schouteden places the ram in an unnatural sitting position. It´s his first time... for the ram I mean. Johan has sheared many sheep. A whole day´s shearing puts a strain on one´s back and the last sheep in are always the wildest. They hide in corners and are hard to catch. Afterwards he presses it into bales. That wool has to go into storage, as the wool merchant advises him on the phone that the wool price won´t rise before next summer. These days all of it goes to China. A few good-quality bunches of wool will go to his father, as he likes spinning wool.
21 January 2010 – Haspengouw
"Pruning is relaxing", opens Koen Martens. He´s looking at the bare branches of a Belgica apple tree and sees, from the buds, that there will be lot of spring blossoms this year, or where the apples will grow. While he lops old branches and throws them away, his money is on an average harvest this year. Better that than a bumper crop, as overproduction leads, the year after, to a poor harvest. All branches that grow downwards or which block the light are to go too. While uprooting a row of Jonagold trees, Koen leaves a few exposed stumps to appease the rabbits. Hungry rabbits gnawed randomly through some tree trunk protectors.
