Portscapes: Jorge Satorre returns an ice-age boulder back to Sweden

Jorge Satorre's project for Portscapes had its beginnings in the eastern part of the Netherlands with a 3-tonne gneissic granite rock from the Svecofennian age, approximately 1.9 billion years ago. Following the artist’s fascination with the environmental compensation practices being instigated alongside the construction of Maasvlakte 2, his project consisted of returning the rock to where it once came from in Sweden – an act of synthetic restitution and transnational sculptural offsetting. The boulder has found a permanent home at the Wanås Foundation, near Knislinge in southern Sweden [1]. The boulder was transported from Erica, in the north east of The Netherlands, to Knislinge at the beginning of January (see report on the Swedish newspaper Kristianstadsbladet).

Not insignificantly, the celebrated Land art work 'Broken Circle' (1971) by Robert Smithson, sited in a working quarry near Emmen, incorporates such a seemingly immovable boulder at its centre. Satorre’s reverse geological gesture is also reflected in the fact that much of the existing and future sea defence in the port area will be made from rock brought from Scandinavia. The artists offers an account of the process through drawings, which incorporates both actual and imagined details. One such detail depicts an imagined protest at the beginning of the boulder’s homeward journey – see post 2 October 2009.

Jorge Satorre's project was produced in the context of 'Portscapes', an accumulative series of newly commissioned projects produced in the context of the 2,000 hectare extension to the Port of Rotterdam, the project Maasvlakte 2.

An exhibition with 'Portscapes' projects will be on view at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam between 30 January and 25 April 2010 (Reception: Friday 5 February, 20h).

Portscapes was commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and support from SKOR (Foundation Art and Public Space, Amsterdam) and was curated by Latitudes.

[FOOTNOTE 1] The foundation estate encompasses a medieval castle, an organic farm, and a sculpture park which since 1987 has hosted a number of permanent works by international artists.

Images: Journey and placement of the boulder from the newspaper Kristianstadsbladet; drawing 'The Erratic. Measuring Compensation' (2009), courtesy of the artist.