Fog weather

 The iron artwork at the dike in Lelystad in the fog weather. Popularly called the "pooping man" made by Antony Gormly.

Linking to "Skywatch Friday"

A statue with a story

To get a statue after your death like this is really a shame I think.  Who can see you up there?

It is called "the Column of Lely". Cornelis Lely was the architect of the Flevopolders and this city Lelystad has his name. The 30 m high column is made of basalt boulders and symbolize the boulders where the dikes around the Flevopolders are made of.

Here a closer look of Lely. 

The column and the statue are made by two different artists. The one who made the statue Piet Esser, was not satisfied with the result ( I can imagine) and had his statue removed. This one is a replica of a statue made by the late "Mari Andriessen".

This is the original statue of Lely that was removed of the column and replaced in another part of the city Lelystad. This photo I made earlier in 2015, had no idea about the story behind.

A view

A view through the window of the "New Land Museum" in Lelystad. In the background you can see  "the Crouching Man" an artwork made of iron by British sculptor Antony Gormley.

It is 26 metres high and its popularly name has become "the Shitting Man".

Signs, signs

In the "New Land Museum" in Lelystad was an exhibiton about the making of the new "Flevopolder".  People who moved from different places of the "Old Land" in the seventies to make a living there didn't find the same services they were used to in old cities and villages. Schools, shops, theaters, everything had to be started up. These t-shirts express the things  the inhabitants missed in their new Province and the prejudices others had.

I want culture!

I want to have a nice evening out with my friends.

Going on holidays to Flevoland? No thanks,

Stormwinds always blow here and always with headwinds.

And a positive one "I am happy here" and so am I already for 36 years in Almere!

Linking to Sings, signs

Wreckage (2)

Here some items they had found in the wreck. A pair of slippers, some coins. hoist and rigging blocks and an iron bar bullet with still gunpowder in it.

A writing slate with chalk, probably used for administration. A little brush and a needdle to repair fishing nets.

Some not used pipes, probably for selling and some shards ofm porcelain saucers and a scissors.

This was the place where the crew cooked and had their meals and stayed warm at a fireplace.

They had even decorated it with some tiling to feel at home like the Dutch kitchens had in those times.

The narrow place at the left was the place to sleep. The wooden ton was found on the deck and was used for saving drinking water.

Wreckage

In the New Land Museum in Lelystad I watched a wreck of an old ship that was found in 1961 in the soil of the Flevopolder. At that time it was not immediately excavated and after that it was for a long time difficult to find the exact location. In 1986 they eventually succeeded by a crane operator who was doing preparation works on a building site. In 1996 it was excavated and salvaged.
It is exposed into a special barn with soft light and climate conditions.

The ship must have been from about 1705 and must have been shipwrecked in 1710. It was a so called "Ventjager" a ship that was sailing along the fishing boats on sea to collect their fish and bring it to the shore and sell it for them. The fishing ships didn't have to return to deliver the fish but could go on with fishing which was much more profitable for them.

The ship is 15 metres long and about 4 metres wide. Because it was sunk with one side into the clay, that side is very well preserved and gives a good look how they lived on the ship. Many objects have been found and I will show you tomorrow more ot them. 

When you look at this site "here" you can see how the ship was excavated.

Statue

A statue of Ir, Cornelis Lely (1854-1929), namesake of the city Lelystad and founder of the "Zuiderzee werken" (Southern Sea Works). It is made by Piet Esser ( 1914-2004) and a gift from the Government Department of the IJsselmeerpolders to the city. It is located at the coast of Lelystad.
Linking to "Skywatch Friday"

Multitasking

You are a semi professional cyclist, have a little child and a dog to care for,  so what to do. Take them out on a ride all together.

TV footage

Sometimes you turn around a corner and bump into an  unexpected TV footage. This was in an outletcentre in Lelystad where recordings were made for a new TV program "Krijg de kleren" (Get the clothes).

The Dutch bloggers will probably recognize Gordon and two stylists, Mari van der Ven and Maik de Boer.

The girls had to do a stiletto race to win a 10.000 Euro price for shopping in a fashion city.

I was amazed how many girls participated in the run. The race was held in the background and the public were held behind fences so I couldn't make photos of it.
Linking to "Our World Tuesday"

Houtrib locks

These are the Houtrib locks, a lock complex on the route between Amsterdam and Lemmer in Lelystad. The complex was opened in 1975 and constist of two locks and a sluice. The Houtribdike separates the IJssellake from the Markerlake. The locks are each 190 m long and 18 m wide, they are suitable for vessels up to 5,000 tons. Every year some 88.000 ships pass through the locks. The sluice consists of six openings are sealed with steel lift gates.

The bridges are about 7 feet above the main water level.

I tried to make a photo of the "defecating Man" of my post of  December 4th sitting on the locks.

Landscape Art

Balancing on the interface between land and water, a 25-metre tall squatting man looks out over the Markerlake from the city of Lelystad. In the open landscape this human figure is a landmark in the Flevopolder. With "Exposure", the British artist Antony Gormley (1950) made the sixth Land Art Project in Flevoland since the start of it in 1977.

The sculpture is made out of 1.8000 unique steel bars with a total weight of 44.000 kg and was placed her in 2010.

It is quite impressive to walk between his feet and have a look up.

At a foggy day like yesterday he seems to fade away. 

As with  many sculptures people make up their own name for it and this one is called the "Poepende Man"  (defecating Man) which is an appropiate nickname I think.