In the middle of the expansive Flevopolder lies Aardzee, created by Dutch artist Piet Slegers. Covering five hectares, the same size as the surrounding agricultural plots, Aardzee is one of the largest artworks in the Netherlands. The artwork can be accessed via two pedestrian bridges. Between the sheltering, gently sloping embankments, which roll through the landscape like rising waves, paths are covered with blue-grey shells, a reference to air and water. The seemingly randomly planted trees enhance the sense of seclusion.
Aardzee feels like an oasis of calm in the open polder. Like a frozen movement of the seabed, it lies between the flat fields. The water surface of the pond is the only horizontal plane among the slopes. With this landscape artwork, Slegers references the transformation of the wild Zuiderzee into the serene polder landscape, and the dialogue between the elements of earth and water.
