Folly GAS(T)LAND
2026
Concept for infilling a decommissioned gas extraction site in the province of Groningen.
At a former gas extraction site in the province of Groningen, tall, shiny steel gas transport pipes are emerging from the ground. The tubes are out of use. They are clustered on a round concrete platform, slightly curved and at different heights. Together they make visible that this site was part of a larger underground system.
Each tube acts as a kind of periscope, pointing to another gas extraction site in the area. A camera is placed in some of the tall tubes, pointing to another former gas site where a similar work of art stands. Through the surrounding smaller platforms, the visitor can view, on a screen inside a tube, the live image. This creates an above-ground, virtual connection between locations that were previously only connected underground. The network of gas extraction becomes spatially and directly experienceable again. The other platforms show the history of natural gas extraction. The images show both the prosperity the gas has brought and the harmful effects on the landscape and residents. The concrete platforms on which the tubes stand are arranged according to the chemical structure of methane.
Four circles represent hydrogen and one circle represents carbon. Together they refer to CH₄, the main component of natural gas.
A biodiverse landscape of wet grassland, reeds and other native vegetation is developing around the artwork. The former gas site is thus given a new landscape significance, while the past remains visible and present.
