zandbank



is a platform for writing from and on art. We facilitate the production and dissemination of research and writing, both contemporary and archival. We believe in slow reflection, in sustainable criticism, and the power of extensive contemplations and considerations - and wish to move away from "actuality" and rushed writings. We are rooted in Grunnen [Groningen], Netherlands and founded by Dinnis van Dijken & Michiel Teeuw in 2024.

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part of SIGN 1988-2018 (WIP)

Zundapp uit '57

Jos Steenmeijer - 1989



installation with a.o. de Wip van Sisyphus.

THE SUN BOX is actually supposed to be closed indoors, because no sun rays can fall on it. It is a bit of cheating that the doors are open. When the box is placed as the compass rose on the base indicates, the sun passes from east to west over the box. Due to the black paint, the temperature inside increases strongly and when the sun is at its highest point, the mechanism opens the doors and the interior stands reflecting and gleaming in the sun. Verdwijnt de zon achter de wolken dan sluit het kistje zich weer en dat zal dan ook de gemiddelde Nederlandse stand zijn.

CABLE CAR has an average speed of a few millimetres per year; it can move by, like almost all my works, making use of the expansion and contraction of various materials due to temperature differences. Seen this way, the cart is a kind of hand on a timeline. The CABLE CAR is a kind of clock, only the scale is somewhat different from what we are used to. the fixed end of the rope is perhaps the point in time of the construction of the great pyramids in ancient Egypt. the other end is the distant future.

THE SEE-SAW OF SISYPHUS is a model of THE TRUE SEE-SAW OF SISYPHUS, a work I made recently. Sisyphus is a figure from Greek mythology, he was a royal mortal who took liberties with a goddess. He was punished in the underworld and had to push a block of marble up a hill there until the end of time. Every time he had almost reached the top, he lost control of the block, which rolled all the way back down to the valley. THE SEE-SAW OF SISYPHUS is a bit about that, the cart on the see-saw always wants to ride to the highest point, but when it passes the equilibrium point, the see-saw tips over. What was the highest point is now the lowest and the cart can start all over again. A see-saw until the end of time.

Zündapp - Friggo Visser

from Nieuwsblad van het Noorden 28 January 1989

"a Zündapp, model year 1957, in the window of the new Groningen gallery Sign says it all, really. Exhibitor Jos Steenmeijer - a Groninger of almost the same model year - is crazy about high-brown engines. As a visual artist, he specialised at the Minerva academy in making vehicles that consume a lot less fuel. The technician, who graduated last May, develops devices like the late Gerrit van Bakel did so formidably. Steenmeijer's Cable Car, for example, moves forward on the basis of the expansion and contraction of the used materials due to temperature differences. The average speed is a few millimetres per year. Humor characterises all of Steenmeijer's odd inventions. Delightful is his "Knickebeen" bicycle (previously exhibited at Minerva) - a paraphrase of an old-fashioned velocipede with antennae for the very cautious cyclist. Or his "Walsje" - a two-wheeler equipped with a hefty wrecking ball. With a bike like that, you no longer need to be afraid of any motorist. Steenmeijer is not a superficial joker, however. His "see-saw of Sisyphus" proves that he knows the classics. A rock-solid debut."



drawing by Steenmeijer on de wip van Sisyphus