Maria Barnas
Binnenzee (translation: Inland Sea)

As a gesture Binnenzee is like an arrow that marks a clear line from the inside world to the outside world. Moreover it is the account of an action, an event that actually took place. Inspired by the water that dominated the area surrounding Hoofddorp during the land reclamation of Haarlemmermeer in 1840 and by the desire to venture outdoors, Barnas walked the shortest possible route from Spaarnepoort to the ocean.
Binnenzee forms the account of that walk and is made up of 21.7 kilometers of thoughts, descriptions and associations. For Spaarnepoort’s residents and visitors, it also represents an itinerary of the outermost part of the land and may aid them to venture outside, in their thoughts as well as in reality.

When you visit Hoofddorp for the first time, you will probably have difficulty orientating yourself. The new housing estate that Spaarnepoort is located in has not developed organically and does not represent self-explanatory town planning. For example there is no tower that points to a center, consequently making it easy to get lost. The line that Maria Barnas mentally drew from the escalators at the entrance of De Geestgronden to the first waves of the ocean, gives the building a clear positioning in relation to its surroundings.

When a perspectival sketch is made of a building, an imaginary horizon is first drawn on the wall at eye-level. Thus in the way that the architect marked out an imaginary horizon on his initial sketches for Spaarnepoort’s new wing, Spaarnepoort’s clients will similarly mark out their own horizons by searching for new perspectives during their stay. In the building the imaginary horizon is represented by 24 photos of the ocean, each taken by photographer Gert Jan Kocken on the spot that marks the end of the shortest route to the ocean and by hanging excerpts of the book in aluminium-cast letters on the walls of the corridors. Together these letters form a (horizon) line, enabling one to make the same walk to the ocean by taking the route along the corridors of Spaarnepoort.

The book has a different focus to the work on the walls and results in a more inner journey. The sounds of traffic and other people that played a large part in the walk have gained a prominent role in the book. Occasionally the sounds ripple through the text and sometimes the lines are completely overshadowed by them. By specifying the time – to the exact second - beside every few lines, the book allows the reader to experience the lapse of time as it slowly becomes dark.

Each patient admitted into the Spaarnepoort will be offered a copy of Binnenzee. Visitors will be able to read a copy on request at the reception.