censored landscapes of fear

Landscape painting and  landscape photography are acts of painting , writing  and producing  fiction.  And when that fiction is dictated by fear  of  self imposed terror the result  make for great "Art"
"ART  driven by censorship and a fear of the Terror that, today, rules our world.   



Surprisingly, one of the most vociferous of all governments to enforce this form of censorship were the Dutch, hiding hundreds of significant sites including royal palaces, fuel depots and army barracks throughout their relatively small country. The Dutch method of censorship is notable for its stylistic inventiveness compared to other countries: imposing bold, multi-coloured polygons over sites rather than the subtler and more standard techniques employed elsewhere. The result is a landscape occasionally punctuated by sharp aesthetic contrasts between secret sites and the rural and urban environments surrounding them.

Seen from the distant gaze of Earth’s orbiting satellites, the result is a landscape unlike any other; one in which polygons recently imposed on the landscape to protect the country from an imagined human menace bear more than a passing resemblance to a carapace designed to combat a very real and constant natural threat.

There is of course an absurdity to these censored images since their overt, bold and graphic nature only draws attention to the very sites that are meant to be hidden. Yet this contradiction seems perfectly apt for the absurd fear of terror that has come to dominate the cultural landscape of the last decade.

Frederikkazerne, The Hague.

Mauritskazerne, Ede.

Paleis Noordeinde, The Hague.

Staphorst Ammunition Depot.

http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Dutch-Landscapes