The benches of Marcelle van Bemmel are very comfortable. Stil she is more concerned about interaction with the surroundings than functionality. One can lookat het artwork, but just as well lookfrom het artwork. This is an ideal startingpoint for a zoo where is so much to see and to experience. The art is in the details.
The work is also an journey through time: in the street tiles surrounding the tree are prints of the leaves. These artificial fossils are reminders of the history of the tree. And the legs of the benches are a quotation of the bannisters at the large pond, which are part of the design of the architekt Van Ravensteyn in the thirties. With Van Bemmel the legs look like the jaunty feet of a giant centipede wandering around the tree. The benches can be lined up in different positions, so maybe next time you visit Blijdorp Zoo the centipede twists in a different way.
