Book LI, Collee

Staatsbosbeheer, a Dutch government organization tasked with the management and preservation of state forests, nature reserves, and historical properties, oversees various natural landscapes. Among these properties is the Collee house at Terwisscha 6 in Appelscha, built around 1900, located on the border of the Drents-Friese Wold National Park, a Natura 2000 area that provides habitat for various endangered and vulnerable organisms.

Martin Brandsma and Jan van der Til have proposed to Staatsbosbeheer to create a virtual fire in the Collee house every evening during the winter using light projections and theater techniques. This visual experience, clearly visible from a distance and from various directions, aims to evoke feelings of preservation, loss, and threat. The goal is for the house to serve as a backdrop for reflection on the relationship between humans and their environment, highlighting the contemporary crises that threaten our existence.

This work is part of a series of collaborative projects between visual artist Martin Brandsma and Jan van der Til. Operating under the name 'Martin Brandsma,Jan van der Til'.