Is it a machine or a stranded animal? This is the question the Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture seems to pose.
The Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture is an artistic creation. Frank Havermans designed it in 2019. It stands in Amsterdam Nieuw-West.
Havermans created the Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture for “Play Station Sloterdijk”. This was an art event addressing the building boom around Station Amsterdam Sloterdijk and Rijksweg 10. Havermans secured funding from various sources. These included Edge Technologies, APG, ABP, the City of Amsterdam, and the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.
Initially, Havermans planned the Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture for a structuralist office building. Arnold Numan Oyevaar designed this building in 1974. It was one of the largest office buildings in the Netherlands. However, the building was being renovated and couldn’t accommodate the artwork.
Havermans drew inspiration from a segment of the building’s round section. He transformed it into a more angular design. The Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture was placed fifty meters west of the intended location. It now sits at a junction of metro and railway bridges on the Basisweg. The busy Westrandweg lies further west.
Kees Keijer likened the Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture to a red metal watchdog lying in the grass. It also resembles a machine left behind after everything else was cleared away. Havermans used the building’s roof as inspiration. He reduced it to cardboard elements. The Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture can be entered. For now, it is a place to pause amidst the traffic. Office workers walk and cycle past it. The sculpture looks ready to spring to life. Yet, it remains still. Tall grass is gradually enclosing it. This development saddens the artist.
According to Havermans’ site, the Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture is an instrument. It serves to explore and study developing areas. When functioning correctly, a light designed by Koos Schaart illuminates the cabin at night.
The Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture bears a resemblance to Theo Jansen’s Animaris rhinoceros transport. The latter needed to be caged. The Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture stands freely. Havermans sees the Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture as an urban surveyor. It seeks new locations within the city that are important for urban development. It evolved from the APG building. This was one of the first buildings in the area.
The Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture aims to reflect on the city. It also reflects on the future’s infrastructure. It marks a spot that is currently unusable for urban development. It embraces the dynamism of the city. It doesn’t try to hide it. The Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture is a way to experience this consciously. People stop and wonder. They experience the infrastructure. They are normally just commuters.
Now you know the story of this intriguing structure. The Kapkar/GTO-B10 Sculpture. It is more than just a sculpture. It’s a statement about urban development.