Observatory - Robert Morris

Robert Morris' Observatory consists of two concentric earthen walls. Three v-shaped cut-outs have been made in these circles, providing a view of the polder landscape. Through the central steel visor, sunrise can be seen at the beginning of spring and autumn, when day and night are of equal length. The stone wedges on either side show the sunrise on 21 June and 21 December.

This is Flevoland's first landscape artwork. Robert Morris' Observatory was previously realised near Velsen as part of the major exhibition Sonsbeek Buiten de Perken (1971), but there it had to make way for new construction. In collaboration with the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, it was decided to recreate it near Lelystad, in the then vast, empty landscape. The artwork refers to prehistoric places where the sun and planets were observed, such as Stonehenge in England.