Secret Operation 610 is an artwork created by Rietveld Landscape and Studio Frank Havermans that doubles as a meeting room.
The artwork consists of hangar 610 at former Dutch airbase Soesterberg (hence the name) and of a vehicle that looks a bit like an F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter plane.
The creators, Frank Havermans and Ronald Rietveld, told Volkskrant that they had been asked to create a piece of furniture for the hangar. “But if we had created something that was attached to the hangar that would mean the building itself would be compromised, which we did not want. So we started joking about furniture on wheels. At first that did not sound realistic, but before we knew it we had bought a plane wheel from a dealer in Oss and we could not turn back.”
The vehicle can be driven slowly over the air strip using a joystick. Havermans and Rietveld are open to renting out the vehicle as a mobile meeting space. “As long as people don’t turn it into a beer shack.”
Secret Operation 610 is one of the art works that were created to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Peace of Utrecht. The work was revealed during Festival De Basis which started yesterday and which will last until Sunday 22 September. Airbase Soesterberg was closed in 2008 due to cuts in the Dutch defence budget.
A video showing the unveiling of the project and some of the other works at the former airbase can be seen at De Utrechtse Internet Courant.
(Photo: Rietveld Landscape)
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