Mill warden on the waterline  

Johan Sietzema, Kinderdijk 2004-10-17  

The structure of tree trunks and branches built by Johan Sietzema on the sightlines of the main basin with the line of mills and the passageway in the dike where the drainage water is taken into the river Lek is a reference to the mills in the area but also acts as a counterfoil to them. In opposition to the flowing movements of the sail arms of the mills, Sietzema has set the stiff movements of his wooden construction. Contrariness, stiffness, distortion are all terms which apply to his image. It is a construction which seems to crawl from the water like a giant insect dragging two heavy channels behind it. But it is also a rake clamped into the dike so as not to slide into the mud and the water. The absurd mill (inspired by the Tjasker, the most elementary watermill) gives the impression of fulfilling a role in the spaciousness of the polder. of regulating the water level and of helping to save the area from drowning but it has no functional meaning whatsoever. The construction is actually more reminiscent of the adventures of Don Quixote than the operations of the dikewarden. The frozen movement expressed by the image is a shadow of the substances, the stiffness is heartbreaking.

 Piet Augustijn; Art Below Sealevel, 2004