Here Be Dragons

Here Be Dragons was realized as a billboard image on the Maasvlakte inspired by, and titled after, the blank spots on old maps that declare “Here Be Dragons.” These sea-serpent inhabited points of fearful imagination imply a gap in the understanding of the known world.

I witnessed the early stages of the construction of Maasvlakte 2, when it had just emerged from beneath the sea, yet to be connected to existing land and surrounded by sand-breathing dredger monsters.

Through the motif of the dragon, the billboard introduces a means of considering Europe’s connections with Asia through trade and the differing cultural traditions of the dragon as a terrorizer or guardian.