Spellbound, 1997
An early work, Spellbound, was conceived in 1997 as a reconstruction of a fictional story. It began with the publication of that story in the local newspaper of Castricum, a coastal town in the Netherlands, whose beach was chosen as the site of the project.
The story recounted the experience of Jan Braaksma, a teenager who, while taking a night stroll on the beach of Castricum aan Zee in the spring of 1968, witnessed two powerful beams of light suddenly descending from the sky and spreading across the surface of the water. They formed an endless band of light stretching to the horizon. “It felt as though time stood still,” Jan declared afterward. The phenomenon was investigated, sparking intense debate between scientists and religious authorities about the origin and meaning of the light. In September 1969, the Vatican’s Episcopal Investigation Committee visited the site of the alleged apparition at Castricum aan Zee and concluded that “the vision is not of God.” The scientific community afterwards lost interest as well, and the story faded into obscurity—until 1997, when the artist picked up the story and decided to recreate it on the same place where the apparition had occurred.
On the night of 19 May 1997, this fictional story was recreated with the help of two powerful laser beams that formed an endless road of light stretching from the beach to the horizon. The audience was transported to the beach by buses from Amsterdam, and Rijkswaterstaat (the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management) provided a ship to monitor the project from the sea.
Because the fictional account was presented as a true story—and its reconstruction as a rehabilitation of a forgotten vision—the actor portraying Jan Braaksma was also present on the beach during the event. To lend credibility to the performance, the actor remarked that the reconstruction was impressive, but noted a key difference: the light he had seen in 1968 was white, whereas the laser light was greenish.
The following day, a local newspaper published an article in which the journalist confronted me with my own fictional creation, suggesting that I had failed to recreate accurately the original vision of Jan Braaksma (see excerpt from the article).
Light installation /
reconstruction of a fictional story
Supported by
Laser Image, Amersfoort
Rijkswaterstaat (the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management)
Materiaalfonds, Amsterdam
Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
“Jan Braaksma watches what unfolds before his eyes on the beach. The Amsterdammer sees two laser devices directing their narrow green beams of light westward. The bizarre spectacle in the dark—it’s almost midnight—is meant to depict a visually endless road of light from the beach to the horizon. Responsible for the display is the Amsterdam artist Saša Karalić. He bases his performance on an event that Braaksma experienced in 1968 at the same location. Karalić, enthusiastic: ‘Exactly what Jan experienced. He told me so himself.’ Braaksma himself: ‘It’s impressive, but I saw something quite different. For example, the light was bright white, not green.’”
(Noordhollands Dagblad, Wednesday, 21 May 1997, Spellbound spectacle invites mixed reactions from viewers)
“Jan Braaksma bekijkt wat zich voor zijn ogen op het strand afspeelt. De Amsterdamer ziet twee laser-apparaten die hun smalle groene lichtbundel in westerlijke richting dirigeren. Het bizarre schouwspel in het donker, het is bijna middernacht, moet een visueel eindloze lichtweg van strand naar horizon uitbeelden. Verantwoordelijk voor de vertoning is de Amsterdamse kunstenaar Saša Karalić. Hij baseert zijn performance op een geburtenis die Braaksma in 1968 op dezelfde plaats overkwam. Karalic, enthousiast: “Precies wat Jan meemaakte. Dat zegt hij zelf ook.” Braaksma zelf: “Het is indrukwekkend, maak ik zag heel wat anders. Zo was bijvoorbeeld het licht helwit en niet groen.”
(Noordhollands Dagblad , Woensdag 21 Mei 1997, Spellbound-spektakel roept bij kijkers gemengde reacties op)