Stichting Visual Legacy
A Resistible Force, When Man Meets the Sea
by Pauline van Lynden
Winner of the Zeeland Book Prize 2008
A Resistible Force, When Man Meets the Sea is a richly illustrated book about ancient breakwaters that have protected the Dutch coast of Zeeland since the fifteenth century.
Long lines of black palisades mark the south-western beaches of the Netherlands. Rediscovering the wooden breakwaters she had known since childhood, Pauline van Lynden began by drawing and photographing them and ended up exploring ‘what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object’ and a culture marked by its relationship to the sea.
Gathering a wealth of documents from private and public collections, and illustrating these with her own artwork, Van Lynden tells a personal story of discovery through the history of an ancient system of coastal protection and its role in both our cultural heritage and our increasing concern to find a balance between man and the sea.
Not only did A Resistible Force win the prestigious Zeeland Book Prize, but the Province of Zeeland has now officially protected this spectacular site as endangered cultural heritage.
Pauline van Lynden was born in Paris. Her first book, Rajasthan, was published in four languages and listed in the ‘Top 5 Best Illustrated Books of the Year’ by the London Sunday Times. Her book Living Iron, co-authored with Vanessa Everts, is also published by Visual Legacy. She lives and works in the Netherlands.
Pauline van Lynden breaks with a tradition of cold mathematical hardware descriptions. In this artistic book about coastal defence there is room for emotion. Her activities did not remain unnoticed: they motivated the province of Zeeland to put the groynes on their list of endangered cultural heritage.
Maasnieuws, January 2008
Foam-clad ridges, proud watchmen, a Dutch Stonehenge in the evening sun. Weathered wood covered with algae, barnacles, trapped pieces of netting. Pauline van Lynden shares with us her fascination for coastal works transformed by nature into works of art.
Volkskrant, Cicero, 9 May 2008
More press and readers’ comments on the author’s website.
ISBN 978-90-811850-4-2
Size: 192 x 256 mm
288 pages, hardcover. c. 200 pages illustrations
Dutch edition: Donkere Palissaden, ISBN 978-90-811850-1-1
Support for this book was generously provided by:
Aon EMEA
M.A.O.C. Gravin van Bylandt Stichting
Drs W.Cordia
Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding
DELTA N.V.
Deltares
Dura Vermeer Groep NV
Stichting Elise Mathilde Fonds
Evides Waterbedrijf
Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors bv
OVET B.V.
Rabobank
Roompot Vakanties
Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Zeeland
Provincie Zeeland
Smit
Anthony Veder
Gemeente Veere
Van de Velde Publicatiefonds
Verbrugge Terminals B.V.
VSBfonds
Koninklijke Vopak N.V.
Water Research Centre Delft, Technische Universiteit Delft
De Zeeuwse Verzekeringen
© Text and images Pauline van Lynden