In the park of the estate Freaylemaborg a sculpture is placed. Two hardened glass panels, each 1 cm thick, 120 cm wide and standing to a height of 230 cm above the ground. They are positioned around 15 cm apart. Both panels are made of plain float glass with ground edges. The one at the rear is adorned with an ellipse shape formed of several layers of coloured glass fused together. The front panel has six vertical lines sandblasted into its surface and then given a ClearShield coating to protect the glass from the effects of the harsh Groningen weather.

The coloured ellipse evokes the idea of the earth as a heavenly body with treasures concealed in its innermost depths. The sandblasted lines symbolise wisp of gas rising from those depths. They stand for cyclical processes occurring within and around the planet, whence the title Cycli. The ellipse and wisps of gas are linked by the light of the sun, which shows a cyclical variation in intensity as the year turns. When the sun shines through the back panel, the ellipse is projected onto the front sandblasted panel.  

Seen from the windows of the mansion’s main reception room, the work is a tiny blob of colour which stands out more or less clearly against the Groninger landscape beyond, depending the light. It gains a more imposing presence as the viewer approaches it along the winding paths of the estate. In Cycli, Joost van Santen offers a visual image of two invisible phenomena: light and gas.