Hydromedia: Seeing with water

The project background

Hydromedia: Seeing with water is a program co-founded by EU and organized by three art institutions: Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe (DE), Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (NL) and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (BE). The project runs from January 2023 through December 2024. Each institute hosts four artists for a one-month on-site research residency with a focus on water.

The first residency takes place in Antwerp, Belgium in April 2023, the second one in Utrecht, the Netherlands in October 2023, and the third and final one in April 2024 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

I am delighted to join the residency in Utrecht.

Video by Sjoerd Knibbeler | Exhibition view at AG Gallery - Ruimte voor nieuwe kunst en media | HKU, Utrecht, The Netherlands (17.2 - 3.3.2024)

First impression of the city Utrecht.

At the beginning of the research residency, a field trip to water institutes was organised.

Part of the field trip.

Description of the planned project

My proposal: Water plays a crucial role in my soil-made image creation process, influencing the interaction between the soil and paper, as well as facilitating the transfer of materials. These variations in technique and the use of water contribute to diverse outcomes and visual effects. The absence of water may have affected the interaction between the soil and paper, potentially resulting in a different texture.

So what would be the next step? For the practical part, I know what to do, which is to use water to create soil-made images on paper. However, what exactly do I want in research, dealing with the topic of water?

Work of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), a naturalist and scientific illustrator who traveled to Surinam in South America to observe insects and illustrate her findings.

Trips to museums

For inspiration and to explore my interests, I visit the National Maritime Museum Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, and the antiquarian book fair. The work of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717) draws my attention. She traveled to Surinam in South America to observe insects and illustrate her findings. These trips were interconnected with the time of voyages of discovery.

An illustration of a sailing ship found at an antiquarian book fair in Amsterdam.

A book found at an antiquarian book fair in Amsterdam.

Everything is interconnected

Mundus Subterraneus is a monumental work by 17th-century German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher, delving deeply into the mysteries of the Earth's interior. As a polymath with expertise across multiple disciplines, Kircher combined philosophy, geography, theology, and natural science to unveil the mechanisms of the subterranean world and its intricate connections to life on the surface.

Captured in Transparency: Bubbles as a Metaphor for Life

During a tour of the laboratory, the scientist demonstrated a method to make the process of gas production by microorganisms in water visible. She placed an inverted container filled with water onto the surface of the water. As gas entered the container, it displaced the water, allowing the scientist to measure the composition of the gas within a specific time frame. (See images) It became evident that constant changes occur in bodies of water we usually overlook, such as ponds. Bubbles are continuously formed. For this reason, I see bubbles as a symbol of vitality. By combining Xuan paper and soil, I attempt to capture these fleeting bubbles.

By poking, the action accelerates the formation of bubbles.

Due to the transparency of Xuan paper, I place these works in front of windows.

The daylight passing through the Xuan paper symbolizes the properties of water. This work artistically represents the existence of life through the formation of bubbles.