Waterspiegel / Mirroring Water
location: WMCN Dutch Water Management Center, Smedinghuis, Zuiderwagenplein, Lelystad
year: 2012
dimensions: 13 meters wide wall
materials: 6 screens, painted steel frames, 7 computers, image bank with 2.400 video clips, data connection
commissioner: RGD Dutch Government Building Agency
Dutch identity was formed at a time of radical change in the landscape. Part of the land was won from the sea, made fit for habitation by land
reclamation and rendered impermeable. In addition, water has always been an important source of trade for the Netherlands, and thus for its
prosperity. This connection to water was already reflected in the paintings of the Golden Age. Rich citizens profited from the wealth derived from
water, earning a great deal of money out of fishing and overseas trade, and they wished to see this represented in art. Specializations came into
being in this way, ranging from sea painter to fish painter and from landscape painter with a predilection for water mills or for frozen rivers and
skating people. This attention to water is typical of Dutch art throughout every period. Globally, the concept of a ‘Dutch landscape’
still conjures up an idyllic image that this painting tradition has greatly defined. The Netherlands has nevertheless changed a great deal in the
past century, as have many other countries. At present, it is the radical, high-tech methods of controlling and manipulating landscape and nature
that confers international fame on the Netherlands. With this background in mind, Driessens & Verstappen consider it important that the artwork
for the Dutch Water Management Centre should contribute to a new conceptualization of Dutch landscape in relationship to water.
Short video clips of various manifestations and functions of water in the Netherlands can be viewed on six screens. The images likewise reflect the
current situation of weather and water management in the Netherlands via a data link with the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute and the Ministry
of Waterways and Public Works. It is always a temporary compilation of images, a selection from more than 2.400 clips stored in an video
archive assembled by the artists. The choice of video images selected is based on actual weather and water data from the MWPW and RDMI weather stations
distributed throughout the Netherlands. These details change each hour. Video clips are selected when current information sufficiently corresponds
to the details stored along with the clip. Thus the technological measuring system of the Dutch Water Management Centre also ‘manages’
the choice of images for the six screens via the water data.
|