Immersive aqueous projection
Waterlicht allows viewers to witness the impossible: a flooded Amsterdam—without water. The immersive light painting is a virtual flood, demonstrating what Netherlands would be like without dikes. The artwork consists of undulating lines of light created with LED technology, software, and projection systems that animate low-lying mists.
Conceived as an environmental work of art, Waterlicht was designed to commemorate the Rijksmuseum’s 2015 acquisition of the seventeenth-century painting of the Amsterdam flood of 1651 by artist Jan Asselijn. Like the painting, the immersive display reminds the Dutch of their country’s sub–sea level position, as well as the universal power of the ocean. It also demonstrates technology’s capacity to engulf a large area with light and visual effects: a painting scaled to the city.
Contact: Studio Roosegaarde, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
For more information, see Transmaterial Next: A Catalog of Materials that Redefine Our Future
