Grow in the Dark
How natural is winterlight?
When you look at the night sky in the Netherlands, you are often greeted with a yellow and orange glow. Lights of the city and greenhouses fill the night sky, making stars impossible to see. The Netherlands is one of the biggest exporters of agriculture products (second to the United States). To grow all these vegetables, fruits and flowers in such a small country we produce a lot of light. I created small artificial lit-up greenhouse models to comment on the light pollution.
Grow in the Dark, 70x58x70, December 2021
Grow in the Dark, 70x58x70, December 2021
Grow in the Dark, 70x58x70, December 2021
This project is part of the biannual light festival Winterlicht that is put on in December in the Julianapark, Schiedam. Because of covid the park wasn't possible, so the exhibition moved to the Grote Sint Janskerk.
The theme of the festival this year was "Winterlicht, natuurlijk" (Winterlicht, natural). In my opinion this title is a contradiction. The only light in the dark we should naturally be able to see is the light of the moon, yet as humans we fill the night with artificial light. In this project I play with natural vs artificial. The greenhouse is made with plexiglass and the plants are made of lamps and plastic flowers, to emphasise the artificial environments we create produce in.
Grow in the Dark, 70x58x70, December 2021
Grow in the Dark, December 2021
Grow in the Dark, December 2021
Grow in the Dark, December 2021