The Netherlands, 1992
A Model of the Tides
For a long time in human history the forces of nature have instilled tremendous awe and fear in people. They were unpredictable and intertwined with the choices of everyday life. Recent developments in technology have brought new ways of engaging with such fenomena. The same technologies have had various smaller and larger influences on our lives. We have in many ways become part of a larger ‘apparatus’. We feed our networks with endless streams of data. Professor Jos de Mul frames it thus: ‘…with the computer as most important technology we can view everything, whether it be genes, books, organizations or the human memory, as a database of which we can endlessly combine its separate elements’. After all we remain human, and so our perception of reality will always be subjective and coloured. So it is with our technology. It bears the question: how much sense of reality can we gain through our lens of technology? And how does this same technology affect us?
I use my work as models of reflection to ponder these things. I interpret the idea of space: Physically, conceptually and digitally. The spaces that lie beyond our direct senses interest me the most. Even if we cannot grasp the workings of a computer without an interface to translate its programming, vast virtual worlds may lie beyond. Or is reality only real if we can sense it ourselves? I see my work as an interface, which shows my constructed reality. I design the conditions for an immersive experience. It’s a game of concept and perception that needs to be experienced to understand.
