Astudio’s site-specific art installation LIVING COASTLINE for the international Wadden Tide exhibition in Denmark
LIVING COASTLINE is an art work created collaboratively by Astudio, Computer Sciences at Brunel University, Aarhus School of Architecture and Therapy In Nature for the international Wadden Tide exhibition of contemporary art installations at the Danish Blåvand coast.
LIVING COASTLINE is an interactive organic installation set in and responding to the natural environment of the Wadden Sea. The forces of the tidal rise and fall of the sea levels and the wind work together to change the space over time. Within a reinforced grid of 1,000 wooden poles, three spiral landforms created from sand and planted grasses capture the rising tide. At low tide visitors are invited into the installation to shelter from the wind and to explore the developing sea and plant life within the space. Computer Sciences at Brunel University have developed an app triggered by a series of QR codes located at several points within the art work to invite visitors to react immediately to their surroundings by documenting, tweeting or uploading pictures -- and by answering specific questions, developed by Beth Collier of Therapy In Nature. These responses feed into a behaviour study which will over time build a picture of the effects of the space and the natural environment. Through the learning process of dealing instantly with natural forces ‘Living Coastline’ also generates shelter and an educational space — and exploring the future design potential for interpretation spaces on coastal locations.
LIVING COASTLINE has been developed by Astudio’s Research and Development team which is on this project led by artist / architect Christian Kerrigan. He is one of 12 international artists from countries with tidal coastal areas who have been invited to explore and react to this unique natural and cultural heritage in the language of visual arts and land art, film, literature, music, dance and the performing arts during the last year. Their artworks can be experienced within the ever-changing natural setting of the tidal Danish Wadden Sea coast.
The Wadden Tide exhibition is part of the Vadehavs Festival, Denmark’s only major cultural event to present a fusion between the unique natural environment of the Wadden Sea with its artistic investigation and response.
The exhibition can be visited between 1 September and 2 October. An extensive programme of cultural events in nature, urban space and historical buildings along the coast accompanies the exhibition from 1 to 4 September.
