Water Bowls

The installation is composed of four large transparent bowls, above knee-height, with projections on the surface of the liquid they contain and on the walls behind them. The work is interactive and networked, welcoming visitors both in the physical space and online.

Victoria Vesna works at the intersection of science and art, often in collaboration with scientists. The four bowls, “Drop”, “Moon”, “Sound”, and “Oil” explore different scientific and poetic aspects of water, encouraging visitors to recognise the myriad global connections it represents.

For Drop, online visitors first choose a body of water with which they identify, then they can trigger the release of a drop of water into the bowl, onto which is projected a map of their chosen body of water and their physical location based on their IP address. For Oil, online visitors can trigger the release of a copper coin and type a wish, which is projected onto the surface of the water. The Sound and Moon bowls offer interactions for visitors in the installation space, who are invited to touch the water. In Moon, an underwater microphone captures the sound of the interaction, while a projected animation shows water molecules cycling between polluted and unpolluted states. In Sound, as well as an underwater microphone, there is an underwater speaker. The water responds to the visitor’s touch with vibrations based on recordings of undersea noise such as sonar frequencies, explosions, and whale sounds.

The layering of physical and virtual presence, of reality and metaphor, of cultural significance and scientific analysis, creates a rich conceptual tapestry around the work’s vital message; that water connects us.   – I. Borrell

The Fourth State of Water catalog, curated by Victoria Vesna, is available online here.