October 2022

West cape

'West cape' is a multichannel video installation of 5 loops of 27 minutes each installed at Mezz Breda (NL). Shot at the west cape of Westkapelle (NL), North Sea.

For a long time, we saw ourselves as the crown of divine creation, as the most important being on earth who was supposed to dominate nature. Through our ingenuity and urge for innovation, we thought we could tame nature and shape our own living environment, equipped with every comfort.

For decades we didn't face the dark side of our urge to cultivate. An overboosted bio-industry, massive deforestation, polluting carbon dioxide emissions, and oceans full of plastic and PFAS in our drinking water are just some of the many messages that reach us almost daily through the media.

The Netherlands is a wonderful example of 'overcoming' nature: our country is lower than sea level and yet we manage to live there. It is unclear how long the dikes can protect us against rising sea levels.

The 15th-century seawall on the west cape of Westkapelle was already a symbol of the Dutch struggle against water well before the start of the Delta Works.

If the dikes stand for culture, then the sea stands for nature. The video installation Westcape visualizes the meditative primal power of the sea in 5 sequences of 27 minutes.