Water-fountain-sculpture

This seminar event explored how water and fountains have been used by artists and sculptors for a variety of purposes. The afternoon began with a discussion of Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' (1917) and examined more recent examples of water sculpture such as the memorial at Ground Zero. In collaboration with Dr Godehard Janzing (Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte), Valerie Bussmann (independent), Nicole Wermers (artist), William Pye (artist) and Caroline Locke (artist). Godehard Janzing discussed ‘Falling Waters at Ground Zero: when Terrorism turns into Nature’ and how the use of the symbolism of water becomes problematic in this context. Valerie Bussmann continued the theme of the city with an examination of the relationship Paris has with water as both necessity and art. Water as a sculptural material was explored by Nicole Wermers, focusing specifically on her 2011 series ‘Wasserregal’ (‘Watershelves’). William Pye has long been inspired by water and first introduced it as a major sculptural element in his work in the 1980s. Caroline Locke shared the themes of water and vibration, which have formed a key part of her practice and focused on her use of water in connection with her Performing Data projects. She has used her water fountains to animate certain data sets in connection with the human body and environmental data.