Land Zonder Dijk is an experiment where visitors build a salt marsh structure together, contributing to the emergence of a gigantic self-organizing pattern. Inspired by the way in which certain organisms create suitable living conditions for themselves and other species, you start “biobuilding”. This installation visualizes a propagation method of biobuilders: organisms that not only respond to environmental conditions, but also strongly influence them themselves.
Studio Buiten Werking (Fier van den Berge and Pim Bens) worked with scientific researcher Tjisse van der Heide of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Research into the Sea (NIOZ) and the University of Groningen (RuG) to create Land Zonder Dijk for the Oerol Expedition Project in the Netherlands.
Tjisse van der Heide scientific research focuses on causes and consequences of coastal ecosystem degradation and development of novel applications to preserve and/or restore coastal ecosystems. Plant-dominated coastal ecosystems and their ecosystem services are declining globally. The island salt marshes provide a habitat for many plant and animal species, which together form the food web. In addition, the salt marshes behind the dike are of considerable scenic quality.
During Oerol we want to start with a salt marsh development experiment in which visitors themselves help to build a realistic salt marsh structure on the basis of basic 'formation rules' that also apply in nature. - Studio Buiten Werking
Studio Buiten Werking sees itself as the connecting link between research and experience. Working in this form of collaboration between artist and scientist compliments each other, by making use of each other’s knowledge and exchanges between them. Their mutual interest offering new perspectives and insights on building with nature and future involvement concerning human responsibility vs changing landscapes. The installation is observed by researchers in the years following to see how pioneer plants develop there.
