Lab Site Project

LAB 
Online artist residency initiated by ZAC (Zest Artist Collective)

LAB is an online artist residency program initiated by Elena Redaelli and Karin van der Molen (ZAC). This project is an open-ended pilot program intended to find solutions and new brewing possibilities in a time that calls for change. Due to the restraint imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic on culture and international mobility, we needed to reshape our site-specific, site-responsive practices while keeping collaboration and critical thinking alive and active. Thus, we created a virtual space to connect and discuss with an inspiring setting of collaborators, reaching out to our audience in new and engaging ways.
The program included the participation of several artists, of which five have been included in the publication. 
Karin Van der Molen
Sue Pedley
Lily Balasnova
Agnes Deli
Elena Redaelli
This program has been a three-month process of patterning and re-patterning ideas fluidly. We opened up to contamination in a space to discuss our works, explore the context of our practices, read dedicated literature, and challenge our ideas.

WATERLOOPBOS - A TEST LOCATION
As a communal virtual ground for our projects, we chose a specific site in the Netherlands: The old water cycle/hydraulic laboratory Waterloopbos in Noordoostpolder, NL. 
It's hard to imagine these days, but how do you calculate the complex forces that exert their influence on a major water management project without a computer? 
In the analogue days, engineers did this by simulating reality. In this location, scale models of 35 renowned hydraulic projects are visible. Here, hydraulic engineers did their testing in the nineteen fifties and 1960s. The Delta Works and the ports of Rotterdam, Lagos, IJmuiden, Istanbul and Bangkok were also tested here.
The Waterloopbos is located in the Voorsterbos woods, situated on the cusp between the old and new land. As the new land lies many metres lower, natural rapids occur here. With the help of this flowing water plus the creation of weirs, dams and wave machines, the engineers could test the influences certain forces would have on their proposed constructions. No testing has been done here for decades, and in many places, the models have been reclaimed by nature. The old water ducts, weirs and sluices are now full of plants and shrubs. Wildlife, such as kingfishers and dragonflies, have made their home here next to Waterloopbos's flowing waters. A unique place where the forest interacts with the dated technology.

We virtually engaged with this site, investigating its history and symbolic meaning. We were inspired by the imperative presence of the water element and its profound relation with human beings and the body.