Gijs Van Vaerenbergh's new artwork Waterline Monument depicting in a contemporary manner the ingenious hydraulic engineering of the New Dutch Waterline.
The New Dutch Waterline is an extensive historic military defence system that lies hidden in the landscape. As one of the most important elements in this system, we chose to work with the figure of a lock, used as a gate to hold back the waters. When it opened, the defence system was activated, causing the water to overflow the banks and inundate the area. Waterline Monument is an abstract reconstruction of the figure of the lock. The work was formed through the stacking of hundreds of open steel tubes of different lengths. A field of tension is created: the logic of stacking creates an abstract repetition; the diversity of lengths creates an irregular relief.
