Artist and designer Ditmar van Dam is busy with the building process of the ‘Grunneger Woaterkop’ Gezina-Christina.
Materials
Gezina-Christina has slender legs, with bone made from tree trunks and muscles from straps. These muscles allow her to stand on her front legs. With her feet, made of old rims, she can stand stable on any surface. The skin of Gezina-Christina is made up of a layer of willow branches with jute coffee bags. The skin will be covered with moss, which protects it from heat in the summer. Because the moisture in the moss evaporates, it acts as a coolant. In winter, the moss ensures that the heat cannot escape.
How she works
The Woaterkop captures moist air from trees and plants through a small sub-cycle, and immediately condenses it into water. Usually, the rainwater that these crops absorb from the ground evaporates and disappears as clouds. Thus, in the future, trees with deep roots will be able to help irrigate shallow-rooted vegetation during droughts and prevent vegetable crop failures.
Showcase during Climate Adaptation week
The climate adaptive artwork is a collaboration between House of Design and Groningen Climate Adaptation. It will be shown at the Vismarkt during Climate Adaptation Week Groningen, 19-25 January 2021.
Here are a few pictures of the construction process >
