Experience The Water Arch, an immersive art installation that playfully draws attention to the ever-increasing use of clean drinking water, created by DROPSTUFF MEDIA, a Dutch media arts collective.

The work is an abstract interpretation of a classic Dutch barrel organ. By turning a big wheel, the organ comes to life and plays songs from long-forgotten days, while water is pumped up through a system of tubes and bubbles. The water eventually collects in a large container above your head. At 36 gallons the water is released. Protected by a large transparent dome you experience in an instant how much water we use daily. 36 gallons is the amount that every person in The Netherlands uses every day on average. In the USA this goes up to 82 gallons*. The music used in the installation is an adaptation of a recording of a famous barrel organ from the 1950s and 1960s, sourced from the archive of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

DROPSTUFF MEDIA specializes in creating immersive arts and interactive experiences, encouraging people to actively explore the intersections between stories, rituals, cultural heritage, art, and experimental (media) technologies.

* www.drinkwaterplatform.nl / www.epa.gov
© Photo: Gijs de Kruijf