Art and science working together: a new view of the water transition

When KWR issued an open call for the position of an Artist in Residence in 2025, artist Mariko Hori responded without a moment’s hesitation. She was born on the coast of Japan, where she developed an intimate bond with water. She loves swimming and likes to drink tap water. “The Japanese culture has a strong link with water,” she explains.  “We have hot springs with silky smooth water: a glorious treat for your skin.” She was already familiar with KWR, which she had visited during her previous Artist in Residence position at the Utrecht School of Arts (HKU). “I have already been an Artist in Residence in many places,” she says. “Normally, positions like this are established by art institutions such as museums. As an artist, you get access to materials and accommodation, for example. It’s a way of discover new perspectives for your work in a different environment. I had already come across the interaction between art and science before, but this Artist in Residence at KWR was a unique experience. I was immersed in the whole institution, just as if I worked there. I had lunch with the researchers, commuted with them, took part in meetings, and talked to anyone I wanted. I had thought beforehand that it would be quite difficult to communicate with scientists but that wasn’t true at all. What struck me most about the people at KWR was their open-mindedness. Everyone was friendly and interested in me and my ideas.”

Artist Mariko Hori and KWR Director Mariëlle van der Zouwen. The artwork was purchased by KWR and is on display in the lobby of the KWR building.

Artist Mariko Hori and KWR Director Mariëlle van der Zouwen. The artwork was purchased by KWR and is on display in the lobby of the KWR building.

Different way of looking

Project coordinator Katja Barendse explains how the idea for the AiR (Artist in Residence) project around collaboration with an artist took root at KWR. During an earlier exploratory study as part of Waterwijs – the collective research programme of the drinking water utilities – she investigated what happens when art and science meet in the context of the water sector. “The water sector is facing a lot of transition challenges,” says Barendse. “And there is a growing understanding that you can’t approach them using established blueprints. The questions involved include: which paradigms underpin what we do? How do we look at knowledge? And what is our relationship with water?”

Artist in Residence

In the preliminary research, KWR looked at what actually happens when you bring art and science together. That involved making a distinction between forms of collaboration where art is used to convey a message, and forms where that instrumental approach is actually jettisoned.

“In de eerste vorm wordt kunst gebruikt om iets uit te dragen”, vertelt Barendse. “Dat is wat meestal gebeurt. Maar wij waren juist op zoek naar een situatie waarin kunstenaar en wetenschapper vanuit een gelijkwaardige positie samenwerken, zonder dat de uitkomst vooraf vastligt.” Zo ontstond het idee om te werken met een Artist in Residence. “Niet om direct tot oplossingen te komen, maar om ruimte te maken voor andere manieren van denken en kijken. Kunstenaars opereren vanuit een ander vertrekpunt dan wetenschappers en kunnen helpen om vanzelfsprekendheden te bevragen en ons denken op te rekken.” 

“In the first form, art is used to express something,” says Barendse. “That’s what usually happens. But we were actually looking for a situation where artists and scientists work on an equal footing, without the outcome being predetermined.” And so the idea of working with an Artist in Residence was born. “Not to come up with immediate solutions but to make room for other ways of thinking and looking at things. Artists operate from a different starting point than scientists and they can help to question natural assumptions and push the envelope of our thinking.”

Barendse believes that the large response to the open call and the collaboration with artist Mariko Hori confirmed the need for encounters of this kind. “Although the analysis of this project is still ongoing, it is becoming clear that this type of collaboration mainly creates openings: room for different voices, for doubt and for exploring perspectives that are less likely to be addressed by the usual research approaches. The impact is not easy to measure or determine clearly. It’s more a question of subtle shifts: researchers who reconnect with their motivation or fascination for the research they do, who start to look at their work differently, or who find the space to ask questions that have previously been left out of the picture. It is precisely these shifts that make the research itself change – not necessarily because of better answers but rather because of different questions.”

The artwork Forever in different ways.

Researcher Elvio Amato is conducting research into PFAS in water. He opens the water dropper at the top of the artwork. Mariko Hori interpreted the substance PFAS, a ‘forever chemical’, in the artwork as a transparent, imperishable plastic drop,

Mariko Hori interpreted PFAS, a ‘forever chemical’, in her artwork as a transparent, non-biodegradable plastic droplet.

The water in the vat comes from the ponds on the KWR site. It symbolises how microorganisms cope with the passage of time. They are constantly adapting to changing conditions.

Resilience and deep adaptation

One of the researchers who collaborated closely with Hori was Peter van Thienen. As a hydroinformatics expert, his research interests include resilience and deep adaptation. “This field focuses on how we as a water sector tackle large-scale and long-term changes in society and our surroundings,” he explains. “I always give the example of the large current in the Atlantic Ocean that provides us with a temperate climate here in the Netherlands. If that ocean current weakens or even stops as a result of man-made climate change, it is possible that our climate in Northwest Europe may not be warm in the future, but actually very cold. We are definitely not preparing for that. And more discontinuous changes of this kind are conceivable. At KWR, we are working on the question of how the water sector should approach and prepare for those eventualities.” Questions of this kind are quite abstract and difficult to answer. Van Thienen has seen how Hori’s approach can introduce a different perspective. The artist developed, among other things, an approach for a workshop that helped participants to empathise with situations far beyond their own backyard. “If we researchers were to do that, the result would be a sheet of paper with straight lines and primary colours. Mariko worked with beautiful paper and stickers in all kinds of materials. And she challenged people to imagine how an ecosystem or water would feel under certain conditions. That worked really well. People were walking around with broad smiles on their faces and I heard some very interesting discussions.”

Three works of art

Hori’s conversations with Van Thienen and his colleagues resulted in three works of art. Two of them – Forever in different ways and Archiving the unknown – are already on display in the hall at KWR.

• Forever in different ways 

“This installation is about the future, when we will have to prepare for all kinds of uncertain factors in the water system. The key concept is ‘forever’, which came from what I learnt at KWR about deep uncertainty (Peter van Thienen), micro-organisms (Maria Lousada Ferreira) and PFAS (Elvio Amato). In the face of deep uncertainty, we as humans always want to maintain a grip on our lives, on economic growth, on our youthfulness. Micro-organisms deal with eternity in a much more natural way. They constantly adapt to changing circumstances. And PFAS are known as ‘forever chemicals’ that we will never get rid of. In this work, I ask people: what does ‘forever’ actually mean to you?” Read more about the work on: forever in different ways – Mariko HORI.

• Something defined by the world around and within it 

“For this work, I asked researchers from KWR to define water without using the word itself. I made a ‘book’ in the form of water from the more than fifty contributions. On the opening pages, you see very simple descriptions. But the deeper you go, the denser the information becomes. Then it becomes more like sediment. The book is also difficult to read because the pages are transparent. That reflects how I see science. As soon as there is a definition of something, you always find something new. Like water, the certainty slips through your fingers. You will never grasp it completely.”

• Archiving the unknown 

“This work is part of a project I initiated during my Artist in Residence time at HKU. I make paper by hand using all kinds of water, for example from a tap, a river or from the sea. This time I used water from the pond at KWR. I caught all kinds of particles and possibly contaminants in that water. The paper is stored in the freezer at KWR like an archive of our present. In the future, it may be possible to study it with technologies that are not there now to compare differences in water quality between now and later.”

Something defined by the world around and within it. Voor dit kunstwerk verzamelde de kunstenares meer dan 50 definities van water — zonder het woord te gebruiken. Het transparante, water‑vormige boek laat zien hoe kennis zich verdiept en hoe zekerheid, net als water, altijd blijft ontglippen.

Something defined by the world around and within it. For this artwork, the artist collected more than 50 definitions of water — without using the word itself. The transparent, water-shaped book illustrates how knowledge deepens and how certainty, just like water, always remains elusive.

Mariko Hori displays the paper she has made using water from the ponds on the KWR site. The frozen version of Archiving the unknown is stored in a freezer at KWR, serving as an archive of the present day. In the future, it may be possible to analyse it using techniques that do not yet exist, in order to compare water quality between now and then.

A new view of science

Hori finds it difficult to answer the question of how her work contributes to science for the water sector. “Science tries to find clear explanations and put them into words. But that doesn’t always work out in this world. At those times, art can be a solution.” To explain what she means, Hori uses the concept of ambiguity: something that cannot be explained or described. She finds it incredibly interesting that researchers like Peter van Thienen are working on the corresponding concept of deep uncertainty. “Researchers working on issues like this could benefit from art,” she thinks. “Because art gives you the space you need to work with something for which there is no immediate answer. Deep uncertainty has forever changed my view of science. It is now one of the main topics that I want to devote myself to in the years ahead – or perhaps the rest of my life.

“My discussions with KWR researchers taught me how important it is to see that everything is connected: water is a tear one minute and a swirling river the next. As soon as you give a name to something, you separate it from the meaning of the word. In reality, all substances are in constant motion in relation to each other. Given the transitions facing the water sector, it’s a good thing to think from this perspective. A transition is always a particular moment, and it is shifting continuously. I think the water sector needs a holistic perspective, and KWR is already applying it.”

What the water sector can learn from art

The freedom that art provides to widen scientific frameworks, for example, could help us to dare to think further and take inspirational steps, believes Van Thienen. He also mentions a possibly unexpected area that emerged for him as a result of working with Hori. “Sometimes I would see Mariko walking through our building and sitting down somewhere to think. Our researchers work very differently. We are always on the go. From one meeting to the next, checking another email, writing a report… That doesn’t mean that we achieve more than Mariko. She takes time to think, to pause for a moment. I believe that this is a major lesson for the water sector: there is more to life than efficiency, effectiveness and productivity. In addition to management based on automation and increasingly deploying AI, as is the case now, we should also consider reflection and other values throughout the chain.”

Mariko Hori and the researchers involved: wastewater treatment researcher Maria Lousada Ferreira, chemical water quality researcher Elvio Almata, hydroinformatician Peter van Thienen and project leader Katja Barendse.

During the presentation, everyone was invited to view the artwork up close and touch it.