Onderland: Peelrandbreuk at the Interface of Air and Subsurface
Video artwork 'Onderland' (Underland, in English), is inspired by geological data by eco-hydrologist Jon Mensink. The video data is collected by documenting a geological excavation with pinhole scanner cameras combined with geographical point clouds. This technique has been developed by Van Bakel and the video installation shows a slightly alienating visualisation of the Peelrandbreuk (a geological fault line), in north-east Brabant, the Netherlands .
The slowness of geological processes are visualised and contrasted with the vast pace of human-made digital environments. It allows viewers to experience this fascinating land phenomenon in new ways.
The video was originally part of an installation exhibited at the Dutch Design week 2019 and interactively responded to people walking by. The video follows an intuitive structure, which is linked to the distance from the viewer to the screen. From above-ground forest and marsh via iron-coloured groundwater and root systems – to the deeper layers of the earth.
A prototype of the Onderland scanner camera, image retrieved via https://www.michielvanbakel.nl/onderland/
Onderland, Michiel van Bakel, 2019, available at https://www.michielvanbakel.nl/onderland/
