About wetlands, rowan trees and ponds that no longer exist - the project created by {tag:studenci} at School of Form is not only sculptures with the additional function of measuring the state of water pollution. It is at the same time a story about disappearance, about the impact of urbanization on natural areas and their more-than-human inhabitants, and a design poem about the balance between water and drought.
"Indicating water" is a project that tells a story about the relationship between humans and nature, loss, drought and change by focusing attention on unique biological organisms. The work was created in collaboration with the Kampinos National Park.
Indicating Water
proj.: Matylda Wolwowicz
Drought in the Kampinos National Park
Matylda Wolwowicz began her work on the project by selecting a research site with an emphasis on analyzing the relationship between humans and the natural environment in wetlands, due to the importance of water to life on Earth.The choice of the Kampinos Forest and the village of Truskaw, which lies within the Kampinos National Park, also dictated the author's personal sentiment for the area.
As part of her research, the author took walks with villagers in the surrounding area.
They showed me places they remembered from many years ago that had become part of the development. I heard stories about children's games in the forest wetlands. About the disappearing rowan and dune grasses. About how there were wetlands, ponds, ponds that are no longer there
- tells the author.
Wetlands by the didactic path to Karczmisko in the Kampinos Forest
graphic - Matylda Wolwowicz
Individual walks in the Kampinos Park revealed how strong emotions are aroused by changes in the area and how connected they are to the local nature. The dominant feeling in these stories was diagnosed by the author as solastalgia, a term borrowed from Glenn Albrecht.
Solastalgia is associated with the pain one feels due to the change of, "one's" surroundings, landscape or nature, which were previously an integral part of one's identity, experiences or memories. The term emphasizes the connections between people and their surroundings and how changes can affect well-being
- explains the author.
In her work, Matilda Wolwowicz refers both to individual stories, to historical literary texts that emphasize the role of nature in human life, and to contemporary literature. "Betonosis" by Jan Mencwel, which she cited, is just one of the items that draws attention to the critical state of greenery in Polish cities.
what are bioindicators?
Matilda Wolwowicz's project combines a humanistic research approach with a scientific one, centered around biology and ecology. Collaboration with national park employee Anna Kębłowska, a senior conservationist, helped the author identify the pressing problems of the existing vegetation and species worth paying attention to.
riparian plant species
proj.: Matylda Wolwowicz
Macroinvertebrate species
proj.: Matylda Wolwowicz
The tarsiers, turnips and other plants she pointed out as well as insect species such as mayflies, water beetles and caddisflies function as bioindicators, or natural indicators, to read and monitor changes in the environment.
The purpose of the work "Indicating water" was not only to tell the story of Kampinos Park and the surrounding communities, but also to draw attention to the full scale of the damage that human activity is causing to the environment in which it resides.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (2018) reported that the number of freshwater species worldwide has declined by about 83% since 1970. It estimated that 34% of freshwater invertebrates may be endangered
- quotes the author.
concept
proj.: Matylda Wolwowicz
So how can an object created by human hand correspond with endangered plants? Matylda Wolwowicz gives voice to non-human entities, so to speak, putting them into a framework, which was the subject of the design part of her work. The designed objects were meant to function as indicators of species and gauges of water status, just like the studied plants with the status of bio-indicators. It is to them that the author gives voice through her design.
Capturing concrete and giving it new meaning
During the design process, the author noted that her first concept of making objects from casts of bark, mud and moss would have been too literal a copy of organic objects. She also rejected the second concept, in which they had simple geometric shapes, in order to move away from a distinctly human style. The final result with its form ranks somewhere in between, being both organic and abstract in its mass.
After many material trials - the sculptures finally had to be made of a material that would simultaneously function as a biological gauge and not dissolve in water - it fell to mortar and concrete. The paradoxical use of a material that is responsible for concretosis is a conscious effort by the author to emphasize the criticism of environmental destruction. Reinforcing bars, also used in construction, were used to create the sculpture, as well as mesh under the gypsum smoothness.
material tests
proj.: Matylda Wolwowicz
trials of curing and anti-cracking materials
proj.: Matylda Wolwowicz
The location of the finished objects in the Kampinos National Park, according to the agreement, depended on specific guidelines: the sculptures had to be on the route of educational paths, within sight of the marked trail. Thus, the only paths left to choose from were those that were adjacent to streams or ponds. The park authorities accepted the placement of the objects near the Lipkovskaya Woda stream, but this dried up in the summer when the project was to be implemented. In the end, the situation only underscored the severity of the problem the project is about.
Map of the Lipkovska Woda area with the location of the objects marked
proj.: Matylda Wolwowicz
In order to visualize the final result of the work, the author photographed the sculptures in various wetlands in the Park, and only later moved them to a location approved by the National Park Service. There they were allowed to remain for the period from August to November. They were accompanied by QR codes affixed to steel racks, linking to a website complete with educational content, a survey on knowledge of changing landscapes and opinions on the project.
Indicating Water
proj.: Matylda Wolwowicz
Matilda Wolwowicz's work is a fascinating example of how multidisciplinary design can be. At the same time, it deals with a very important, current topic in a symbolic way that is both beautiful and moving.
The work was written under the direction of Adrian Krêzlik, Dr. Monika Rosińska and Maria Krze¶lak-Kandziora, MA.
