Periodic Table of the Elements | 2003
Periodic Table of the Elements, 2003, cement pavers, 290 x 560 cm
This piece was made for the Summer exhibition MAAS, sponsored by the city museum of Roermond, in Roermond, NL. The river Maas, which flows through the city, was taken as the starting point for the exhibition. Installed on the banks of the river next to a children’s playground, the mud left behind by the annual winter flooding has contaminated the ground with the heavy metals zinc, cadmium, mercury and chrome among others. The pollution comes from paint and auto factories upstream.
For my contribution to the exhibition, I had the periodic system of the elements sandblasted into concrete street pavers and installed as a play area next to a playground contaminated by deposits of heavy metals.
Collection of the City of Roermond, NL
Periodic Table of the Elements, 2003, cement pavers, detail. The area of the periodic table was painted in gray to show the form of the table.
Periodic Table of the Elements, 2003, cement pavers, detail
Periodic Table of the Elements, 2003, cement pavers, detail, of Cesium, Barium, Francium and Radium
Periodic Table of the Elements, 2003, cement pavers, view of the Maas