Waterspiegelwacht
(2023)

'Waterspiegelwacht' confronts viewers with technologies that are increasingly prominent in commercial automation processes, such as text-generating algorithms and text-to-speech, but in the context of the ecological crises. This futuristic fictional helping agency, run by AI, doesn't believe in its own purpose anymore. This installation questions if we should put all of our faith into automated, artificial intelligence processes in times of ecological distaster.

Repurposed, refitted & repainted car emergency telephone (Dutch 'praatpaal'), custom software, microphone, custom metalwork, speech-to-text recognition, GPT-4 AI model, text-to-speech algorithm.

Created for the Flooding Museum's Never again an emergency like '53' exhibition.
Thanks to: Karavaan Alkmaar, Tobias Jansen, Boris Tellegen & Amiel, Jaap Hoogerdijk, Zesbaans.

The survival of the Netherlands has always been closely tied to technology. As a country located largely below sea level, the Netherlands has always had to fight against water to secure its existence. From the construction of dikes and waterworks to the development of modern polder and drainage systems, technology has always been an essential tool in defending the country from the threat of water.
'Waterspiegelwacht' is an installation that gives us a glimpse into a near future in which rising water levels are becoming more urgent and artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly prominent role. But what if this AI becomes so intelligent that it no longer believes in the mission it has been given? What if this AI begins to doubt the effectiveness of its mission in light of the current ecological crisis?
Ask what to do when the water rises, or entrust your fears to the 'Waterspiegelwacht'!

Mark IJzerman

Waterspiegelwacht (2023)

Waterspiegelwacht
(2023)