Suzette Bousema

Made with Sugar Kelp from seaweedfarm VOF 't Veersche Wier

‘Written in sediment’ is a series of handmade silk-screened prints, based on photographs of sediment cores, taken from the seabed of dead zone areas. Sediments are natural archives of an ecosystem’s environmental history. By researching how ecosystems have changed from oxygen rich environments to oxygen deprived environments in the past, scientists try to make predictions when these tipping points could occur in the future. Organisms, like worms or crabs, that usually stir up the sediment, cannot live in dead zone areas, because of the oxygen minimum conditions. Therefore, organic material from algae or clay from rivers will sink down and stay untouched. This results in a layered pattern in the sediment. Often you can also recognize a clear black layer with organic material. In the last 50 years, because of human impact and use of fertilizers for agriculture, the nutrient concentration has increased enormously, resulting in dead zones in coastal areas around the world. It has been calculated that now we have about 500 coastal dead zones, while in the 1950's only about 50 existed. This project was made in collaboration with scientist Rick Hennekam (paleoceanography, NIOZ). This project is supported by the Fentener van Vlissingen Fonds ‘NATUURCULTUUR’ award and Stroom Den Haag.

‘Mapping Dutch Waters’ is an outdoor installation created for the exhibition ‘Oasis of wonderment’ at cultural haven Ruigoord in Amsterdam. Man-made dead zones are areas in coastal waters where almost no life is possible due to oxygen minimum conditions. Micro algae blooms are fed by fertilizers from agriculture and other human waste streams, that flow towards the sea via an intricate network of ditches, canals, small ponds, and lakes. When these blooms decompose, all oxygen is used by bacteria, and nothing is left for other organisms. The 1500 water samples in this installation were taken across the Netherlands in 2022 by more than 400 citizen scientists as part of collaborative research by environmental organization Natuur & Milieu and research institute NIOO-KNAW. In 2027 all water in the Netherlands needs to meet water quality requirements agreed upon in the European Union. To meet these standards the biological and chemical quality of the water needs to be sufficient. We have so much water in the country that only larger bodies of water are measured for this monitoring. This regular monitoring already shows that we are at the bottom of the list of water quality in Europe. The Netherlands has 300.000 kilometer of ditches alone. This way more than 1/3rd of surface water is not considered for this official monitoring. Environmental organization Natuur & Milieu sets out to change this by researching ‘small’ bodies of water, like streams, canals, small ponds, and lakes across the country in collaboration with research institute NIOO-KNAW. Their research in 2022 shows that only 20% of Dutch waters meet the European norms. This project was achieved in collaboration with Karen Eilers (Natuur & Milieu, program leader sustainability of food production), Sven Teurlincx (NIOO-KNAW, aquatic ecologist) and Rosan van Halsema (NIOO-KNAW, research assistant). ‘Mapping Dutch Waters’ is supported by Mondriaan Fund, Stichting Stokroos, Fentener van Vlissingen Fund and Stroom Den Haag. The installation was made in collaboration with artist Thieu Smeets.

Made with knotweed

This tapestry is based on a microscopic photograph of a plantroot with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal threads and spores in it, colored blue by scientists.

From the project 'Climate Archive'

From the project 'Climate Archive'

This glasswork is part of the project 'Climate Archive'

From the project 'Climate Archive'

From the project 'Climate Archive'

Publication of Climate Archive

Installation view

This is one of more than 500 unique prints from the project Future Relics

This is one of more than 500 unique prints from the project Future Relics

Publication of the project Future Relics