The Hooifabriek installation is also about Eemland. It connects the Eemland landscape with two critical challenges: sustainable food production and biodiversity restoration. It invites reflection on balancing monoculture and biodiversity while maintaining the landscape’s functionality. Through its innovative structure, Hooifabriek offers a thought-provoking perspective on how future Dutch landscapes can be shaped in the face of environmental concerns.

The inspiration for Hooifabriek emerged from an “aha” moment when I realized that everything in the landscape—its vast, treeless fields, straight ditches, and dikes—ultimately serves the production of hay. The installation uses this metaphor to explore the productive relationship between humans and nature in Eemland, likening the entire region to a “machine” that transforms sunlight, water, and nutrients into food. As part of the process, I collected grass samples from the area to study their growth and structure, eventually drying both the grasses and their roots. This act of preservation provided deeper insight into the landscape’s cycle, emphasizing the importance of both the visible plant and the underground root system in maintaining the delicate balance of the ecosystem.

Central to the installation are the dried grass and root samples, suspended at eye level, creating the illusion of a floating meadow. This allows viewers to observe both the familiar grassy landscape and the often-overlooked underground network of roots, which symbolize the depth and complexity of the Eemland ecosystem. Accompanying these physical elements are minimalist photos and video projections of the landscape, highlighting its expansive fields and straight canals, emphasizing the balance between emptiness and abundance. Together, these visual and physical components engage the viewer in a dialogue about the visible and hidden layers of the landscape, as well as the intricate interplay between human intervention and the natural environment.

More about Hooifabriek here (in Dutch)