[HH] WORLDWIDE :: PLANISPHERE © 2023 

[HH] WORLDWIDE :: Planisphere, 2023
Installation of topsoil and 100 bags with drip infusion system
500 x 250 x 250 cm (h)

[HH] WORLDWIDE :: Planisphere is part of the exhibition project Mapping Virtual Water :: Water Footprint / 6.700 l./24 h that investigates the consumption of virtual water, from a perspective that approaches from the macro to the micro (from the global to the scale of the product); relying on quantitative and qualitative data, to try to understand what virtual water is, how it affects our lives, and what we can do to reduce its excessive consumption. To this end, the artistic proposal is presented as a three-dimensional infographic where its textual and graphic elements are distributed on the floor and walls of the exhibition hall, using sculptural and installation language for its formalization and materialization.

Virtual water and the water footprint are environmental indicators that allow us to quantify water flows according to human activities. Virtual water is the volume of water needed directly and indirectly to produce a product (Allan, 1998). It is the hidden flow, the water that we do not see in food or other products that are exchanged from one place to another. The water footprint is understood as the volume of freshwater (rain, surface or groundwater) that we consume in the development of any human activity (Hoekstra and Hung, 2002). By means of the Water Footprint indicator of a product we can quantify the volume of water consumed in its production.

The world node [HH] consists of a large installation that draws a parallel between a planetary cartography and a diseased body, assisted by a drip infusion system. Our cartographic body is made of topsoil, whose boundaries and shapes recreate the different continents. A set of PVC bags, designed for the intravenous administration of liquid solutions, hang from the ceiling and contain water dyed with a food-safe solution, in proportion to the amount of each type of water (blue, green and grey) that each continent possesses.

Responsible water management is essential to minimise human impact on the environment and to ensure a fair and sustainable distribution of water resources. Artistic language can generate a silent and poetic activism to evidence emergency situations that testify to the fragility and danger that lurk in our environment as a consequence of the direct and indirect action we exert on the terrestrial ecosystem. Knowing the water footprint in the present will be key to water management in the future.

CREDITS::

Conceptualisation: Esther Pizarro
Production: Esther Pizarro Studio
Funding: Project carried out with the support of the Community of Madrid and Madrid City Council.

Winning project of the Ayudas a la Creación y a la Movilidad Nacional e Internacional 2022/2023. Madrid City Council.

Winning project of the Grants for Creation in Visual Arts 2021 of the Community of Madrid. 

EXHIBITED IN::

Fundación Arquitectura COAM, Sala Mercadal. “Mapping Virtual Water :: Huella Hídrica / 6.700 l./24 h”. Colegio de Arquitectos de Madrid (COAM), Madrid, España. 30/06/2023 al 30/08/2023.

ASSOCIATED CATALOG::

Pizarro, Esther (2023); Catálogo: Mapping Virtual Water :: Huella Hídrica / 6.700 l./24 h. Autor libro. Textos: Sigfrido Herráez Rodríguez, Rubén Miranda Carreño y Esther Pizarro.  Edita: Fundación Arquitectura COAM. Extensión: 72 páginas. Idioma: español. Formato: 21 x 21 cm. Encuadernación: tapa blanda. ISBN: 978-84-96656-97-0

Información adicional proyecto “Mapping Virtual Water :: Huella Hídrica / 6.700 l./24 h”