The Ice Fountain Birthe Leemeijer

Dokkum

The Ice Fountain is a toy for the elements and no two days are the same. The ice draws patterns on the copper surface layer of the sculpture. The extent to which the fountain does - or does not - form ice depends on the sun, the humidity, the temperature, the wind and the rainfall. Energy for the Ice Fountain is generated by solar panels. Surrounding the fountain are trees which turn red in the Autumn, symbolising Boniface and his followers who were murdered in Dokkum. To achieve the maximum shadow, the sculpture uses a systematic arrangement of leaves around a center point - the result of more than 100 million years of evolution in the plant world.

New cultural heritage
in eleven Dutch cities

copper, cooling pipes, solar panels, trees
2 m high, 3 m wide

Inspiration: the Eleven Cities ice skating race and climate change
Location: the Market square

Birthe Leemeijer
(The Netherlands)

Birthe Leemeijer (1972) lets us experience nature in a sensory way. But not without conditions, as she points out, almost in passing, that nature and the landscape are undergoing drastic changes, with unforeseeable consequences. She brings together various forms of knowledge in her research. For her a sense of unfulfilled desire, of something missing in a specific location is an important source of inspiration to explore to the full.

www.birtheleemeijer.nl