Drawing Water    2002

As a practicing architect I have experimented with the many ways in which water can determine the form of buildings. How can rain be collected and directed away from the house; how can water flow indoors to fulfill human need.

The architect uses function, structure and material as media to make art.

I have a summer house near the beach on Long Island and decided to build a new outdoor shower house. I experimented with ways that rain could be brought inside to feed indoor showers and to flush toilets. I directed rain water to specific trees. I controlled the flow of rain to produce pools and gardens. I built sinks that used water collected form the sky. I built a conical cistern that connected to a garden hose. I make a portable rain catcher by inverting an umbrella. I transformed twelve standard buckets and developed new ways to carry them and to remove water from them. I built hats that would collect water in their brims and then transfer it to bottles strapped to a belt or to a bucket worn on a person’s back. I built aqueducts that carried rain from outside a window and transferred it to a bucket indoors. I make a community drinking fountain. I collected rain in garbage bags. I experiment with principle of water seeking its own level.

A garden hose suspended over the landscape; water draws a continuous line.
A lawn sprinkler paints a square of green; contrasting the brown stricken grass.