Six visitors are welcomed with a glass of water. Later, they are invited to sit at the table. They become guests. They become participants. The menu is placed before them.
The menu is an artwork.
Some elements can be eaten.
Most cannot.
Most cannot.
They must be smelled, touched, held, considered.
Shards.
Sticks.
Ocean shells.
Coconut milk.
Old Dutch pottery.
Molasses.
Sticks.
Ocean shells.
Coconut milk.
Old Dutch pottery.
Molasses.
Most of the materials and objects originate from a research period in the Wadden area, developed within my ongoing project Meebewegen: Principles for Living Among Waters. They carry salt, trade, extraction, and residue. Colonial histories attached to matter. Recurrent histories still unfolding.
Silver plates wait.
The dinner is served live.
Pour.
Smell.
Eat.
Touch.
Listen.
Lay.
Cry if you want.
Pour.
Smell.
Eat.
Touch.
Listen.
Lay.
Cry if you want.
For this occasion, I invited Daniel Alsina Sanrtos (@Bigbstrd) to create a liquidscape. He sampled underwater creatures, shifting currents, and pollutants, composing a submerged sound environment that holds the table like a tide.
Three menus exist. The plate is composed in the moment. There are aesthetic constraints. There is room to play.
As a starfish, we once belonged to a whole.
As a barnacle, we learn to attach.
To hold on.
To survive by proximity.
As a barnacle, we learn to attach.
To hold on.
To survive by proximity.
The table becomes shoreline.
Guests become tide.
Waiters become barnacles.
Guests become tide.
Waiters become barnacles.
Water circulates.
The obvious is offered.
The obvious is offered.
What happens when the only thing to be served
is what was always there?
is what was always there?
An exercise in moving with currents rather than against them a small enactment of a rhizoaquatic practice.
All images courtesy of VHDG, captured by Gerben Vernhout, Leeuwarden 2026.
Special thanks to: Valentina Ferreira, Zjuul Wiersema, Ivana Deric, Daniel Alsina Santos, Lola Diaz, Jurre Huitema, VHDG Club, Kunstruimte H47 and Stichting Stokroos.
All rights reserved.
