Within the European project Turning the Tide, this article by Bernd Herger explores how Sonya Darrow and Reinhold Zisser developed the participatory project Watersculptures—a process that connects water, movement, science, and artistic creation across different locations in Vienna.
Turning the Tide in Vienna: Water as Process
As part of Turning the Tide, Sonya Darrow and Reinhold Zisser approached water not as a fixed object, but as a process that unfolds over time and space.
Their project was structured as a series of workshops, each taking place at a different water-related site in Vienna. Rather than presenting a finished artwork from the beginning, the artists created a framework in which participants gradually developed their own works.
Within Turning the Tide, this approach shifts the focus from production to process.
The Turning the Tide Artwork: Watersculptures
At the center of the project was a simple but precise idea: participants collected water from different locations and carried it with them throughout the entire process.
Each participant worked with a single container, gradually filling and transforming it across the workshops.
The project unfolded in three stages:
The first workshop took place at the Brigittenauer Sporn, at the Nussdorf weir and the BOKU hydraulic engineering laboratory. Participants were introduced to scientific perspectives on water, including flood protection, ecology, and climate change. At this site, they collected water from the Danube.
The second workshop took place at the Seestadt lake. Here, the focus shifted toward perception and reflection. Participants explored the relationship between a constructed urban water body and natural water cycles. The water collected earlier was combined with water from the Seestadt lake.
The third workshop led to the Lobau, specifically to the groundwater system that contributes to Vienna’s drinking water supply. During a walk through this landscape, participants reflected on their own artistic approaches. At this stage, the collected water was mixed again—this time with water from the Lobau—completing the process.
Through this sequence, water was not only collected, but transformed. It became a carrier of experience, memory, and place.
From Process to Presentation
The final works were presented in the exhibition Turning the Tide – Watersculptures at the LLLLL artist-run space.
The bottles, which had accompanied the participants throughout the process, became the basis of the artworks. The forms of presentation varied: some participants worked with text, others with installation or performative approaches.
The exhibition did not present a unified aesthetic. Instead, it reflected the diversity of individual positions that had emerged from the shared process.
Why This Work Matters in Turning the Tide
The significance of Watersculptures lies in its structure.
Rather than creating a single artwork, the project enabled participants to develop their own perspectives. The artists acted less as producers and more as facilitators of a process.
This approach connects artistic practice with scientific knowledge and personal experience. Participants engaged with water not only conceptually, but physically and spatially.
Within Turning the Tide, this creates a strong link between art, education, and environmental awareness.
Turning the Tide as a Collective Practice
Participation was central to the project. People from different backgrounds—artists, scientists, and interested individuals—worked together over time.
The shared process created connections between participants and between the different sites. Water became the medium that linked these experiences.
The act of carrying, mixing, and transforming water established a continuity that extended beyond individual workshops.
Beyond the Exhibition
An important aspect of the project lies in what happens after the exhibition.
The final gesture remains open. The water can be archived, combined, or returned to the natural cycle.
This openness reflects a key idea of Turning the Tide: that artistic processes do not end with presentation, but continue beyond it.
Conclusion: What Turning the Tide Makes Visible Through Watersculptures
Can water become a sculpture?
The work of Sonya Darrow and Reinhold Zisser suggests that it can—if we understand sculpture not as a fixed object, but as a process shaped by time, movement, and participation.
Within Turning the Tide, water becomes more than a resource. It becomes a medium through which relationships, places, and experiences are connected.
Turning the Tide – Kann Wasser zur Skulptur werden? Sonya Darrow & Reinhold Zisser
Der folgende Artikel ist auch auf Englisch verfügbar.
Im Rahmen des europäischen Projekts Turning the Tide zeigt dieser von Bernd Herger verfasste Beitrag, wie Sonya Darrow und Reinhold Zisser mit dem Projekt Watersculptures einen künstlerischen Prozess entwickelt haben, der Wasser, Orte und Erfahrungen miteinander verbindet.
Turning the Tide in Wien: Wasser als Prozess
Im Kontext von Turning the Tide verstehen Sonya Darrow und Reinhold Zisser Wasser nicht als Objekt, sondern als Prozess.
Das Projekt wurde als Reihe von Workshops konzipiert, die an unterschiedlichen wasserbezogenen Orten in Wien stattfanden. Dabei stand nicht ein fertiges Kunstwerk im Vordergrund, sondern die gemeinsame Entwicklung.
Das Kunstwerk im Rahmen von Turning the Tide: Watersculptures
Im Zentrum stand die Sammlung und Transformation von Wasser.
Teilnehmer:innen arbeiteten mit einem Gefäß, das sie durch alle Workshops begleitete.
Der erste Workshop fand am Brigittenauer Sporn beim Nussdorfer Wehr und im Wasserbaulabor der BOKU statt. Dort wurde Donauwasser gesammelt und ein wissenschaftlicher Zugang eröffnet.
Der zweite Workshop führte in die Seestadt Aspern, wo der künstlich angelegte See im Mittelpunkt stand. Hier wurde das Wasser miteinander vermischt und die Wahrnehmung von Wasser reflektiert.
Der dritte Workshop fand in der Lobau statt, einem zentralen Gebiet für die Wiener Trinkwasserversorgung. Im Zuge einer Wanderung wurde das Wasser erneut gemischt und der Prozess abgeschlossen.
Von der Praxis zur Ausstellung
Die entstandenen Arbeiten wurden in der Ausstellung Turning the Tide – Watersculptures im LLLLL artist-run space präsentiert.
Die Wasserflaschen bildeten die Grundlage der künstlerischen Arbeiten, die in unterschiedlichen Formen umgesetzt wurden.
Warum diese Arbeit im Rahmen von Turning the Tide relevant ist
Die Stärke des Projekts liegt in seiner Prozesshaftigkeit.
Die Künstler:innen schaffen keinen einzelnen Gegenstand, sondern einen Rahmen, in dem unterschiedliche Positionen entstehen können.
Turning the Tide als kollektive Praxis
Das Projekt bringt Menschen aus unterschiedlichen Bereichen zusammen und verbindet wissenschaftliche, künstlerische und persönliche Perspektiven.
Über die Ausstellung hinaus
Ein zentrales Element ist die Offenheit des Abschlusses. Die Frage, was mit dem Wasser geschieht, bleibt bewusst offen.
Fazit: Was Turning the Tide sichtbar macht
Kann Wasser zur Skulptur werden?
Das Projekt zeigt, dass dies möglich ist – wenn Skulptur als Prozess verstanden wird.
Turning the Tide macht sichtbar, dass Wasser nicht nur Ressource ist, sondern Verbindung.
