As It Came Out of The Earth, It Returns (Roba)

Clay, fishing net strings, and seaweed entangled with plastic strings collected from the coastline of The Hague, epoxy resin, and metal wires

A starting point for this work is a fishing trap from the Middle Ages, that was found from the archaeological excavation site in Binckhorst, an area in The Hague, where the new car tunnel is being built. 

The fishing trap made me think about its materiality, as it is natural – made of wooden roods – something that can decompose quickly and therefore potentially could not be found and written in the history of objects because of its unknown decomposed body.

I started to question the contemporary materials used in the fishing industry, as aquaculture has played a big part in Dutch history, and it still does. During the research, I came across different types of plastic, like nylon and polyester, the primary materials that are used for fishing traps, nets, and monofilaments. The process of plastic decomposing starts from 35 up to 600 years; it will break down into smaller pieces and continue its existence within a different form and meaning.

Within this work, I question the methods of archaeology. Currently, in archaeology plastic objects are not preserved as part of the history, they are usually left at the excavation sites as they are considered as trash. He speculates on the topic of future archaeology, by creating his versions of a mixture of natural debris together with findings from the seaside in The Hague – pieces of fishing nets, traps, and ropes that have been brought to the shore by the sea. Furthermore, I aim to bring up the discussion of the matter of plastic and future archaeology – how material considered as trash travels through time, leaving the footprint of our current times.

Work exhibited at a group exhibition Six Degrees of Separation at Stichting De Besturing, The Hague, Netherlands.