Several years ago when I read that five million people die every year from water-related diseases, I wondered why there was no alarm sounding. While the figure haunted me, it felt impossible to imagine, so I got my calculator and figured out how many people die every day. It was then I realized I had to translate this visually. The installation, 13,699,  is being created to raise awareness of the number of people who die every day from water-related diseases because they do not have access to clean water. To symbolize these deaths, one clear plastic water bottle cap is used to represent each person. The object of this installation is to present the opportunity to experience physically the magnitude of this humanitarian crisis statistic.

Several years ago when I read that five million people die every year from water-related diseases, I wondered why there was no alarm sounding. While the figure haunted me, it felt impossible to imagine, so I got my calculator and figured out how many people die every day. It was then I realized I had to translate this visually. The installation, 13,699, is being created to raise awareness of the number of people who die every day from water-related diseases because they do not have access to clean water. To symbolize these deaths, one clear plastic water bottle cap is used to represent each person. The object of this installation is to present the opportunity to experience physically the magnitude of this humanitarian crisis statistic.

The caps have been collected from the Keene, NH recycling center. Tens of thousands of clear plastic water bottle caps are strung on monofilament and hung from a 10´ x 10´ metal grid. An 8´ x 8´ x 8´ steel frame supports the grid and has one point of access and exit. There is an open five foot circle in the middle.  The clear plastic circular caps echo the open circular space within the square. The lines, strung with bottle caps, are hung from the metal grid at staggered three inch increments in a circular configuration around and above the open center circle. The choice of using plastic bottle caps calls attention to other related environmental issues surrounding bottled water, such as privatization, depletion of aquifers, the environmental impact of plastic waste, the use of fossil fuels in making plastic, the carbon footprint of shipping bottled water, and the leaching of plastic into our water sources.

Primarily a print maker and painter, my work, which is non-representational, has always been informed by the landscape. As my awareness of global water issues grew, I made the decision to make water the theme of all of my work. In 2007 I realized that my serene fine art could not communicate all I wanted to say about these important issues and decided to design an installation that illustrated disturbing statistics with the same meditative qualities as my two-dimensional work. My intention is to engender an appreciation for and stewardship of one of our most precious natural resources – water, as well as inspire advocacy for the disenfranchised who are trying to live without basic needs.

Making it Public
The production of 13,699  is as important as the installation itself. Most people I’ve encountered in New England are not aware of the global water crisis and the degree of suffering caused by lack of clean water. But they want to hear as well as do something about it. I have worked with high school students in Keene, Peterborough, and Concord on the production of 13,699. I have engaged the public at GreenFest, an environmental festival, at Government Center in Boston in September of 2008 by setting up a table where bottle caps were strung by many participants. Graduate students at Antioch New England strung bottle caps after listening to my presentation at their semi-annual student coffee house in November. In July, the project will be installed at the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, NH and it will be part of the exhibit, Down Stream, at the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery at Keene State College in September. Students at the Salem Academy Charter School in Massachusetts are drilling and stringing bottle caps as a senior service project. Working on this project in a group offers an opportunity to talk about what we as individuals can do to change our personal water use habits.

For more information, please call me at 603.827.3744
or email at
cdestrempes@myfairpoint.

Christine Destrempes
PO Box 176
Harrisville, NH  03450