I was given a fossil from the last Ice Age at the Zandmotor, an artificial sand bank off the coast near The Hague. and As I have always had an certain affinity for archaeology and palaeontology, it piqued my interest. Researching on its origins I soon discovered that the North Sea is also used to be a former land bridge, today known as Doggerland.
Before I knew it, I found myself beachcombing on the Zandmotor, searching the sand for bones or possible artifacts from the past. My fieldwork had similarities with an excavation and initially and I used it as a metaphor to describe my activities. But Along my research Since I was also ‘collected’ encounters with citizen scientists, cultural legacies, contemporary artefacts and other curiosities, which turned my journey into an Extra*vation. since my intention is to add my extended research to the Zandmotor.
I examined assembled my multimedia collection which, given its variety and uniqueness, had similarities with resembles the specimen collections of ‘Wunderkammern’. I applied and extended this traditional classification system to organize my research content stating that the Zandmotor itself is a ‘Wunderkammer’. I collected all my research in a collectors box, creating a unique collection of the space, and designed spatial happenings where visitors of the beach can experience my research through the narrative of a fictional beachcomber, discovering all sort of curiosities on the Zandmotor.