Tag: Visual Art

Burchardi Flood or Grote Mendrenke

German annalist and farmer Peter Sax (1597 – 1662) wrote about the North Sea flood of October 11th 1634: „Um sechs Uhr am abend fing Gott der Herr aus dem Osten mit Wind und Regen zu wettern, um sieben wendete er den Wind nach dem Südwesten und ließ ihn so stark wehen, daß fast kein Menschen gehen oder stehen konnte, um acht und neun waren alle Deiche schon zerschlagen […] Gott der Herr ließ donnern, regnen, hageln, blitzen und den Wind so kräftig wehen, daß die Grundfeste der Erde sich bewegten […] um zehn Uhr war alles geschehen.“

Translation: “…at six o’clock at night the Lord God began to fulminate with wind and rain from the east; at seven He turned the wind to the southwest and let it blow so strong that hardly any man could walk or stand; at eight and nine all dikes were already smitten… The Lord God [sent] thunder, rain, hail lightning and such a powerful wind that the Earth’s foundation was shaken… at ten o’clock everything was over.”

The Water Creature of New Orleans

Artist Carole Alden led the design and creation of this 30-foot floating sculpture, working primarily with salvaged materials. The sculpture swam in the Bayou St. John in New Orleans in August 2019 and is now on display at The Green Project. Find out more here. A projet by Blue House, Civic Studio with Water Leaders Institute.

USA; 21. Century; Christian; Visual Art, Sculpture; City: New Orleans

Olphaert den Otter: Beauty without well-being

One of many images from the “World Stress Painting” series Dutch visual artist Olphaer den Otter began in 2019. He calls it: “A never-ending series that lends visual interpretation to the four elements, made by human intervention into catastrophes. A catalogue of beauty without well-being.”

Netherlands; 21. Century; Christian; Painting

Old Maps of Future Floodings

There are many projects for the visualisation of the effects of rising sea levels. The US-American company Climate Central presents dozens of photo-realistic images of potentially flooded areas. Like the flooded Super Bowl Stadium in Florida:

They even offer animated gifs and other before-after-imagery. In this example a section of Hamburg in Germany now (left side) and 50 years from now (right).

A different approach is the speculative cartography by designer Jeffrey Linn. His “retrofuture” maps appear like antiques but depict future scenarios. In this case, a partially flooded San Francisco Bay. His work is for sale here

USA; 21. Century; Christian; Photography, Maps, Illustration; Cities: San Franscisco, Hamburg

All Saints Flood

The All Saints’ Flood (Dutch: Allerheiligenvloed) of 1570 was a disaster which happened on November 1, on the Dutch and German coast. Affected cities include Egmond, Bergen op Zoom and Saeftinghe. The print by Hans Moser depicts the Scheldt river overflowing.

According to a popular legend, the bells of the church of the city Saeftinghe can be heard calling for help on foggy days.

Netherlands; 16. Century; Christian; Print; City: Saeftinghe

Morana (Morena)

This is an idol of the Slav goddess Morana. In the folktale as penned by Stepan Gedeonow, the godess takes revenge on the people of Rethra by flooding the tempel and city. The reason for the demise and the geographical position of Rethra are not scientifically verified.

Poland; probably 20. Century; Pagan; Sculpture; City: Rethra

The Lord Krishna in the Golden City

The painting (circa 1585) depicts the blue-skinned Krishna, an incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu, enthroned on a golden palace and surrounded by his kinsmen in the Golden City Dwarka.

The mythical city Dwarka, also known as Dvārakā or Dvāravatī (Sanskrit द्वारका “the gated [city]”), one of the seven holy cities for Hindus, is believed to have sunken beneath the Arab Sea. Since the late 1980s scientists have been searching for it’s remains off the coast of Gujarat. There is also a modern city on the coast with the same name, Dwarka.

Saint Guénolé, abbé de Landévennec, sauvant le roi Gradlon lors de la submersion de la ville d’Ys

Stained glass window from 1917 representing “Saint Guénolé, abbé de Landévennec, sauvant le roi Gradlon lors de la submersion de la ville d’Ys” in the Church of Saint-Germain in Kerlaz.

Information about the legend of the sunken kingdom Ys and it’s assumed location.

Franz Karl Basler-Kopp (1879–1937): Der Schimmelreiter

German painter Basler-Kopp painted two images in 1924 after Thodor Storm’s novel “Rider on the White Horse” one of the best knows examples of German literary realism of late 19. Century. Contrary ot the genre of the text, these images are clearly rooted in romanticism but also show the influence of early expressionism. (Basler-Kopp was best knwon for his fairytale illustrations.) They give a good example of the allure of flooding and extreme coastal weather events had on the visual arts at the time.