Interactive sculpture with LED-light by Margot Berkman for the Oncology Center, Spaarne Hospital in Hoofddorp, Holland

From 16 May 2018, a hanging sculpture with the title The Ocean Breathes – Sealight
by artist Margot Berkman will be on permanent display at the Oncology Center in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands.

The official unveiling will take place on Wednesday 16 May 2018 at 4.30 pm by
Peter van Barneveld, retiring chairman of the Spaarne Gasthuis, in the presence of the artist.

Margot Berkman was commissioned to make a work of art for the 15-meter-long void. First she investigated the function of the space. Visitors, or clients of The Oncology Center stay there for some time, they wait. Sometimes alone, sometimes with together several people, in the hope of a good message. They make a nice chat or they are in silence. The space is clear and clean.

The art committee of the Spaarne Gasthuis explains that ‘Art in a hospital provides a moment of distraction, inspiration, consolation and surprise. It breaks the clinical atmosphere and creates a personal and welcoming environment. Art makes you feel at home somewhere. ” Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing who lived in the 19th century, stated: “Variety of shape and brilliance of color in the object presented to patients is a real means of recovery.”

The Ocean Breathes – Sealight by Margot Berkman is an interactive light artwork. Visitors can change the colors of the work as a luminous floating seaweed. It therefore has a meditative quality.pe

The branch-like shape hangs wavy through the open space of the void and can be admired from every floor. Both from the ground floor and from the first and second floor.

Margot Berkman finds her inspiration in the water, both below and above sea level. The ocean gives her peace and feeling of immeasurable space. The sea breathes. Seaweed provides 54% of our oxygen in the air. They are, as it were, the lungs of the sea.
www.margotberkman.nl

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