Agua Viva
An immersive video-mapping installation that explores water as the origin of life, a place of healing, and a fundamental human right. Through the body, light, and projections onto water itself, the work invites audiences to rediscover our most intimate relationship with the element that makes all life possible.
Details
Agua Viva is an immersive video installation that places the human body within its most essential element: water.
The footage was recorded underwater and later projected onto the surface of water itself, allowing the moving image to return to the very element from which it originated. The projection dissolves the boundaries between body, movement, and matter, creating the sensation that the female figure naturally belongs to the liquid landscape.
The woman emerges, floats, plays, and surrenders to the water's embrace. Her body moves effortlessly within the element, evoking the primordial bond that has connected human beings to water since the very beginning of life.
Through image, light, and movement, Agua Viva creates a contemplative experience that invites viewers to rediscover their intimate relationship with water and to recognize it not only as the source of life, but also as a place of well-being, healing, and profound connection with nature.
| Year | 2018 – ongoing |
|---|---|
| Format | Immersive video-mapping installation |
| Media | Underwater video, projection onto water, sound, water basin, and light |
| Dimensions | Variable, adapted to the exhibition space |
| Duration | Continuous loop | Location | Adaptable to museums, galleries, festivals, and site-responsive environments |
| Availability | Available for exhibitions, festivals, and commissioned projects, subject to confirmation |
| Credits |
Concept & Artistic Direction:
Marjorie Chau
Dancer:
Marina Sans
Camera:
Nicolas Spencer
Video editing:
Nicolas Spencer
Photography & Post-production:
Juan Saez
Costume:
Yumiko Berlin Boutique
|
Chronology
2018 — Berlin Leuchtet, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany
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Water as Body and Ritual
Across cultures and throughout history, water has been revered as a symbol of purification, transformation, and renewal. Immersion has long meant more than cleansing the body, it has been a ritual of preparing the spirit, healing, beginning anew, and restoring balance with oneself and the natural world.
In Agua Viva, the female body is not presented as something separate from water. Both become a single living presence. The images were recorded underwater and projected back onto water itself, allowing the work to remain within the same element that gave it life and reinforcing the idea that body and water are inseparable.
A Right Essential to Life
Water is a shared resource and a fundamental human right. Yet climate change, pollution, and unsustainable consumption increasingly threaten the very element that sustains all forms of life, while access to clean water becomes ever more unequal.
What was once considered inexhaustible is now revealing its fragility. Water sustains not only ecosystems, but also our communities, our bodies, and our shared future.
A Call to Care
In many parts of the world, turning on a tap and finding clean water still feels like an ordinary gesture. Yet for millions of people, it is no longer a certainty. Access to water is gradually becoming a privilege where it was once understood as a common good.
Agua Viva offers a moment of contemplation that encourages an intimate awareness grounded in gratitude and care for this essential element. It reminds us that protecting water also means protecting the very possibility of life itself.
And it leaves us with an open question:
How will we care for the element that gave us life and continues to sustain it?