A large proportion of the Dutch population lives and works under sea-level. Bitter experience has ensured that the country's water management has for many years been regulated right down to the smallest delails by ever more impressive technical methods. Because of that, the average Dutch person hardly pays any attention to this rather unnatural state of affairs. Artist Stefan Grob from Germany is fascinated by this paradoxical matter of staying dry below sea-level. This brought him to the idea that, in the Netherlands, fish should actually live above water. In order to give these water-based creatures the opportunity to conquer the area lost by the Dutch, the artist designed the fishboat. This floating building enables the fish to brave the world above water as aquanauts. During the summer of 1999 this architecture for fish will float on the water around the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAl). The glass colossus is a neat reference to the NAI building that, owing to its open structure and large area of surface glass, offers those within a wide view of the world outside.

Fishboat
The fishboat consists of an elongated container of hardened glass, open underneath. This object -one and a half metres tall and wide, and an average of 25 centimetres deep - has four floats attached to the sides. It will be placed on the water of the NAI and then vacuum-sucked. The resulting upward pressure causes the container to fill with water. Trials with earlier, smaller models has revealed that after a period of habituation, the fish swim into the container of their own accord and explore the world above the water-level. Fish and man will then find themselves at the same height, a situation for which a wetsuit of a storm flood would normally be required.
As the container functions like a sail, the fishboat will float across the water of the NAI and can therefore be viewed from all sides. During the day solar cells will generate energy for the batteries of the lights that ensure that the construction is illuminated at night. The light shines from the floats of the container and so it appears that the water is the source of light.

Stefan Grob
Stefan Grob (1964) was born in Germany and obtained a masters diploma as a glass-blower. He also graduated from the Kunstacademie Saar in saarbrücken. Grob has been living and working in the Netherlands since 1997.
In his work the artist explores light and weightlessness. Whereas he previously worked with leaded glass, he now makes use of the upward pressure exerted on immersed objects.