five fire extinguishers become impromptu painters in rutger de vries' 'colorscape'

rutger de vries has a keenness for color. over the last few years, the amsterdam-based artist has been investigating innovative ways to saturate spaces and surfaces, even designing and building a spray paint printing machine to colorize canvasses and walls. for his most recent installation, recently realized in the netherlands, de vries ‘hacked’ a fire extinguisher — a seemingly inartistic object — to become an impromptu painter.

de vries ‘hacked’ fire extinguishers to become impromptu painters
all images by josé biscaya

completed at the rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in amsterdam — where de vries is an artist in residence — ‘colorscape I’ is an installation comprising five fire extinguishers filled with vibrantly colored pigment. de vries has connected each of the extinguishers to garden sprinklers, turning them into spontaneous ‘painters’. when turned on, the devices spray wild and unexpected patterns, drips, and splashes across the surrounding surfaces. the ‘spatial painting’ sees the walls and floor drenched in an abstract arrangement of overlapping hues. 

the installation is completed at the rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in amsterdam

five fire extinguishers are filled with vibrantly colored pigment

de vries connected each of the extinguishers to garden sprinklers

when turned on, the devices spray unexpected patterns, drips, and splashes across the surrounding walls

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