Many months of collaboration with wonderful people culminated in a magnificent unveiling of The Cloud. The large scale artwork, brimming with self-reflection, now graces the Gorlaeus Building of the Faculty of Science of Leiden University. I thank them for the commission and congratulate them on their role as patrons for new art.

Science and art
The Cloud was selected by a jury from various entries submitted in response to the open call from Leiden University. Their call was to create a large scale artwork, that should ignite wonder and curiosity, engage the general public and connect with themes important to the faculty.

Creating a work of art for a university building was a new endeavor for me. I drew inspiration from the research environment. Scientists and artists have more in common than we think. Although the methods of work and conceptualisation of new knowledge and strategies vary, both artists and scientists use their intuition, imagination and creativity. I had this in mind during the artistic process.

With this art installation, I wanted to contemplate how we can represent the vast amount of data and knowledge we find, collect and produce in science. To visualise the concept of data, I chose a form that can be seen as a point cloud, a series of data points in space. I designed the cloud to be abstract so that anyone can identify with it in any conceivable way. After all, looking at scientific data and making sense of it can indeed be an intuitive and personal process.

Light takes the centre stage
As a light artist I often work with projected light, so I wanted to create an artwork in this well-lit atrium that uses the available light. I chose to use translucent material that appears to capture the light. The colours I use refer to natural and human-made light phenomena: the warm colour of an evening sun shining into the atrium, the colour of moonlight and the radiantly glowing colour of man-made light.

The artwork changes depending on the weather and light conditions and the position of the viewer in the building. The sculpture consists of hundreds of little panels, each placed in three dimensions in space. From a distance, you can see the entire cloud. The cloud seems to move because the space is reflected in it. As you get closer, you see the individual points.

Standing underneath and looking up, you see your own reflection, and that of the people and objects around you. It encourages reflection: on the building, the people within it, and ourselves. When we examine the details of the biggest and smallest, are we not usually seeking more knowledge about ourselves? The reflective elements not only show us many pieces of the puzzle we call life, but also of ourselves.

23
Ever since my childhood, I have had my own ‘sequence of numbers’ based on the number 23. In my playful reasoning, I added 32, because 3+2 is also 5. And then there are the numbers 14, 41, 50 and 5 itself. The numbers serve as anchor points for choices I make, both in my life and in my work. Usually, the numbers are inconspicuously incorporated and not visible.

For The Cloud, I chose to deliberately use the numbers to decide on proportions and other aesthetic choices. For instance:

• the number of panels is 23²
• the ratio of the grid to which all panels are attached is 41 x 23
• the distances within the grid are 23 centimetres
• the hanging elements measure 14 x 14 centimetres

The creators
Designing The Cloud is one thing. Making it come to life is another. Many wonderful people have helped, and I thank them very much for that.

The faculty's Fine Mechanics Department was involved in prototyping the special pen incorporated into the panels. Parts of the artwork have been co-drawn, made and assembled with the cooperation of Glenn Hoogenboom (3D and fine mechanics), Eline Oppewal (3D visualisation), Erwin Zirkzee and colleagues (aluminium welding), Ember van der Lee, Lars Floris and Anika van de Wijngaard (wire and panel assembly, panel preparation on location), Chloé Blansjaar and Charlie Jansen (panel and frame assembly), Willem Verheij (frame preparation and assembly). For hoisting and fixing the frame, riggers Floris de Heer and Menno brought their skills, Niek Kosters hoisted along and hung the elements on the frame, one by one. Frances Rompas made a documentary about my artistic process and development around this artwork.