The history of the Rhine is gradually being transformed into a corset that serves human needs and industries alike. Through our use and interventions, such as the straightening of the once wild river, its characteristics and melody are changing. Orchestrated control transforms the flow of the Rhine into an artificial rhythm.
At the center of these developments are the Rhine’s most important resources: gravel and sand. This natural wealth, which is essential for industries, becomes the basis of concrete, the foundation of the construction industry. This natural metamorphosis ‘from mountain to sand’ is disturbed – the accelerated flow, a consequence of river bed changes, gravel extraction and hydroelectric power stations, interrupts the natural movement and changes the course of the river.
The staging of nature and the human interventions that transformed the once free-flowing Rhine into a regulated instrument stand as witness to the complex relationship between nature and the industries it sustains.