The former private forest estate of Amelisweerd has emerged into a popular recreational site and home to a rich flora and fauna. The construction and later expansion of the A27 highway, cutting right through it, keeps sparking criticism from locals and (human) activists, leading to an actual court-case. To fill in blind spots in this debate, Cream on Chrome collected voices and perspectives of animals, human organizations and plants around the forest.

Set up as an interactive court hearing at Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd, the installation invites people to dive into testimonies of local “stakeholders”: Water, bats, roads, trees and recreation culture. 

Each of them are represented by a trophy sculpture placed on wooden pillars. Visitors can take one of them and place them on the central pillar to wirelessly activate a corresponding video on screen. The multivocal debate traces experiences, merits and challenges of living in more-than-human communities.

Over the period of one year our team conducted field research in the woodlands of Amelisweerd, gathering impressions, samples and knowledge from experts on the local ecosystem. 

The resulting video testimonies were created in collaboration with visual artist Lindsey Bundel. Their own visual language reveals the actor’s point of view, what their motives are and how the highway extension would affect them. 

Also the interactive sculptures were strongly informed by the experiences made in the forest. Being physical objects, however, other means of abstraction were used to represent each actor.

This project was created for the exhibition “Gardening Amelisweerd” about humans, nature and tech at and around the Landhuis venue. The organizer, Creative Coding Utrecht, estimates that around 3000 visitors came by during the two months. The artwork sparked thoughtful discussions among visitors, many of whom found the subject relevant to their lives. 

In 2024, the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure confirmed plans to widen the A27 highway, rejecting an alternative proposal by the city and province of Utrecht that claimed to be cheaper and more environmentally friendly.