It’s an inevitable process: weather conditions and wind deposit dirt on the outdoor artworks on TU/e campus. Especially the Floor Reliefs by artist Ad Dekkers have been affected over the years, says TU/e custodian Gerard Verhoogt: “They’re practically black, but originally they’re white”.

In order to be able to properly clean the Piet Killaars sculpture, 650 cubic meters of water have been drained from the pond this week. The water level is now forty centimeters, so the many fish can stay. On Wednesday a scaffold was put up around Wording. The sculpture and the Floor Reliefs will be cleaned this Saturday by means of so-called vortex cleaning: a mild way of hosing down the art. Both artworks will then undergo some minor repairs, and they’ll be coated with a silicate-based water repellent that’s supposed to protect them from the weather for quite some time.

Fixing up the two works of art will cost approximately sixteen thousand euros, says Verhoogt. The pond will be refilled to its original level with clean water after the restoration.