De Drinkplaats is a magical place where deer gather to drink from an endlessly running source. When you enter the magical ring of mushrooms, you shed all your strange pelts and masks and become one with nature. The more players gather, the more forest animals come to witness the idyllic scene. Drinking from the water, turns the deer into one of those animals, of varying sizes. Two new animals were added for the occasion: a white rabbit and a black crow.
De Drinkplaats was added to The Endless Forest in response to a commission by Christophe De Jaeger for the Fantastic Illusions exhibition. Fantastic Illusions is a show of work by contemporary Chinese and Belgian artists that refers to the romantic desire to step into a picture and become imersed in it ("Die Sehnsuch im bild zu sein"). The exhibition ran in the Shanghai MoCA from September to October 2009 and opened in the Kortrijk Broelmuseum in November 2009. The Broelmuseum has a fine collection of 16th century paintings by the Flemish painter Roelandt Savery. In that room, two computers were installed where visitors could play The Endless Forest.
One of Savery's paintings, entitled "De Drinkplaats" (The Watering Hole), served as the direct inspiration for this addition to the Forest. But the actual shape of the fountain was taken from a real life watering hole that we found in the garden of the museum surrounded by trees and shrubs. We immediately imagined deer gathering round peacefully and strange magic happening.