Many artists recognize water as a necessary component of art because it serves as the primary base for paints and clays. Artist Matthew Dahaemers recognizes that water’s importance extends beyond the artistic realm as the primary building block of life.

In his exhibit “Watered Down: An Installation by Matthew Dahaemers,” which is opening at the Lied Gallery on Sept. 17 and introducing a corresponding lecture series, Creighton alumnus Dahaemers uses artistic expression to illuminate water-specific issues. His focus on sustainability is reinforced by his use of materials like wood, water, clay, straws and clock motors. The main centerpiece of the exhibit is a giant water wall.

“The wall consists of over 3,000 hand-dyed bottles of water, which recreates an American advertisement selling bottled water,” Dahaemers said. “The entire installation centers on water issues specific to the Midwest, regionally, nationally and globally.”

The brightly-illuminated water wall traces out a woman’s lips as she is about to take a casual sip of water from a water bottle. On the adjacent wall is a video of Ethiopian women wearily carrying jugs as they cross rough terrain in search of water. This severe juxtaposition of images is a technique Dehaemers uses consistently throughout the exhibit.

Dahaemers says he is delighted to be back to the Lied Gallery, after presenting his senior BFA show at the gallery in 1996. He said the theme was first inspired by the early years of the war in Iraq, when it was difficult for the Iraqi population to obtain even the most rudimentary source of well-being: water.

“There was this little known YouTube video of U.S. soldiers on the back of a convoy truck dangling a bottle of water out the back of the truck at some boys who were frantically running behind this fairly speedy truck,” Dahaemers said. “The soldiers egged these boys on for many, many blocks. Eventually one boy was left running after the bottle of water the soldiers were still dangling.”

The YouTube video prompted Dahaemers’ interest in further research on water availability throughout the world. He said most Americans view water as a convenience that is readily and endlessly available for consumption. In third world countries, women have to walk several miles each day to a water source, which is often filled with tainted water.

“For us, water is a convenience,” Dahaemers said. “For them, it is a way of life. Every drop counts.”

Dahaemers said viewers will hear the sound of a drop of water every 20 seconds, which represents the statistic that a child dies every 20 seconds from water deprivation in the world.

Even though Dehaemers dedicates a lot of the exhibit to international issues, he also raises awareness of sustainability on a domestic level. One of the pieces, which was inspired by his drive back-and-forth from his hometown of Kansas City to Creighton, depicts the United States’ largest aquifer, which supplies many of the Midwest region’s farming communities. Using clocks, constructed ethanol pumps and plastic tubing that represents cornstalks, Dehaemers demonstrates the dilemma of population growth and limited resources.

The Council Bluffs Recycling Center’s education coordinator, Shannon Meister, has provided recycled materials to Dehaemers for his previous projects. She echoes Dehaemers’ statement that the water crisis hits closer to home than many Americans realize.

“I believe the biggest challenge facing America and the world when it comes to sustainability is education,” Meister said. “People need to truly understand that we do have finite resources and we need to properly take care of and preserve the resources we can.”

Meister is one of the guest lecturers in the series, along with Robert Glennon, a law professor at the James E. Rogers College of Law in Arizona and author of the book “Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to Do About It.”

Creighton chemistry professor Gary Michels, Ph.D., who is directing a water purification project through the Institute for Latin American Concern, combines scientific and social justice solutions in his presentation aimed to mobilize students. He said people in third world countries need to be educated on how to properly use water treatment technologies for long-term improvements. The severity of the situation, he added, can only be understood through experience.

“Students need to experience poverty and poor conditions,” Michels said. “These sorts of things will open students’ eyes and hearts to stand in solidarity with the poor.”

“Watered Down” and the adjoining lecture series will analyze the current water crisis from scientific, social justice and creative angles. Both Dehaemers and Meister agree that spreading awareness and accurate information about sustainability is key to finding solutions.

“I think art can be a communication medium that can, in a sense, construct a picture–freeze a frame or aspects of a particular issue or topic,” Dahaemers said. “I do this through a variety of tangible materials that we are familiar with but might otherwise relate to in a different context in our everyday. My goal as an artist is to find a way to take you out of your everyday mode of thinking and, if only for half a minute, get you to focus on and process something coming at you from a different way of thinking through artful means.”