From the editors
AS THE WIND RISES AND FALLS Words Tuyen Le
If the Netherlands could choose a flag to represent its culture, the wood windmill would be the single most iconic thing to be on it. With such a tight knitted relationship that this country has for wind, the 2000s era has cultivated the wind into energy, and technology no longer evoke the same feelings as the friendly windmill, but rather, aliens in the empty fields, blank obstructions by the lonely highways. While they hold virtually no meaningful cultural values, can we still humanise the industrial wind turbines? Can we care for them as part of the modern relationship that the Netherlands associates with wind as it rises and falls?
Our good ol’ view of the windmill is through its relationship with the wind, land, water, air, and people. Weaved into the daily routines of pumping water, agricultural irrigation, and crop milling, it maintains a nostalgic emotion for the people of the Netherlands. Nonetheless, it also entails the struggle that the Netherlands has with the same elements to this day, and history stands with them through the lens of honour and appreciation. As one moves on to the modern-day wind power here in the Netherlands, they can see the herds of monolithic wind turbines, mindlessly spinning their wings, whereas most of us gaze at them from the window frame of our choice of commute. The industrial “cousin” of these wood windmills, the wind turbine, no one would show interest in visiting or taking photos of them.
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