This exhibition caters to a broad audience, and covers a wide variety of interests, it is therefore no surprise that it has drawn so many visitors to the Standard Bank Art Gallery. The tenuous relationship that humankind has with nature and its role as guardian of the environment are investigated through the works on show. Various themes are present, and are reflected through various areas of interest such as science, biology, robotics, the social condition, spirituality and environmental.

A performance piece by Neustetter: Action 1, created for the opening night, greeted the viewers as they were led along a tunnel against which water was being hosed, while Action 2, a work in progress, was being created in the downstairs space of the gallery. These two works as well as his installation 'And Yet It Revolves' - Galileo Gallilei 2011, celebrates the wonder of water while pondering man's impact on the environment. An interesting dialogue is set up by juxtaposing Durant Shilali's painting 'Kliptown Floods' next to Neustetter's installation, where man carries on with his daily tasks in spite of the devastation caused by nature.

The negative human impact on water is reflected strongly through Max Bannister's 'Return 2010', from his Plastikos series. Here the ever increasing swirling mass of plastic waste infiltrates our oceans and devastates its life forms, is depicted in a deceptively beautiful piece made up out of plastic bags that were found at polluted sites.

The South African context, as well as the destructive force of water, is portrayed in Andrew Verster's charchoal drawings and Noria Mabasa's wooden sculpture, all of which were produced in response to devastating floods in South Africa and Mozambique in the 1980's. Climatic change and its effects upon the population and the environment is further explored through Strydom van Der Merwe's photo documents of land art works, depicting drought conditions in South Africa.

Alan Crump and William Kentridge's contributions explore the manner in which the mining industry has affected our water resources and environment. While Norman Catherine's haunting Requiem, graphically illustrates the ultimate demise of humankind should - we continue to ignore the many warning signals.

Water, is explored in its absence and abundance and its spiritual dimensions through the inclusion of anonymous ‘traditional’ South African artists' work which investigate the connection of water to the conception of life, through to contemporary South African's concerns. Karel Nel's Reflective Field 2011, explores the refractive nature of water and light. The image of water is reflected on the ceiling by means of light and mirrors and is intended to allow the visitor to make deductions from the light reflections as to the nature of the source through which a mysterious, anonymous landscape is revealed.

Willem Boshoff's piece: Walking on Water 2011, where solar powered robotic insects walk around on the word water on a dry glass surface, alludes to the precarious state of the world's water resources. Living specimens of the insects, which inspired the robot's designs, are on display next to the water vortex exhibition in the downstairs area. Cyril Coetzee carefully selected botanical, zoological and geological specimens recalling the great Renaissance and Victorian curiosity cabinets. All the specimens are related in some way to water and express Coetzee's interest in the biomorphic state of art and organic growth. Specimens included in his installation include the evocative and complex hexagonal shapes and the spiral and helical growth patterns of mollusk shells. These shapes are all echoed in the works of Coetzee's Human River 2011 and Walter Oltmans Wire Shell 2011. The lino cut, Coelacanth 2010 captures the pathos of a creature that has survived for so long but now faces a precarious future.

The powerful statements made by the works in this exhibition leave the viewer with a definite realisation that we need to harness our collective creativity in order to restore the balance in Nature. This exhibition is a must-see for everyone