1,311 Diamonds

Three seashells, enlarged and printed in marble dust, each one a loudspeaker. They carried the sound of 1,311 Diamonds, Caitlin Berrigan’s installation in the East Foyer of Paleis Het Loo, shown in the exhibition State of Wander from April to September 2026.

Berrigan’s work connects the palace’s marble, a stone formed from sea life, to the ocean as a place of trade and extraction. The speakers follow the same logic in their material. The three forms, a Lambis, an Erosaria and a Nautilus, were printed from fines of the Lasa marble quarry in South Tyrol, the residue of cutting stone much like the palace’s own. Before printing, the shell geometries were rebuilt so that they could be manufactured and so that each could hold its driver and electronics inside; sound design and speaker engineering are by Samuel Hertz. Each shell stands on a steel base.