KoCA Inn - Laboratório Urbano - Universidade Federal da Bahia

Transcription

A traffic island resort experience – Take a break from your everyday with us
Ein Verkehrs-Insel-Erlebnis – Gönnen sie sich mit uns eine Pause vom Alltag
During two weeks, UrbanDÆ, a temporary research group based in Weimar and Salvador
da Bahia, occupied the Kiosk of Contemporary Art, the Sophienstiftsplatz and the
surrounding traffic islands. Urban creativity inherent to survival strategies was imported
from the tropics and collaborative community experiences still present in many East
Germans’ memories were revisited. They were embedded in an urban-artistic device
that invited passers-by to engage with its ever-changing facilities: a mini hotel, a mobile
kitchen, a showroom, a café, a dance hall, a black market of knowledge and skills,
a library, a TV room, a gambling salon, a playground, all as if it were in a tropical resort.
As the public engaged with the place, KoCA Inn became a meeting point for unexpected
encounters, a testing ground for ideas, a space for dialogue and exchange.
Für zwei Wochen nahm UrbanDÆ, eine temporäre Forschungsgruppe aus Weimar und
Salvador da Bahia, den Kiosk of Contemporary Art, den Sophienstiftsplatz und die
ihn umgebenden Verkehrsinseln in Besitz. Urbane Kreativität die Überlebensstrategien
Editors Herausgeber:
innewohnt wurde aus den Tropen importiert und die Kollaboration, die im kollektiven
Daniela Brasil, Theresa Dietl, Catherine Grau, Bernhard König
Gedächtnis vieler Ostdeutscher noch präsent ist, wurde wiederbelebt. Beides beeinflusste
This catalogue is the documentation of KoCA Inn
eine urbanistisch-künstlerische Vorrichtung, die Passanten dazu einlud, mit seinen sich
ständig verändernden Möglichkeiten zu experimentieren: einem Mini-Hotel, einer mobilen
24 hours / 2 weeks occupation of the Kiosk of Contemporary
Küche, einem Ausstellungsraum, einem Café, einer Disko, einem Schwarzmarkt für
Art in Weimar. 8 – 22 July 2009
Wissen und Fähigkeiten, einer Bibliothek, einem Fernsehzimmer, einem Spielsalon, einem
Dieser Katalog ist der Dokumentation der KoCA Inn
Spielplatz, und all das als wäre es in einem tropischen Resort. Indem sich die Bevölker
zweiwöchige Rund-um-die-Uhr Inbesitznahme des Kiosk
ung auf den Ort einließ, wurde KoCA Inn zu einem Treffpunkt für unerwartete Zusammen
of Contemporary Art in Weimar. 8. – 22. Juli 2009
künfte, ein Experimentierfeld für Ideen, ein Ort für Dialog und Austausch.
Contents
Inhalt
In allen Texten sind für Lebens- und Berufspositionen,
wie z. B. Künstler, Architekt oder Student, immer die
männliche und weibliche Besetzung dieser Position
inhärent. Nur aufgrund der Textlänge nutzen wir
in diesem Buch das grammatikalische männliche
Geschlecht.
Introduction
Einleitung
6
Gentileza Gera Gentileza
6
Gentileza Gera Gentileza
Daniela Brasil
Daniela Brasil
28
The Kiosk on Sophienstiftsplatz:
250 An Urbanistic Experiment
28
Der Kiosk am Sophienstiftsplatz:
251 Ein urbanistisches Experiment
40
From 1968 to 2010
Max Welch Guerra interviewed
Von 1968 bis 2010
Ronald Hirte, Katharina Hohmann
by Theresa Dietl
KoCA Inn 24/7 (x2)
Occupation
260 Tension Zones
Paola Berenstein Jacques
272 About the Public Condition of the
Urban Situation | Sources | Structure |
KoCA Inn Corner
Materials | Reactions | Plug-Inns |
UrbanDE
Opening | Caipirinha, Vatapá e Farofa
72 Critical Reflections
Carlos León-Xjiménez
286 Exile on Main Street: On the Beauty
Cooking | Cleaning | Relaxing | Dancing |
of a Random Street Community
By Night | Sala de Televisão | Sleeping
Naomi Tereza Salmon
102
Communication
Calendar | Window | Green Board |
Street Chalk | Flyers | Newspapers |
300 Learning from Favelas
120
Islands and Territories
138 Sandwichwoman
Theoretical Musings
Urbane Situation | Quellen | Struktur |
Eröffnung | Caipirinha, Vatapá e Farofa
72 102 einer zufälligen Straßengemeinschaft
Nachts | Sala de Televisão | Schlafen
Naomi Tereza Salmon
Kommunikation
Kalender | Schaufenster | Tafel |
Straßenkreide | Flyer | Zeitungen |
300 Learning from Favelas
Inseln und Gebiete
Besetzte Inseln und annektierte Gebiete |
Die Ländereien der Weimarer Tafel |
Playing | Drumming | Giving | Searching
334 Embodying Societies, Incorporated City
Frank Eckardt
346 Performing Another Society
Coffee | Flea Market | Clothes Exchange |
Catherine Grau
Corpocidade – Salvador
210 Feira de São Joaquim | Aqui Eu |
7 Linhas de UrbanDA
4
of Everyday Life
Malcolm Miles
326 Urban Bodigraphies
Erkundungen
Spielen | Trommeln | Geben | Auf der
Austausch
Fabiana Dultra Britto, Paola Berenstein
Jacques
334 Embodying Societies, Incorporated City
Exhaust it on
Frank Eckardt
346 Performing Another Society
Kaffee | Flohmarkt | Kleiderwechsel |
Epilogue
Grill | Trade Zone
Catherine Grau
Sylk Schneider
362 Guest Book
370 Cartographies
Epilog
359 Goethe und die Hängematte
358 Goethe and the Hammock
316 Trajectories and the Time
Die Hotel Miranda-Enclave
Suche nach Freiheit | Zaubershow |
172
Theoretical Musings
Daten Picknick | Trocação | Thüriger
Data Picnic | Trocação | Thüriger Grill |
Trade Zone
138 Jacques
It On
Exchange
Fabiana Dultra Britto, Paola Berenstein
Carlos León-Xjiménez
287 Exile on Main Street: Über die Schönheit
Kochen | Putzen | Relaxen | Tanzen |
Malcolm Miles
Explorations
UrbanDE
Sandwichwoman
120
an der KoCA Inn-Ecke
279 Umstrittene(r) Zeit/Raum am Kiosk
com Banana | Schichten | Wirtschaft
Bewohnen
of Everyday Life
326 Urban Bodigraphies
273 Über die öffentlichen Gegebenheiten
Occupied Islands and Annexed
The Hotel Miranda Enclave
mit Theresa Dietl
261 Spannungen
Materialien | Reaktionen | Plug-Inns |
316 Trajectories and the Time
KoCA Inn 24/7 (x2)
Max Welch Guerra im Gespräch
Inbesitznahme
Territories | The Lands Of Weimarer Tafel |
For Freedom | Magic Show | Exhaust
172
278 Contested Time/Space at the Kiosk
com Banana | Shifts | Economy
Inhabitation
40
Kritische Reflexionen
Corpocidade – Salvador
210 Feira de São Joaquim | Aqui Eu |
7 Linhas de UrbanDA
Sylk Schneider
363 Gästebuch
370 Kartographien
5
Introduction
Gentileza gera Gentileza
Einleitung
Daniela Brasil
Daniela Brasil
The prophet Gentileza 1 was right, Gentileza gera Gentileza: kindness
generates kindness. The recipe was easy: a smile, a coffee, a waffle, a hammock,
a game, a beer, a table with chairs and a couple of sofas, some music, some
dancing. All of that combined in an empty and (until then) quiet Weimar
intersection, under the canopy of a big tree.
KoCA Inn seemed like a ship floating on the water-roads of Weimar’s 2009
summer (sometimes wet, sometimes cold, but still summer). This ship, tropical
island, mini-favela, tree house, remnant
of the GDR became a sort of urban
device: heart-touching for some people,
extremely annoying to others. Some
thought it was a spectacular exposure
of poverty, a gathering of undesirable
immigrants setting up fort; others took
it as a happy street community, a place
of cheerful conviviality. All the while
Der Prophet Gentileza 1 hatte Recht, Gentileza gera Gentileza: Freundlichkeit ruft Freundlichkeit hervor. Das Rezept war einfach: ein Lächeln,
ein Kaffee, eine Waffel, eine Hängematte, ein Spiel, ein Bier, ein Tisch mit
Stühlen und ein paar Sofas, ein bisschen Musik, ein bisschen Tanz. All das kombiniert an einer leeren und (bis dato) ruhigen Weimarer Straßenkreuzung, unter dem
Kronendach eines großen Baumes.
KoCA Inn schien wie ein Schiff, das schwimmend auf den Wasserstrassen des Weimarer Sommers 2009 fuhr (manchmal nass, manchmal kalt, aber
Sommer in jedem Fall). Dieses Schiff, tropische Insel, Mini-Favela, Baumhaus, Überbleibsel der DDR wurde zu einer Art urbanistischer Vorrichtung:
herzergreifend für manche, irritierend für andere. Einige meinten, es sei spektakuläres Zurschaustellen von Armut, eine Zusammenkunft unerwünschter Immigranten, die ihr Lager aufschlugen, andere sahen es als fröhliche
Straßen-Kommune, als Ort freudvollen Miteinanders. Währenddessen spielten Kinder umher, als sei es ein Baumhaus im Hinterhof. Ein Besucher deutete
1
1
6
A controversial figure of Rio de Janeiro streets, José Datrino (1917-1996), popularly known as
Als kontroverse Persönlichkeit der Straßen von Rio de Janeiro malte José Datrino (1917 – 1996),
volkstümlich bekannt als Prophet Gentileza, eine Reihe von Inschriften auf die Pfeiler einer wichtigen Stadt
Prophet Gentileza, painted a series of inscriptions on the pillars of an important highway overpass, in
autobahnkreuzung am Anfang der 1980er Jahre; unter ihnen, die bekannteste: Gentileza gera Gentileza /
the beginning of the 1980’s; among them the most well-known: Gentileza gera Gentileza / kindness
Freundlichkeit ruft Freundlichkeit hervor. Ich erwähne diese Figur bewusst am Anfang dieses Textes nicht
generates kindness. I am deliberately evoking his figure to start this text, not only because of the
nur der Bedeutung dieser Worte wegen, sondern weil ich es als relevant erachte, ihre urbane Tragweite
meaning of these words; but I find it relevant to bring into discussion its urban implication. His act
in die Diskussion mit einzubeziehen. Die Tat, seine Gedanken mit Farbe an die Betonpfeiler einer desolaten,
of painting his thoughts on the concrete pillars of a desolated mega-scaled intersection, had such a
überdimensionierten Kreuzung zu schreiben, hatte solch eine konzeptuelle und ästhetische Schlagkraft,
conceptual and aesthetic power that it became a heritage protected mural of the city. It is a work that
dass dies zu einer denkmalgeschützen Wandmalerie der Stadt wurde. Es ist ein Werk, dass wahrhaftig
truly engaged public affects, to an extent that not only a primarily illegal act became official heritage, but
öffentliche Affekte anrührte, und zwar in solch einem Ausmaße, dass nicht nur eine zunächst illegale
also the informal market appropriated it. People now walk around in Gentileza gera Gentileza T-shirts.
Handlung offizielles Kulturgut wurde, sondern dass auch der informelle Markt es sich aneignete. Leute
A couple of them were to be seen at KoCA Inn.
laufen nun in Gentileza gera Gentileza T-Shirts umher. Zwei davon konnte man am KoCA Inn sehen.
Introduction
Einleitung
7
children played around, as if it were a back yard tree house. One visitor interpreted
it as a contemporary approach to the 18th century museum culture of collecting
and exposing the exotic. Quite a few people understood it is an experiment
of social practices, on participation, on utopia. There were many who, neither
questioning nor judging, stopped to trade an object, to sleep in a hammock, to
share a meal, or to drink a coffee. For me, it was an artistic initiative that brought
to this Weimar corner and the Art Kiosk a 24hours/2weeks informal usage of the
public space.
Informality meant that improvisation, spontaneity, unexpected and playful
appropriations, plus all kinds of interferences were part of the game. Our urban
device wanted to (dis)articulate cultural identities and urban territories; to be open
to chance and surprise, offering a space adaptable to old wishes and last-minute
necessities. This adaptability was not engineered nor properly planned. It was
an organic development of ideas, a spontaneous re-appropriation of everyday
objects and recycled resources. Dealing with risks and low budgets, we wanted to
experiment with collaboration and creativity for precarious but cheerful solutions.
In other words, in times of crisis, why not learn from the favelas? (see Berenstein
Jacques, p. 300)
The Weimar group UrbanDA2 , had been to Salvador at the initial part of the
exchange project, and had found inspiration from the favelas; their spontaneous
developments and adaptations, and especially the creative survival strategies
present in the streets and in the everyday life of the tropics. Before and during our
journey, we investigated the Brazilian artistic movements of antropofagism and
tropicalism, as well as contemporary approaches dealing with relations between
body and city. After experiencing socio-cultural contrasts between Weimar and
Salvador, we speculated in which ways it would be meaningful to “import” some of
es als zeitgenössische Variante der Museumskultur des 18. Jahrhunderts, als
das Exotische gesammelt und ausgestellt wurde. Einige Leute verstanden es
als Experiment sozialer Praktiken, über Partizipation, über Utopie. Es gab viele,
die weder fragten noch urteilten, sondern anhielten, um einen Gegenstand
einzutauschen, um in der Hängematte zu schlafen, um eine Mahlzeit zu teilen
oder einen Kaffee zu trinken. Für mich war es eine künstlerische Initiative, die
dieser Weimarer Ecke und dem Kunst-Kiosk eine informelle, zweiwöchige Rundum-die-Uhr-Nutzung des öffentlichen Raumes beibrachte.
Informell meinte, dass Improvisation, Spontanität, unerwartete und spielerische Aneignungen und alle Sorten des Eingriffs Teil des Spieles waren. Unsere
urbane Vorrichtung wollte kulturelle Identitäten und urbane Territorien (des)artikulieren; offen sein für Zufall und Überraschung, Raum bieten, der sich an alte
Wünsche und an Bedürfnisse in letzter Minute anpassen ließ. Diese Anpassungsfähigkeit war nicht arrangiert oder gezielt vorbereitet. Es war die organische Entwicklung von Ideen, von der spontanen Wieder-Aneignung von Gegenständen
des täglichen Gebrauchs und wiederaufbereiteter Ressourcen. Wir wollten – bei
Risiko und Niedrigbudgets – experimentieren mit Zusammenarbeit und Kreativität für prekäre aber fröhlich-entspannte Lösungen. Mit anderen Worten: Warum
sollte man, in Zeiten der Krise, nicht von den Favelas lernen? (siehe Berenstein
Jacques, S. 301)
Die Weimarer Gruppe UrbanDA2 war zum ersten Teil des Austauschprojekts nach Salvador gereist. Sie hatten Inspiration in den Favelas gefunden, in
deren spontaner Entstehung und Anpassungsfähigkeit, und ganz besonders
in ihren kreativen Überlebensstrategien, die auf der Straße und im täglichen
2
Wie wir später erfahren werden, ist KoCA Inn ein Projekt der Gruppe UrbanDÆ. Der Zusammen-
schluss der Gruppe reicht jedoch bis zu einem anderen Event zurück, das im Oktober 2008 in Salvador,
2
8
As we will see further on, KoCA Inn was realized by the group UrbanDÆ. However, articulations
Brasilien stattfand: Corpocidade: debates in urban aesthetics. http://www.corpocidade.dan.ufba.br.
date back to the preparations of the event Corpocidade: debates on urban aesthetics, which took place
Zu diesem Anlass, bei dem die Gruppe eine Serie von Performances in Salvador durchführte (siehe
in Salvador, Brazil in October 2008. http://www.corpocidade.dan.ufba.br. The Weimar group was formed
7 linhas de urbanDA, S.218), formierte sich die Weimarer Gruppe und gab sich den Namen UrbanDA.
for that occasion, and named itself UrbanDA in order to realize a series of performances in Salvador (see
Die Zusammenarbeit mit einer Gruppe in Salvador, die unser Gastgeber war, vertiefte sich und wir luden
7 linhas de UrbanDA, p.218). The collaboration with the group from Salvador who had hosted us evolved,
sie ein, die künstlerisch-urbanistische Forschung in Weimar fortzusetzen. Sie nannten sich UrbanDE.
and we invited them to continue the artistic-urban research in Weimar. They named themselves UrbanDE.
Als sich die Möglicheit ergab, eine Ausstellung am Kunst Kiosk in Weimar zu machen, schlug UrbanDA
When the opportunity to realize an exhibition for the Art Kiosk in Weimar came, UrbanDA proposed the
das Projekt KoCA Inn vor, eine Plattform, um die Debatten und Aktionen aus Salvador zurückzubringen
KoCA Inn as a platform for bringing the debates and actions back from Salvador, pushing them further.
und weiterzuführen. UrbanDE-Mitglieder wurden als unsere Gäste eingeladen und damit beauftragt,
UrbanDE members were invited to be our guests and at the same time to help run our “Inn” in Weimar.
unseren „Inn“ in Weimar mitzuleiten. UrbanDÆ schließlich bezeichnet die Fusion beider Gruppen plus
UrbanDÆ is the fusion of these groups plus new members who joined in for the realization of KoCA Inn.
neue Mitglieder, die dazu stießen, um KoCA Inn zu realisieren.
Introduction
Einleitung
9
these strategies, the enthusiasm and unpredictable situations back to the calm,
protected and over-regulated Weimar. How could we foster participation and
collaboration in the pacified/commodified/touristic public space of this “Cultural
City”3? To problematize this discussion and to contribute with counter-hegemonic
perspectives, our colleagues from Salvador came with the tasks of bringing with
and within them their inner landscapes, of confronting their modes of being there
with their modes of being here; of trading stories and objects with Weimar’s
inhabitants and their everyday life (see Trocação, p. 188).
Structure/Organism
KoCA Inn was not finished before it started, nor after it ended. It was a living
organism giving and getting impulses of vitality to and from Weimar’s public life.
The platform for this open process of occupation and usage was the Art Kiosk plus
two scaffolding towers, two chemical toilets and the surrounding urban space. On
Leben in den Tropen gegenwärtig sind. Vor und während unserer Reise recherchierten wir die brasilianischen Kunstbewegungen des Antropofagismus und
des Tropicalismus, wie auch zeitgenössischen Ansätzen, die mit dem Thema
Körper und Stadt umgehen. Nachdem wir die kulturellen Kontraste zwischen
Weimar und Salvador erlebt hatten, spekulierten wir, auf welche Art es
bedeutsam sein könnte, einige dieser Strategien, den Enthusiasmus und die
unvorhersehbaren Situationen in das ruhige, beschützte und überreglementierte Weimar zu „importieren“. Wie könnten wir Partizipation und Mitarbeit im
befriedeten/kommodifizierten/touristischen öffentlichen Raum dieser „Kulturstadt“ begünstigen?3 Um diese Problemstellung zu diskutieren und mit kontrahegemonialen Perspektiven dazu beizutragen, kamen unsere Kollegen aus Salvador, mit dem Auftrag, ihre inneren Landschaften mit sich und in sich mitzubringen,
ihre Seinsweise dort mit ihrer Seinsweise hier zu konfrontieren, Geschichten und
Objekte mit Weimars Bewohnern und ihrem täglichen Leben zu tauschen (siehe
Trocação, S. 188).
 
Struktur/Organismus
Das KoCA Inn war nicht fertig, bevor es begann, noch nachdem es zu
Ende war. Es war ein lebender Organismus, der Impulse der Vitalität an
Weimars öffentliches Leben gab und Impulse von ihm bekam. Die Plattform
für diesen offenen Prozess der Besetzung und Benutzung war der KunstKiosk plus zwei Gerüsttürme, zwei chemische Toiletten und der umgebende
Stadtraum. Dazu hatten wir eine Reihe mobiler Plug-Inns, die es dem KoCA Inn
erlaubten, ständig im Entstehen zu bleiben, als auch Formen und Atmosphäre
derjenigen an- und aufzunehmen, die dort waren, solange sie dort waren. Dieser Raum in Bewegung gestaltete die Art und Weise, in der die Leute am
Kiosk waren und das wiederum gestaltete das KoCA Inn. Um öffentliche Partizipation und Mitarbeit anzuspornen, boten wir viele verschiedene, sich immer
3
3
10
Weimar is officially known as “Kulturstadt”, and its main income is tourism. This “open-air theme-
Weimar ist offiziell bekannt als „Kulturstadt“, seine Haupteinnahmequelle ist der Tourismus. Dieser
„Freilicht-Freizeitpark“ beruht auf dem deutschen Klassizismus, unter dem unbestreitbaren Führung von
park” is based on German classicism, under the uncontestable leadership of Goethe and Schiller. Among
Goethe and Schiller. Unter anderen Kuriositäten möchte ich gerne den örtlichen Bahnhof erwähnen, der
other curiosities, I would like to mention that the local train station is also labelled as “cultural” (Kultur
ebenfalls als „kulturell” (KulturBahnhof) gekennzeichnet ist, selbst wenn er bis jetzt noch nicht mit roman
Bahnhof), even if it has not yet been decorated with romantic statuary nor with wall poems. The year 2009,
tischen Statuen oder wandmalerischen Gedichten geschmückt wurde. Das Jahr 2009 jedoch war einer
however, was dedicated to another touristic attraction: the 90th anniversary of the Bauhaus. Gropius,
anderen touristischen Attraktion geweiht: dem 90. Jahre Bauhaus. Gropius, Schlemmer und Kandinsky
Schlemmer and Kandinsky were the visitors’ main “objects of desire”, competing with the older fellows.
waren der Besucher Haupt-„Objekte der Begierde“, in Konkurrenz mit den älteren Dichtern.
Introduction
Einleitung
11
top of that we had a series of mobile plug-Inns allowing KoCA Inn to be constantly
evolving, absorbing the shapes and atmospheres of those present, for the duration
of their presence. This space in movement molded new ways of being there,
which in return continued to mold KoCA Inn. To encourage public participation and
collaboration, we offered many different, always changing possibilities and tools:
hammocks, coffee, a public kitchen, a mini-hotel, a showroom of used and dear
objects, a sound system, a library of important personal books, a black-market of
knowledge, a gambling salon, a sports corner, a living room, etc. The invitation was
extended through an open communication platform of spontaneous advertising
on a homemade chalkboard, a sidewalk calendar and by writing on the asphalt.
Above all, the key ingredient was a generous amount of kindness and hospitality.
The Kiosk of Contemporary Art was initially occupied by a group of eighteen
people that physically met just one time before the opening: UrbanDÆ4 was a
temporary group specifically created for this project. We were the “organizeroccupants”, the hosts. Our project was conceived within the Kiosk09 curatorial
program, and had permission from the Culture Department of the City Hall to be
realized for 14 days (instead of 21, as we had asked for). The permission was
granted within defined time and space boundaries, so that other departments
would not have to be asked. These “14 days of freedom” to use the surrounding
spaces of the kiosk were further exerted to test other subtle boundaries present
in the everyday.
Our main agenda was to live in the public and with the public, even to
the extent that some of our “visitors” quickly became part of UrbanDÆ. The
installation should host encounters, at the same time be flexible and deregulate
its surroundings. To achieve that, we started by not organizing the group in a
methodic way and therefore leaving space for subjective interpretations and
situational decisions to be made. Right from the beginning, one could notice
this non-strategy in the way the spatiality was designed: by a variety of wishes
expressed in constant negotiations and an almost total absence of plans. People
wandelnde Möglichkeiten und Mittel: Hängematten, Kaffee, eine offene Küche,
ein Mini-Hotel, einen Showroom für gebrauchte Objekte und für Lieblingsgegenstände, eine Musikanlage, eine Bibliothek für wichtige persönliche Bücher,
einen Schwarzmarkt des Wissens, einen Spielsalon, eine Sportecke, ein Wohnzimmer usw. Diese Einladung wurde duch eine offene Kommunikationsplattform
des spontanen Werbens auf einer hausgemachten Tafel, einem StraßenrandKalender und durch Schriftzüge auf dem Asphalt mitgeteilt. Allem voran war die
Hauptzutat eine großzügige Menge an Freundlichkeit und Gastfreundschaft.
Der Kiosk für zeitgenössische Kunst wurde ursprünglich von einer Gruppe
aus achtzehn Leuten besetzt, die sich reell nur ein einziges Mal vor der Eröffnung getroffen hatten. UrbanDÆ4 war eine temporäre, eigens für dieses Projekt gegründete Gruppe. Wir waren die „Besetzer-Organisatoren“, die Gastgeber. Unser Projekt wurde innerhalb des kuratorischen Programmes des Kiosk09
realisiert und hatte die Genehmigung des Kulturamtes der Stadt Weimar,
während 14 Tagen umgesetzt zu werden (anstatt der von uns beantragten 21
Tage). Die Genehmigung war innerhalb festgelegter zeitlicher und räumlicher
Grenzen gültig, so dass andere Ämter nicht beteiligt werden mussten. Diese
„14-Tage-Freiheit“, den Kiosk und seine umgebenden Flächen zu bespielen, wurden genutzt, um andere subtile, im täglichen Leben vorkommende Grenzen zu
testen.
Unsere Hauptabsicht war es, öffentlich und in der Öffentlichkeit zu leben,
was sogar so weit ging, dass einige unserer „Besucher“ schnell Teil von UrbanDÆ
wurden. Die Installation sollte Begegnungen beherbergen, zur gleichen Zeit flexibel sein und ihr Umfeld deregulieren. Um dies zu erreichen, begannen wir damit,
unsere Gruppe nicht methodisch zu organisieren und damit Raum für subjektive
Interpretationen und situationelle Entscheidungen zu lassen. Gleich von Anfang
an hätte man diese Nicht-Strategie daran bemerken können, wie die Räumlichkeit
gestaltet wurde: Durch eine Vielzahl von Wünschen, die in ständigem Aushandeln
4
Austausch-Zusammenarbeit begann, benannten sich die Gruppen, um die Intention ihrer Forschung zum
4
12
This name is an allusion to the idea of being there and coming from. When the exchange
Dieser Name ist eine Anspielung auf die Idee, hier zu sein und von dort zu kommen. Als die
collaboration started, groups named themselves in order to express some intentions of their
Ausdruck zu bringen. Die Weimarer Gruppe nannte sich zunächst UrbanDA (DA, aus dem deutschen
research. UrbanDA: DA, from the German expression and philosophical term: Dasein. UrbanDE: DE,
Ausdruck und dem philosophischen Begriff: Dasein). In Reaktion darauf benannte sich die Gruppe aus
in Portuguese, a preposition to indicate origin, among others. The two groups merged, becoming
Salvador UrbanDE (DE, im Portugiesischen u.a. eine Präposition, um die Herkunft anzugeben). Die
UrbanDÆ: a temporary collective who had to be there, bringing all the modes of being from where they
beiden Gruppen schlossen sich zusammen und wurden zu UrbanDÆ: ein temporäres Kollektiv, das da
came from.
sein musste und alle Eigenarten von den Orten mitbrachte, von denen es kam.
Introduction
Einleitung
13
had to find their ways of dealing with a bunch of materials collected from low cost
resources: industrial waste, scrap, Sperrmüll, tools and random accessories from
the construction market.
To display in the kiosk’s windows and to furnish our precarious kitchen,
living and sleeping rooms, we had mainly two sources: the Sozialkaufhaus
Möbilé, a non-profit organization and second hand store, commonly known as
the Weimarer Tafel (see p. 130), and the Feira de São Joaquim, a historical and
popular market of regional products, located on the coast line of Salvador’s bay
(see p. 212). These two choices had strategic conceptual reasons concerning the
histories of Weimar and Salvador: they both have created a kind of multi-layered
dialogue between these respective cities’ symbolic daily practices. This choice
intended to question hegemonic routes and brands in the culture of consumption
by collaborating with informal economies and investigating how the trade value of
their objects shifted when placing them in other contexts.
Resources
Weimar: The Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé is a social institution selling second
hands objects, collected from donations, for very modest prices. It is located in
a warehouse on the western outskirts of Weimar and difficult to access by public
transportation. This institution is managed by the Diakonie foundation, a German
Christian association concerned with a wide range of social support services. It
is by now the only permanent source for used objects in the city. The Sperrmüll,
a regulated public service for collecting old furniture and electro-domestics by
depositing them on the sidewalk, is a very common practice in Germany. It used
to be carried out on a systematic basis and allowed a recycling culture to remain
alive. Every street would become a sort of open free market for used objects
twice a year. There was a list of streets and dates available in the city hall, and
people could easily research and collect objects they liked and/or needed. The
recent alteration of this public service (now inhabitants have to make individual
appointments for the city to pick up, or individually bring their old furniture to
either the Möbilé or directly to the selected waste disposal), two years after the
opening of IKEA in a neighboring city, contributed to consolidating the transition
of consumption patterns from the former recycled-reused-repaired especially
current in GDR times, to globalized capitalism. Still, Sperrmüll is used widely and
also constituted one of our main resources.
14
Introduction
und beinahe kompletter Planlosigkeit formuliert wurden. Die Leute sollten ihren
Weg finden und aushandeln, wie sie mit einem Haufen Material umgingen, das
aus Niedrigkosten-Ressourcen gesammelt worden war: Industrieabfall, Schrott,
Sperrmüll, Werkzeuge und beiläufiges Zubehör aus dem Baumarkt.
Um die Schaufenster des Kiosks zu bestücken und um unsere prekäre
Küche und Wohn-und Schlafräume zu möblieren, hatten wir hauptsächlich zwei
Quellen: verschiedene Second-Hand-Gegenstände aus dem Sozialkaufhaus
Möbilé, gemeinnützige Organisation und Secondhand Laden allgemein bekannt
als Weimarer Tafel (siehe S. 130), und von der Feira de São Joaquim, einem
historischen und volkstümlichen Markt regionaler Produkte, der sich am Küstenstreifen der Bucht von Salvador befindet (siehe S. 212). Diese beiden Auswahlen hatten strategische konzeptuelle Gründe in Hinblick auf die Geschichte
sowohl Weimars als auch Salvadors. Beide Städte haben eine Form des mehrschichtigen Dialogs zwischen ihren jeweiligen symbolischen Praktiken des täglichen Lebens entwickelt. Diese Wahl hatte die Absicht, hegemoniale Handelswege und Marken in der Kultur des Konsums zu hinterfragen, indem wir mit der
informellen Wirtschaft zusammenarbeiteten und erforschten, wie der Marktwert
ihrer Objekte sich verschiebt, wenn diese in einem veränderten Kontext gezeigt
werden.
Ressourcen
Weimar: Das Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé ist eine Sozialeinrichtung, die bei Spendern eingesammelte Second-Hand-Objekte zu sehr moderaten Preisen verkauft.
Es ist in einer Lagerhalle am westlichen Stadtrand Weimars untergebracht und
schwer mit öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln zu erreichen. Die Einrichtung wird von
der Stiftung Diakonie verwaltet, einer um ein breite Palette von sozialer Hilfeleistung und Unterstützung bemühten christlichen Vereinigung. Sie ist nun die einzige permanente Quelle, wo man Gebrauchtwaren in der Stadt finden kann. Spermüll fand zuvor systematisch statt und erlaubte, eine lebendige Recycling-Kultur
zu erhalten. Jede Straße wurde zweimal im Jahr zu einer Art offenem Markt von
Gebrauchsgegenständen. Eine Liste mit Straßennamen und Terminen war im Rathaus verfügbar und die Leute konnten sehr leicht nach Objekten, die sie mochten
und/oder brauchten, Ausschau halten und sie aufsammeln. Die jüngsten Veränderungen dieser öffentlichen Dienstleistung (nun sollen die Bewohner individuelle
Termine machen, damit die Stadt den Sperrmüll abholt, oder sie sollen ihre alten
Einleitung
15
Salvador: Feira de São Joaquim is the main distribution market of products
directly connected to the popular culture of the city, occupying a large area of
the eastern coast of All Saints Bay. Historically, it used to operate at the central
docks, but due to renewals of the harbor and the market’s unplanned growth, it
was moved to its current location in the São Joaquim inlet. This place converges
a series of informal networks of production and distribution of regional products:
herbs, fruits, manioc flour and sun-dried meat, utilitarian wood and straw
handcrafts, and, among other things, various religious artifacts and implements,
even live animals. Many of these are symbolic objects intimately connected
to the modes of production of subjectivity in the region, and in Salvador in
particular. Salvador is a city that has a vibrant rhythm, expressed daily in its
streets: rituals, dances, offerings and live music are part of urban life. The street
vending culture fills up the sidewalks with an active bartering atmosphere, where
body contact is almost inevitable. For the sake of the project, and in contrast to
the sterility and cleanliness of Weimar’s public spaces, we chose Feira de São
Joaquim to be the main provider of objects from Brazil for our trade and usage in
Weimar.
Events and Everyday
A green board painted with a two-week calendar was the starting point. We
had only a few activities that were planned in advance: the opening and closing
festivities with regional food from Bahia and Thuringia respectively, the Searching
for Freedom workshop (see p. 154) and a lecture on Urban Bodigraphies (see p.
326). All further actions were intentions rather than concrete plans, and they were
modified and adapted as time passed and people joined in. Naturally a Samba
rhythm came out of clapping hands, table beating and match box shaking;
bottles of apple spritzer, Club Mate5 and all kinds of beer would appear with
the dwellers who diverted their daily life and stayed for the afternoon. Activities
unfolded themselves in affects, as the people engaged with the place. Primarily
we ended up living our full everyday life in and with the public. Dynamic quotidian
and spontaneous activities merged, one growing out of the other. We observed
5
A German gasified version of Brazilian cold brown mate tea. In the last few years it has become
a “trend drink” among the youth. Together with Bionade they can be strongly related with life style
tendencies. Mate is a herb originary from sub-tropic South America, and it has been commercialized as a
ready-to-drink ice-tea in Brazil since the 1980s.
16
Introduction
Möbel selbst entweder zum Sozialkaufhaus oder direkt zur zuständigen Mülldeponie bringen), haben zwei Jahre nach der Eröffnung eines IKEA-Marktes in einer
Nachbarstadt definitiv dazu beigetragen, den Übergang des Konsumverhaltens
vom vormaligen, besonders in DDR-Zeiten verbreiteten Recyceln-Weiterverwenden-Reparieren hin zum globalisierten Kapitalismus zu verfestigen. Doch wird
Sperrmüll dennoch weithin praktiziert und stellte auch eine unserer Hauptquellen
dar.
Salvador: Die Feira de São Joaquim, die eine weite Fläche an der Ostküste
der Allerheiligen-Bucht bedeckt, ist der Haupt-Verteilungsmarkt von Produkten, die direkt mit der Volkskultur der Stadt verbunden sind. In der Vergangenheit wurde er in den zentralen Docks betrieben, doch wegen Erneuerungen im
Hafen und der planlosen Ausbreitung des Marktes wurde er zu seinem gegenwärtigen Standort an der Einbuchtung von São Joaquim umgezogen. Dieser
Ort bringt eine Reihe informeller Netzwerke von Produktion und Distribution
regionaler Waren zusammen: Kräuter, Obst, Manioc-Mehl und sonnengetrocknetes Fleisch; Feuerholz und Stroh-Handwerk, sowie u.a. verschiedene
religiöse Artefakte und Nutzobjekte, sogar lebende Tiere. Von all dem sind viele
symbolische Objekte, die eng verbunden sind mit den Produktionsweisen von
Subjektivität in der Region und in Salvador im Besonderen.
Salvador ist eine Stadt mit einem pulsierenden Rhythmus, der täglich in seinen Straßen zum Ausdruck kommt: Rituale, Tänze, Gaben und LiveMusik sind Teil des urbanen Lebens. Die Kultur des Straßenverkaufs füllt die
Gehsteige mit einer Atmosphäre aktiven Tauschhandels, und Körperkontakt ist
quasi unvermeidbar. Dem Projekt zuliebe und in Kontrast zur Sterilität und Sauberkeit des öffentlichen Raumes in Weimar wählten wir die Feira de São Joaquim als Hauptlieferanten unserer brasilianischen Objekte für den Handel und
Gebrauch in Weimar.
Aktivitäten und Alltägliches
Eine grüne Tafel mit einem Zwei-Wochen-Kalender bemalt war der Ausgangspunkt. Nur einige wenige Aktivitäten waren im Vorfeld organisiert worden:
die Eröffnung und die Finissage mit regionalen Spezialitäten jeweils aus Bahia und
aus Thüringen, den Auf-der-Suche-nach-Freiheit-Workshop (siehe S.154), und
einen Vortrag zu Urbanen Körpergraphien (siehe S.326). Alle weiteren Aktionen
waren eher Intentionen als konkrete Pläne; sie wurden verändert und angepasst
Einleitung
17
how certain objects became catalysts for encounters, gathering people from all
generations, a myriad of social backgrounds and lifestyles. A set of completely
mixed participants shared various amounts of their time with us. Relations and
connections became intense. Frontiers were dissolved, even if only for short
moments.
People slept overnight in our hammocks; some brought personal objects to
mix or exchange with ours. An anonymous baker brought us bread in the morning,
while kiosk inhabitants were still asleep. An elderly couple baked waffles; a kid
invited to a magic show. The traffic island became a pirate island. We danced in
the street. We offered and lived from donations. People left coins and brought
packages of coffee, all kinds of ingredients, sometimes a complete meal. Fresh
water was taken from a public fountain and from the neighbors. Not to say that
everything was flowers; right in the beginning we had a strong reaction from the
neighboring hairdresser salon, complaining directly to the City Hall without trying
18
Introduction
über die Dauer, und wenn Leute dazu kamen. Ein Samba-Rhythmus entstand
ganz natürlich aus Händeklatschen, Auf-den-Tisch-Klopfen und dem Rasseln von
Streichholzschachteln; Flaschen mit Apfelschorle, Club Mate5 und allen möglichen Sorten Bier erschienen mit den Anwohnern, die ihr tägliches Leben umleiteten und für den Nachmittag blieben. Aktivitäten enthüllten sich und wurden zu
Affekten, sobald die Leute mit dem Ort in einen Dialog trat. Letztendlich lebten
wir unser ganzes tägliches Leben in und mit der Öffentlichkeit. Eine dynamische
Alltäglichkeit verschmolz mit spontanen Aktivitäten, das eine aus dem anderen
erwachsend. Wir beobachteten, wie manche Objekte zum Katalysator für Begegnungen wurden und Menschen aller Generationen vereinten, eine Myriade sozialer Herkünfte und Lebensformen. Ganz unterschiedliche Teilnehmer verbrachten verschieden lange Zeiten mit uns. Beziehungen und Verbindungen wurden
intensiv. Grenzen wurden aufgelöst, selbst wenn manchmal nur für einen kurzen
Moment.
Leute schliefen über Nacht in unseren Hängematten; manche brachten persönliche Gegenstände mit, um sie unter unsere zu mischen oder sie
dagegen einzutauschen. Ein unbekannter Bäcker brachte uns am Morgen
Brot, als die Kiosk-Bewohner noch schliefen. Ein älteres Paar backte Waffeln; ein Junge lud zu einer Zauberschau. Die Verkehrsinsel wurde zur Pirateninsel. Wir tanzten auf der Straße. Durch Spenden konnten wir anbieten
und leben. Leute ließen Geldstücke zurück und brachten einige Packungen
Kaffee, alle möglichen Zutaten, manchmal sogar eine komplette Mahlzeit.
Frisches Wasser gab es vom öffentlichen Brunnen und von den Nachbarn. Das bedeutet nicht, dass alles rosig war. Gleich am Anfang gab es
eine heftige Reaktion seitens des benachbarten Frisiersalons: sie hatten sich direkt beim Rathaus beschwert, ohne zu versuchen, mit uns zu sprechen. Später erlitten wir an zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Nächten Wasserbomben-Attacken. Ein paar Leute wurden nass. Am letzten Tag wurde eine
Tasche gestohlen. Aber all dies gefährdete nicht unsere Erfahrung, wie
Freundlichkeit Freundlichkeit hervorruft. Selbst wenn man in Deutschland
5
Die deutsche, mit Kohlensäure versetzte Version des kalten, braunen, brasilianischen Matetees.
Seit einigen Jahren ist es zum »Trend-Getränk« der Jugend geworden. Gemeinsam mit Bionade kann es
sehr stark mit Lifestyle-Tendenzen in Beziehung gebracht werden. Mate ist ein Kraut aus dem sub
tropischen Südamerika und wird seit den 1980er Jahren als trinkfertiger Ice-Tee in Brasilien vermarket.
Einleitung
19
to speak to us. Later on we suffered water-bomb attacks for two consecutive
nights. A few people got wet. On the last day a bag got stolen. But all this did not
threaten our experience of how kindness generated kindness. Even if in Germany
people avoid body contact, starting with avoiding eye contact while walking on
the street, there was space for a warm-hearted conviviality and generosity, and
more than anything else, there was space for free exchange.
Our first aim was to slightly “mess up” the over-organized and over-controlled
public space of Weimar; to push the boundaries of its security and predictability;
to question (cultural) consumption and explore the potential of the Art Kiosk as an
urban device to trigger active participation. Importing the precarious, improvised
and irreverent creativity inherent in the survival and artistic strategies of the
tropics, we wanted to create a space for initiatives and encounters. We ended up
in an unpredictable social experiment, which pointed out that another society is
possible here: people are open, engaging; there is solidarity. There are perhaps
not enough spaces being generated for that. The coordinator of the Kiosk09
mentioned that this place of tolerance and horizontality seemed totally utopian to
her, yet real. It was a real part of our lives.
Affects
The mere presence of KoCA Inn created small conflicts and a permanent
tension. All positions and opinions are important and relevant, and I also believe it
is within conflict that the public realm can be democratic. But here I am particularly
interested in the ones who joined KoCA Inn: the ones who visited us, who played
with us, who appropriated the space and also created an experience of their own.
They were part of a debate that was not announced, without a round table or
a moderator to mediate it. In that temporary and informal usage of the public
space some invisible exchange of ideas, practices and perspectives took place.
It was a kind of subliminal street forum, functioning on the micro level of face-toface exchange. These shared moments – spoken, gestural or silent conversations
– can be called micropolitical vitality: the force of the politics of desire, of
subjectivity, of relationship with the other. A molecular revolution that takes place
not only in discourse, but is something one can feel in such encounters, that is
in people’s gestures and attitudes … (Guatarri and Rolnik, 2004). And what was
especially relevant in these encounters is that they were mediated by people who
had certain motivations, and by objects and events, which had certain stories.
20
Introduction
Körperkontakt vermeidet, was damit beginnt, dem anderen auf der Straße schon
nicht in die Augen zu schauen, gab es Raum für warmherzige Geselligkeit und
Großzügigkeit. Und mehr als alles andere gab es Raum für den freien Austausch.
Unser erstes Ziel war es, den überorganisierten und überkontrollierten öffentlichen Raum in Weimar ein bisschen in „Unordnung“ zu bringen, die
Grenzen seiner Sicherheit und Voraussehbarkeit zu verschieben, (kulturellen)
Konsum zu hinterfragen und das Potenzial des Kunstkiosks als städtische Vorrichtung zur Auslösung aktiver Partizipation zu öffnen. Durch den Import der prekären, improvisierten und rücksichtslosen Überlebensstrategien in den Tropen
wollten wir einen Raum für Initiativen und Begegnungen schaffen. Wir fanden uns
schließlich in einem unvorhersehbaren Sozialexperiment wieder, das aufzeigte,
dass eine andere Gesellschaft hier möglich ist: Menschen sind offen, verbindlich,
es gibt Solidarität. Es gibt vielleicht nicht genügend Räume, die dafür geschaffen
werden. Die Koordinatorin von Kiosk09 meinte, dass ihr dieser Ort der Toleranz
und horizontalen Hierarchie völlig utopisch, aber dennoch wahrhaftig schien. Es
wurde ein wahrhaftiger Teil unseres Lebens.
Affekte
Die simple Präsenz von KoCA Inn führte zu kleinen Konflikten und einer
permanenten Spannung. Alle Positionen und Meinungen sind wichtig und
relevant, und ich denke auch, dass die Öffentlichkeit gerade im Konflikt demokratisch sein kann. Doch hier interessiere ich mich besonders für jene, die sich dem
KoCA Inn hinzugesellt haben, für diejenigen, die uns besuchten, die mit uns gespielt
haben, die Spenden brachten, die sich den Raum aneigneten und sich somit auch
eine eigene Erfahrung schufen. Sie waren Teil einer unangekündigten Debatte, für
die es keinen Runden Tisch und keinen vermittelnden Moderator gab. In dieser
temporären, informellen Nutzung des Raumes fand ein unsichtbarer Austausch
von Ideen, Praktiken und Perspektiven statt. Es war eine Art unterbewusstes
Straßen-Forum, das auf der Mikro-Ebene des Austauschs von Angesicht zu
Angesicht funktionierte. Diese gemeinsam verbrachten Momente – gesprochene,
gestikulierte oder schweigsame Konversationen – können als mikropolitische
Vitalität bezeichnet werden: die Kraft der Politik des Verlangens, der Subjektivität und der Beziehung zu anderen. Eine molekulare Revolution, die nicht nur im
Diskurs statt findet, sondern etwas ist, das man bei solchen Begegnungen fühlen
kann, etwas in den Gesten und Haltungen der Menschen … (Guatarri und Rolnik
Einleitung
21
In the first place those people running the space have diverse urban
bodigraphies, coming from and having lived in various and different places but
somehow they do share common interests: either in artistic/urbanistic intentions
or academic researches around democratic strategies for dealing with the public
realm (see pp. 374). That makes a difference. Our group had the task of taking
the responsibility for the place, to make coffee and breakfast, to sell second
hand objects, to exchange the São Joaquim’s objects and, through a system of
shifts, to keep it running for 24 hours a day for 2 weeks. Not only metaphorically
but also literally, UrbanDÆ had to be there: DA sein. To be there, in the city, in
that particular space, with all the visible and invisible traces of where UrbanDÆ
participants came from and/or had been to.
Secondly, these objects and/or events were charged with specific cultural
and economic characters. Something happened when the public approached us
with the wish to lay in a hammock, to exchange an untanned leather hat or a selfmade CD with Brazilian Popular Music, to buy an old GDR-chair, a two decade
old Risk board game or a 60’s luster, to drift through an Oiticica, Clark or Caetano
book from our mini-library, to get a foot massage, to give us a painting of a winter
landscape or a bag of apples or, if they had the impulse, to dance ciranda or play
chess. “It is clear that each object – each issue, generates a different pattern of
emotions and disruptions, of disagreements and agreements. (…) Each object
triggers new occasions to passionately differ and dispute.” (Latour, 2005: 15)
By being there, those particular people, events and objects encouraged certain
relations and new forms of conviviality to emerge. KoCA Inn became a trade zone
of symbolic, personal, singular objects, of cultural habits and small gestures.
And I believe that it is in this kind of shared experiences that hopefully social and
urban change can occur. By re-inventing itself every day, KoCA Inn’s structure and
its internal dynamics became a tangible, material evidence of contamination and
actualization processes that are normally not visible to distracted eyes.
Terra Incognita – or how to read this Book
As we are more interested in these processes than in their products, this
book is not only a documentation of the two weeks of occupation, but also an
account of the fields of forces that generated and were generated by KoCA Inn. We
tried to find ways of registering this stretching cloud of ideas; we tried to draw this
inexact landscape of thoughts. Through the structure of the book we attempted
22
Introduction
2004) Was in diesen Begegnungen besonders relevant war, ist die Tatsache, dass
sie nach außen vermittelt wurden, von Menschen mit gewissen Motivationen und
durch Objekte und Ereignisse mit gewissen Geschichten.
Erstens haben diejenigen, die den Ort betrieben, unterschiedliche urbanen
Körpergraphien, die signalisieren, aus welchen Orten sie kamen und wo sie gelebt
hatten, doch teilten sie irgendwie ein gemeinsames Interesse: entweder künstlerische/urbanistische Absichten oder akademische Recherchen über demokratische Strategien und den Umgang mit Öffentlichkeit (siehe S. 374). Dies schafft
einen Unterschied. Unsere Gruppe aus achtzehn Leuten hatte zur Aufgabe, die
Verantwortung für den Ort zu übernehmen, Kaffee und Frühstück zuzubereiten,
Second-Hand-Gegenstände zu verkaufen, die brasilianischen Objekte einzutauschen und den Ort durch ein Schichtsystem zwei Wochen lang rund um die
Uhr am Laufen zu halten. Nicht nur sinnbildlich, sondern ganz konkret musste
UrbanDÆ dort sein: DA sein. In der Stadt, an diesem spezifischen Ort, mit all den
sichtbaren und unsichtbaren Spuren von dort, woher die UrbanDÆ-Teilnehmer
kamen oder wo sie gewesen waren.
Zweitens waren diese Objekte und/oder Ereignisse mit spezifischen
kulturellen und wirtschaftlichen Eigenschaften geladen. Es geschah etwas,
wenn Leute auf uns zu kamen mit dem Wunsch: in der Hängematte zu liegen, einen Hut aus ungegerbtem Kalbsleder oder eine selbstgebrannte CD
mit brasilianischer Popmusik einzutauschen, einen alten DDR-Stuhl, ein
zwei Jahrezehnte altes Risiko-Brettspiel oder einen gebrauchten Kronleuchter zu kaufen, durch ein Oiticica-, Clark- oder Caetano-Buch aus unserer MiniBibliothek zu blättern, eine Fußmassage zu bekommen, uns ein Gemälde einer
Winterlandschaft oder einen Sack Äpfel zu geben, oder wenn sie den Impuls
verspührten, Ciranda zu tanzen oder Schach zu spielen. „Es ist klar, dass jeder
Gegenstand – jeder Aspekt – ein unterschiedliches Muster an Emotionen und
Brüchen, an Uneinigkeiten und Einigkeiten hervorbringt (…). Jedes Objekt löst
neue Gelegenheiten aus, damit wir leidenschaftlich anders sein und uns streiten
können. Jedes Objekt mag uns aber auch näher bringen, ohne dass wir uns in
Sonstigem einig sind.“ (Latour, 2005: 15) Durch ihr Dasein ermutigen diese konkreten Menschen, konkreten Ereignisse und konkreten Gegenstände gewisse
Formen der Nähe und neue Formen der Geselligkeit zu entstehen. KoCA Inn wurde
zur Handelszone für symbolische, persönliche, einzigartige Gegenstände, für kulturelle Gewohnheiten und kleine Gesten. Ich glaube, dass durch diese Art von
Einleitung
23
to portray this trade zone of practices, objects and affects that KoCA Inn was. To
situate this moving cloud of thoughts and references, we go back to UrbanDA’s
trip to Salvador and arrive at UrbanDE’s reflections of their trip to Weimar.
Singular perceptions and ways of being in the world that informed the project are
underlined in the cartographies, in the critical reflections, the theoretical musings,
and in the multiple voices that narrate the daily experiences and stories during the
two weeks of the occupation. What is difficult to map is the intensity of those lived
experiences.
For telling you the (in)official story of KoCA Inn, we collected not only the
eighteen voices of UrbanDÆ, but also the voices of participants. They are mixed
and not necessarily signed. But the personal tones and details of style hope to
capture the intensities of their experiences; at the same time contextualizing how
people were affected by and affected the experience. This book also hopes to
allude to an environment where differences are most welcome and where social
hierarchies can momentarily be dissolved – a situation that KoCA Inn surprisingly
managed to enable. It was perhaps in these moments of freedom that a shortlived utopia emerged. Was the suspension of frontiers possible due to its artistic,
protected character, and/or its temporariness and unexpectedness? If KoCA Inn
had lasted longer, it might have become a territory for those with more power, or
more availability, or more initiative. I believe that it was in this brief lifetime that
this utopia could exist: a Terra Incognita, where territories were not yet charted
nor conquered. Yet, a question remains: can these moments of freedom last? To
which extent can urban territories be constantly re-invented by ordinary people in
the everyday? Could KoCA Inn possibly have been a draft of what Amin and Thrift
define as the community where conditions of belonging cannot be represented?
Could it have been a temporary “community of the banal and the mundane, the
community of improvisation, intuition, play. The community of taking place, not
place. (…) The community we have in common?” (2002: 47)
Now that KoCA Inn is not longer taking place, we contradictorily try to find a
place for it, by registering what that temporary Terra Incognita might have been.
Therefore we have charted the imaginary – yet real – KoCA Inn main land, its traffic
islands and annexed territories. As in the maritime discoveries, this book strolls
on how KoCA Inn lands and islands were occupied and inhabited, how their spaces
and open possibilities were communicated, and finally which expeditions and
exchanges re-invented that Weimar corner for two weeks: 24/7(x2). The order of
24
Introduction
gemeinsamen Erfahrungen gewisse urbane, und hoffentlich auch soziale, Veränderungen eintreten können. Durch die tägliche Neuerfindung seiner selbst wurden
die Struktur von KoCA Inn und seine innere Dynamik eine greifbare und materielle
Evidenz kontaminierender und sich wandelnder Prozesse, die normalerweise dem
unaufmerksamen Auge unsichtbar bleiben.
Terra incognita – oder wie man dieses Buch lesen sollte
Da wir mehr an diesen Prozessen als an ihren Produkten interessiert sind,
ist dieses Buch nicht allein die Dokumentation dieser zweiwöchigen Inbesitznahme, sondern auch ein Zeugnis über die Kraftfelder, die das KoCA Inn generiert haben und die von ihm generiert wurden. Wir versuchten, Wege zu finden, diese sich streckende Wolke von Ideen zu erfassen; wir versuchten
diese inexakte Landschaft von Gedanken aufzuzeichnen. Um diesen Prozess greifbar zu machen, schauen wir zurück auf UrbanDAs Reise nach Salvador und kommen danach zu UrbanDEs Reflexionen ihre Reise nach Weimar. Darüber hinaus
wirst du in diesem Buch die zahlreichen Bestrebungen auffinden, die die singulären Formen der Wahrnehmung und der Daseinsweise, die dieses Projekt nährte,
unterstreichen: in den Kartographien und kritischen Reflexionen, im theoretischen Rahmen und in den vielfältigen Stimmen, die die täglichen Erfahrungen und
Geschichten in den zwei Wochen erzählen. Was schwierig zu kartieren ist, das ist
die Intensität dieser Erlebnisse.
Um dir die (in)offizielle Geschichte des KoCA Inn zu erzählen, sammelten
wir nicht nur die achtzehn Stimmen der UrbanDÆ, sondern auch Stimmen der
Teilnehmmer. Diese werden durcheinander präsentiert und sind nicht notwenig
namentlich bezeichnet. Aber durch die persönlichen Farben und Stildetails können wir hoffen, dass die Intensität ihrer Erfahrungen eingefangen und zur gleichen
Zeit kontextualisiert wird, wie Menschen durch die Erfahrung affiziert wurden und
selbst diese Erfahrung affizierten. Diese Buch hofft auch, auf ein Umfeld hinzuweisen, in dem Differenzen sehr willkommen sind, aber in dem soziale Hierarchien
vorübergehend aufgelöst werden können – eine Situation, die das KoCA Inn überraschenderweise zu ermöglichen imstande war. Vielleicht war es in diesen Augenblicken von Freiheit, dass eine kurzlebige Utopie entstand. War die Aufhebung
der Grenzen möglich wegen ihrer geschützen künstlerischen Eigenschaft, und/
oder wegen ihres zeitweiligen und unerwarteten Charakters?
Einleitung
25
content does follow a narrative structure, though not chronological. But it could
have been another. We actually changed the order of this narrative innumerous
times. We just stopped because it was time to print the book. Since it is now your
turn to explore it, let the tides take you in a drift through the moving waters of
Sophienstiftsplatz Bay in that summer of 2009. Have a nice journey!
26
Introduction
Hätte das KoCA Inn länger gedauert, hätte es ein Territorium für diejenigen
mit mehr Macht, mehr Zeit oder mehr Initiative werden können. Ich glaube, es
war gerade in seiner kurzen Lebensdauer, dass diese Utopie existieren konnte:
eine Terra Incognita, in der Territorien noch nicht kartografiert und erobert worden sind. Ja, eine Frage bleibt: Können diese Momente der Freiheit von Dauer
sein? Bis zu welchem Grade können urbane Räume von jedermann im alltäglichen Leben permanent neu erfunden werden? Hat das KoCA Inn möglicherweise
ein Entwurf sein können für das, was Amin & Thrift als die Gemeinschaft definieren, in der die Umstände der Zugehörigkeit nicht repräsentiert werden können?
Hat es eine „temporäre Gemeinschaft des Banalen und Irdischen, die Gemeinschaft von Improvisation, Intuition und Spiel sein können; die Gemeinschaft des
Stattfindenden, nicht der Stätte (…); die Gemeinschaft, die wir gemein haben?“
(2002:47)
Nun, da das KoCA Inn nicht länger stattfindet, versuchen wir in aller Widersprüchlichkeit einen Ort dafür zu finden. Dies tun wir, indem wir erfassen, was
diese zeitlich begrenzte Terra Incognita gewesen sein könnte. Dazu haben wir
das imaginäre – und doch reale – KoCA Inn-Festland kartiert, seine Verkehrsinseln
und annektierten Territorien. Wie zur Zeit der Entdeckungsreisen der Seefahrer
erkundet dieses Buch, wie die KoCA Inn-Länder und -Inseln gebaut und bewohnt,
wie seine Räume und offenen Möglichkeiten kommuniziert wurden und schließlich welche Expeditionen und Austausche diese Weimarer Ecke für zwei Wochen
neu erfanden: 24/7(x2). Die Anordnung des Inhalts folgt einem Erzählstrang, der
jedoch nicht chronologisch ist. Aber auch eine völlig andere Erzählweise wäre
denkbar gewesen. Ehrlich gesagt haben wir die Anordnung dieser Erzählung
etliche Male geändert. Und diesen Prozess haben wir nur abgebrochen, weil es
Zeit war, das Buch endlich in den Druck zu geben. Nun ist es an dir, dich auf
Entdeckungsreisen zu begeben. Mögen die Gezeiten dich mit auf einen
Streifzug durch die bewegten Gewässer der Sophienstiftsplatz-Bucht im
Sommer 2009 nehmen. Hab eine gute Reise!
Einleitung
27
The Kiosk on Sophienstiftsplatz:
From 1968 to 2010
Today, in the midst of an ensemble consisting of concrete paving stones,
flowerbed elements, traffic signs, fencing and a huge plane tree, on the northwestern edge of Sophienstiftsplatz in Weimar, at the junction between Erfurter
Straße, Coudraystraße and Heinrich-Heine-Straße, there is still a kiosk that once
belonged to the newspaper distribution department of the German Post Office
of the GDR. On the kiosk itself, there is no information of any kind indicating its
origins, date or previous owner during the GDR era.
Inmitten eines Ensembles aus Beton-Bodenplatten, Blumenrabatten-Elementen, Verkehrsschildern, Geländern und einer Platane steht heute noch am NordWest-Rand des Weimarer Sophienstiftsplatzes, an der Kreuzung Erfurter Straße,
Coudraystraße und Heinrich-Heine-Straße, ein Kiosk des Postzeitungsvertriebs
der Deutschen Post der DDR. Am Kiosk selbst finden sich keinerlei Hinweise auf
Herkunft, Datierung oder vormalige Betreiber zu DDR-Zeiten.
Kiosk at Sophienstiftsplatz
Visiting the archives of the urban planning department at Weimar’s city
council offices, we can only find very little information on what was going
on at Sophienstiftsplatz in former times. The files provide the official plan of a
preceding kiosk at the same location. This was a state-owned grocery kiosk
with a hexagonal ground plan, dated autumn 1949. Nothing about alterations,
pulling it down or any successors. In Weimar’s municipal archives, there is quite
a lot of material to be discovered about planned and realised kiosks from the
GDR era, about their locations, procedures concerning permission for erection,
designs, refurbishing and the removal of numerous kiosks, for example on
Theaterplatz or in Schwanseestraße, which was called Stalinstraße in 1952.
However, there is no information passed down to us in records concerning the
kiosk on Sophienstiftsplatz, perhaps because it was less noticeable and less
attractive by comparison to other Weimar kiosks. But among the numerous shots
of Weimar’s streets and squares during different epochs that can be found in the
photo collection of the city archives, there are three photos in which it is possible
to see a kiosk on Sophienstiftsplatz. Two were taken in the years 1965 and 1967
28
Der Kiosk am Sophienstiftsplatz:
Von 1968 bis 2010
Introduction
Kiosk am Sophienstiftsplatz
Beim Besuch des Archivs der Bauaufsicht der Weimarer Stadtverwaltung
bekommen wir nur sehr wenige Informationen darüber, was früher am Sophienstiftsplatz vor sich ging. Die Akten liefern den Amtsplan eines Vorgänger-Kiosks
am Standort. Ein HO-Lebensmittel-Kiosk mit sechseckigem Grundriss datiert in
den Herbst 1949. Nichts über Umbauten, Abrisse oder Nachfolger. Im Stadtarchiv
Weimar erfährt man eine Menge über geplante und realisierte Weimarer Kioske
der DDR-Zeit, über Standort- und Genehmigungsverfahren, über Entwürfe,
Aus- und Abbauten zahlreicher Kioske, so am Theaterplatz oder in der Schwanseestraße, die 1952 Stalinstraße hieß. Der Kiosk am Sophienstiftsplatz jedoch
schlägt sich in aktenkundlicher Weitergabe nicht wieder, vielleicht weil er im Vergleich zu anderen Weimarer Kiosken unauffälliger und weniger attraktiv war. Im
Fotobestand des Stadtarchivs finden sich unter den zahlreichen Aufnahmen von
Weimarer Straßen und Plätzen aus verschiedenen Epochen drei Fotos, auf denen
der Kiosk am Sophienstiftsplatz zu sehen ist. Zwei aus fast der gleichen Perspektive aufgenommene Bilder, die eine neue Verkehrsführung der Platzes dokumentieren sollen, zeigen einen Zeitungskiosk der Postzeitungsvertriebe.
Dieses, in Form eines umgekehrten Pyramidenstumpfes ausgeführte Modell,
Einleitung
29
Kiosk K50 at the Sophienstiftsplatz, 1967
Kiosk K50 am Sophienstiftsplatz, 1967
Foto: Helmut Scholz. Stadtarchiv Weimar
from almost the same perspective. They are intended to document the new traffic
regulations for the square and show a newspaper kiosk belonging to the Post
Office newspaper distributors.
This model, realised in the form of an upturned pyramid base, was obviously
the direct predecessor of the kiosk that remains today, in exactly the same
location and on the same concrete and stone foundation. A third picture from
the year 1991 reproduces the present kiosk – by chance and partly covered by
a banner with the inscription STAU DT 64, alongside a Fish Corner sales wagon.
But still there is nothing fundamental about the only remaining example of a
kiosk belonging to the newspaper distribution department of the German Post
Office in Weimar, a kiosk that once bore the inscription “always up-to-date” on
its roof. The office for the distribution of newspapers attached to the Post Office
was obviously relatively independent, as was the construction department of
the Post Office which was responsible for the typified kiosk models, so that the
conception, production, erection and furbishing of the kiosks did not result in any
serious documentation to speak of.
K 600 – At the Berlin Museum of Communication, we find a collection entitled
PZV Kiosks which includes photographs of hundreds of newspaper kiosks, and
this time the focus is always on the small buildings themselves. These pictures,
mostly in black and white, show Post Office kiosks of all kinds throughout the
course of time: fixed or mobile, square, rectangular or hexagonal, those resembling
advertising pillars, those with pleated roofs, those integrated into shops, post-war
temporary kiosks, PZV-advertising stands “From the people for the people, that
is your newspaper”, or serial models. Many of the photographs are annotated
with information concerning location, year and – where appropriate – the name of
the typified models. Less frequent are additional remarks like “Everywhere in our
Republic there is an opportunity to buy international newspapers and magazines
30
Introduction
war offenbar der direkte Vorgänger des heute noch stehenden Kiosks, am genau
gleichen Standort, auf der gleichen Beton-Stein-Fundamentplatte. Ein drittes Bild
aus dem Jahr 1991 gibt den jetzigen Kiosk eher zufällig und nur teilweise wieder –
hinter einem STAU DT 64-Banner und neben einem Fisch-Eck-Kioskwagen. Aber
immer noch nichts Grundlegendes über das einzig noch stehende Exemplar eines
Kiosks des Postzeitungsvertriebs der Deutschen Post in Weimar, vormals mit der
Aufschrift „immer aktuell“ auf dem Dach. Offenbar war das Zeitungsvertriebsamt
der Post relativ ähnlich unabhängig wie die für die Kiosk-Typenmodelle zuständige
Bauabteilung der Post, so dass die Konzeption, die Produktion, die jeweilige Montage und Einrichtung der Kioske keine ernsthafte Überlieferung nach sich zog.
K 600 – Im Berliner Museum für Kommunikation finden wir einen Bestand
PZV-Kioske mit Fotografien hunderter Zeitungskioske, und diesmal die Kleinstarchitekturen stets im Fokus. Auf diesen zumeist Schwarz-Weiß-Bildern sind
Post-Kioske aller Art und durch die Zeiten zu sehen: feste oder fahrbare, quadratische, rechteckige oder sechseckige, an Litfasssäulen erinnernde, Knickdach tragende, in Läden integrierte, Nachkriegsbehelfskioske, PZV-Werbestände – „Aus
dem Volke für das Volk, das ist Deine Zeitung“ – oder Serienmodelle. Viele der
Fotos tragen Beschriftungen, die über Ort, Jahr und – bei typisierten Exemplaren
– Typenbezeichnung Auskunft geben. Darüber hinausgehende Bemerkungen wie
“In allen Orten dieser Republik ist die Möglichkeit gegeben, an Zeitungskiosken
Zeitungen und Zeitschriften aus aller Welt käuflich zu erwerben“ auf der Rückseite
eines K 50-Modells 1949/50 finden sich seltener. Der K 100 bzw. K 101 – beide
aus Holz gefertigt – wandelte sich in den K 600, genau jenen Kiosktyp, aus dessen Reihe heute noch ein Exemplar in Weimar steht. Mögen sicher Funktionsbestimmtheit und räumliche Unbestimmtheit bei der typisierenden Bauweise der
Kioske sozialistisch-pragmatisch im Vordergrund gestanden haben – von einer
mangelnden Aneignung und Nutzung dieser Kiosk-Ensembles durch die Menschen im unmittelbaren öffentlichen Raum kann nicht gesprochen werden. Erst
seit den 1990er Jahren verschwinden diese Kioske zusehends aus den Stadtbildern, umso wichtiger, die wenigen noch irrlichternden Vertreter durch kulturelle
Inwertsetzung etwas festzuhalten.
K&K – Zentrum für Kunst und Mode
Im Jahr 2001 entdeckten Katharina Hohmann und Katharina Tietze den leeren Kiosk und verliebten sich in ihn. Die letzte Besitzerin, Frau Hackeschmied,
Einleitung
31
Taking over the empty kiosk
Käthe Kruse: Football dress
Übernahme des leeren Kiosks, 2001
Katharina’s closet, K&K 2006
Foto: Manuel Fabritz
Käthe Kruse: Fußballkleid
Katharinas Schrank, K&K 2006
Foto: Käthe Kruse
at newspaper kiosks” on the reverse of a K 50 model 1949/50. K 100 or 101 –
both made out of wood – thus changed into K 600, precisely the type of kiosk
from whose ranks one example still stands in Weimar today. While the typified
construction method of the kiosks placed emphasis, in a pragmatic socialist way,
on specific function and flexibility of location – there can be no doubt that these
kiosk ensembles in public space were willingly accepted and used by the people.
It is only since the 1990s that the kiosks have been disappearing increasingly
from our cities, making it all the more essential to hold onto the few remaining
representatives by attaching cultural value to them.
K&K – Zentrum für Kunst und Mode
In 2001 Katharina Hohmann and Katharina Tietze discovered the empty
Kiosk and fell in love with it. The last owner, Miss Hackerschmied, had just
failed in the attempt to reinstall a newspaper-selling place. After the Berlin wall
came down in 1989, the first private owner of the kiosk continued and used the
place as a newspaper stand. Unfortunately the time was not in favour of selling
newspapers: all supermarkets were selling them; people were just adding the
newspapers and magazines to their daily shopping. No one wanted to spend
extra-time going to a newsstand. The project K&K. Zentrum für Kunst und Mode
(Center for Art and Fashion) were finally founded in 2002. Between then and
the end of 2006, more than 60 exhibitions of artistic installations focusing on
everyday culture with the theme of fashion have rotated through the former GDR
newsstand. With taking over the kiosk also came the opportunity to keep all of
the original former furniture, such as the rotating newspaper displays, which
were later used quite often for exhibitions. K&K documented and researched,
provided insights and perspectives, interpreted and played with questions, and
dealt with the possibilities offered by the place itself, the kiosk.
32
Introduction
hatte gerade vergeblich versucht, wieder einen Zeitungsverkauf aufzubauen.
Nachdem 1989 die Mauer fiel, machte der erste private Besitzer weiter und nutzte
den Ort als Zeitungsverkaufsstand. Leider waren es keine rosigen Zeiten zum Verkaufen von Zeitungen: sie wurden in allen Kaufhallen und so auch im Rewe in der
Nähe angeboten; die Menschen packten die Zeitungen und Zeitschriften einfach
zu ihrem täglichen Einkauf dazu. Keiner wollte extra Zeit damit verschwenden,
zu einem Zeitungsstand zu gehen. Schließlich wurde im Jahr 2002 das Projekt
K&K. Zentrum für Kunst und Mode gegründet. Von jenem Zeitpunkt an bis Ende
2006 wurden in dem ehemaligen DDR-Zeitungskiosk mehr als 60 Ausstellungen
gezeigt: künstlerische Installationen zum Thema Mode mit dem Fokus Alltagskultur. Mit der Übernahme des Kiosks bestand auch die Möglichkeit, alle Originalmöbel zu bekommen, zum Beispiel die drehbaren Zeitungsständer, die später oft für
Ausstellungen genutzt wurden. K&K dokumentierte und recherchierte, gab Einblicke und Ausblicke, interpretierte Fragestellungen, spielte mit ihnen und beschäftigte sich mit den Möglichkeiten, die der Ort selbst, der Kiosk, bot.
Eine Vielzahl nicht nur von Künstlern, sondern auch Theoretikern und Schriftstellern, Wissenschaftlern und Forschern bereicherten die Diskussionen mit ihren
visuellen Beiträgen. Die Installationen waren vor allem das Ergebnis der Gespräche zwischen der Künstlerin Katharina Hohmann und der Designerin Katharina
Tietze. Die Einladungen folgten den Logiken der jeweiligen Themen. Der vierjährige Arbeitskomplex untersuchte in einem fortlaufendem Dialog Überschneidungen und Gegensätze zwischen Kunst und Mode. Fünf Themenschwerpunkte
kristallisierten sich im Laufe der Zeit und in der kontinuierlichen Arbeit an dem
Projekt heraus: Sammlungen, Hüllen, Zeitschriften, Glamour und Phänomene.
Diese Schwerpunkte können als die wichtigsten Themenfelder der Überschneidung von Kunst und Mode verstanden werden. Einige der etwa 70 Ausstellungen basierten auf Partizipation. Passanten, in der Regel nur Zuschauer, wurden
Einleitung
33
A multitude not only of artists but also of theoreticians and writers, scientists
and researchers, enriched the discussions with their visual contributions. The
installations were mainly the result of conversations between the artist Katharina
Hohmann and the designer Katharina Tietze. The invitations followed the logics of
the thematic issues. The four-year work-complex explored the concord and discord
between art and fashion in an ongoing discussion. Five points of focus crystallized
over time and through continuous work on the project: Collections, Envelopes,
Magazines, Glamour and Phenomena. Those focuses can be understood as
main thematic crossover fields between art and fashion. Some of the around 70
exhibitions were based on participation. The passers by, usually just spectators,
were included in the exhibition and process. The Kiosk is always part of the urban
furniture of the city. Able to host one to three persons at the same time, the Kiosk
can be cosily heated in winter, and offers shelter in summer. It can be re-enacted
and re-invented as a platform for different actions. The invited artists, I will mention
some of them here, were using the aspect of communication in different, specific
ways. The participatory approach was quite different in each installation.
Pro qm – In May 2002, the Berlin based thematic bookstore Pro qm brought
a selection of contemporary international fashion magazines, some subversive,
some unknown. “The emphasis is on international magazines whose content
is surprising, whose layout and illustrations are experimental, and whose texts
are often in foreign languages. You are more likely to find these magazines in
specialist shops in the metropolises. The international distribution of such
magazines is based on a dense and very informed network of fashion production
and sales locations, of clubs and galleries, and it is especially dependent on the
prevalent codes there.” (Axel J. Wieder in K&K Magazin, 2006:60) We had a oneweek sales exhibition of those quite unique magazines, which were never seen in
Weimar before and later.
Oneform – The universal item of clothing Oneform is a combination between
a jacket and a multi-functional bag and it can be adapted for specific use by means
of additional, flexible elements. Oneform is a uniform, but not in the traditional
sense. It owes nothing to convention or to norms. Oneform is not opposed to its
wearer’s individuality, on the contrary, its effect is to concentrate attention on the
spiritual-intellectual individuality of its wearer. Oneform is a Utopia, an idea and
perhaps an ideal. In June 2002 the art students Alexander Voigt / Lisa Kumpf were
doing a one-week research and a life-act of sewing and testing the uniform.
34
Introduction
in die Ausstellung und den Prozess mit einbezogen. Der Kiosk ist immer Teil des
städtischen Straßenmobiliars. Mit der Möglichkeit, ein bis drei Personen zur gleichen Zeit aufzunehmen, kann der Kiosk im Winter gemütlich beheizt werden und
im Sommer Schutz bieten. Er kann als Plattform für verschiedene Aktionen wieder in Kraft gesetzt und neu erfunden werden. Die eingeladenen Künstler, einige
von ihnen werde ich hier nennen, nutzten den Aspekt der Kommunikation auf verschiedene, spezifische Weise. Der partizipatorische Ansatz war von Installation zu
Installation recht verschieden.
Pro qm – Im Mai 2002 brachte der thematische Buchladen Pro qm aus
Berlin eine Auswahl von gegenwärtigen internationalen Modezeitschriften, einige
von ihnen subversiv, andere unbekannt, zum Kiosk. „Der Schwerpunkt liegt bei
internationalen Magazinen, in denen die Inhalte überraschen, mit den Abbildungen und dem Layout experimentiert wird und die Texte häufig fremdsprachig sind.
Diese Magazine sind eher in spezialisierten Läden in den Metropolen zu finden.
Der internationale Vertrieb solcher Zeitschriften verdankt sich einem engmaschigen und sehr informierten Netz aus Produktions- und Verkaufsorten für Mode,
aus Clubs und Galerien, und verdankt sich im Besonderen den dort zirkulierenden
Zeichensystemen.“ (Axel J. Wieder in: K&K Magazin, 2006:60) Wir hatten eine einwöchige Verkaufsausstellung dieser recht einzigartigen Magazine, die nie zuvor
und nie wieder danach in Weimar gesehen wurden.
Eineform – Das universale Kleidungsstück Eineform besteht aus der Kombination von Jacke und multifunktionaler Tasche und ist mittels austauschbarer
Elemente dem jeweiligen Gebrauch angepasst. Eineform ist eine Uniform, jedoch
nicht im herkömmlichen Sinn. Eineform richtet sich nicht gegen die Individualität
ihres Trägers, sondern soll eine Konzentration auf die seelisch-geistige Individualtät ihrer Träger bewirken. Eineform ist eine Utopie, eine Idee und vielleicht ein
Ideal. Im Juni 2002 unternahmen die Kunststudierenden Alexander Voigt und Lisa
Kumpf eine einwöchige Forschung und einen Life-act des Nähens und Testens
der Uniform.
Night Shop Radio for Body and Soul – Im Juli 2002 verwandelten Christin
Albert und Laurentius Schmeier, beide Studenten der Fakultät Medien der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, den Kiosk für einige Tage in ein 24-Stunden-Geschäft.
„Alltagsbegegnungen nach der Schicht im Schacht. Angebote am nächtlichen
Kiosk für Unrasierte, Bierbäuche, Raucherhusten, Zerzauste … für alle Unersättlichen und Unermüdlichen. Nachts stehen unsere Gäste im Mittelpunkt: auf dem
Einleitung
35
Night Shop Radio for Body and Soul – For some days in July 2002 Christin
Albert and Laurentius Schmeier, both students of the media-faculty, BauhausUniversität Weimar, transformed the kiosk into a 24hours shop. “Everyday
encounters after one’s shift in the daily battle. At the nighttime Kiosk, there are
offers for the unshaven, the beer belly, the smoker’s cough, the dishevelled …
for all the insatiable and indefatigable. At night our guests find themselves in the
limelight: presented on a plate, on the catwalk. We tell stories across the counter,
we are looking for people who buy their morning newspaper early; sleepy and
dishevelled. When we are shattered.”(K&K Magazin, 2006:92)
Coming Soon
In the year 2006 the kiosk and its future as approved 24 hours art space – the
smallest and maybe most visible in Weimar – was suddenly in danger. People tried
to buy the kiosk from its owner and transform it into a light box for commercial
use, or into a shop for Hello Kitty stuff. In the hurry of maybe loosing the space,
a group of around 10 people got together and bought the kiosk from the owner
to preserve its unique identity in town: with a series of installations with the title
Coming Soon the place was again showing regular installations on the large issue
of a possible future.
KoCA – Kiosk of Contemporary Art
In the year 2008 and part of 2009, the artists Leonie Weber and Felix Ruffert
took the curatorial part and mainly worked with young international artists
showing installations interpreting their individual and specific view on the city
of Weimar. With a new group of curatorial activists, Naomi Teresa Salmon and
students of the Art Faculty of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the year 2009 was
mainly dedicated to the theme of appropriation.
Kakao
In 2010 the nearby Jenaplan Elementary School took over the Kiosk, and
gave it the new name KAKAO.
Präsentierteller, dem Laufsteg. Wir erzählen Geschichten quer über die Theke,
suchen Menschen, die früh verschlafen und zerknittert ihre Morgenzeitung kaufen. Dann, wenn wir am Ende sind.“ (K&K Magazin, 2006:92)
Coming Soon
Im Jahr 2006 kam der Kiosk und seine Zukunft als 24-Stunden-Kunstraum –
der kleinste und vielleicht am besten sichtbarste in Weimar – plötzlich in Gefahr.
Leute versuchten den Kiosk vom Besitzer zu kaufen und ihn in einen Lichtkasten
für Werbezwecke umzugestalten, oder in einen Laden für Hello Kitty Krams. Im
Gefecht, den Kiosk vielleicht zu verlieren, kam eine Gruppe von etwa zehn Personen zusammen, die den Kiosk dem Besitzer abkaufte, um seine einzigartige Identität in der Stadt zu bewahren: mit einer Serie von Installationen unter dem Titel
Coming Soon zeigte der Ort wieder regelmäßige Installationen unter dem großen
Thema einer möglichen Zukunft.
KoCA – Kiosk of Contemporary Art
Im Jahr 2008 und teilweise in 2009 übernahmen die Künstler Leonie Weber
und Felix Ruffert die Kuration und arbeiteten hauptsächlich mit jungen internationalen Künstlern zusammen, die in Installationen die Interpretationen ihrer individuellen und spezifischen Sichtweise auf die Stadt Weimar zeigten. Mit einer
Gruppe kuratorischer Aktivisten, mit Naomi Teresa Salmon und Studierenden der
Kunstfakultät der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, war das Jahr 2009 hauptsächlich
dem Thema Aneignung gewidmet.
Kakao
2010 hat die Jenaplan Grundschule die Macht über den Kiosk an sich genohmen und ihm den neuen Namen KAKAO gegeben.
Lang lebe der Kiosk am Sophienstiftsplatz!
Parts of this text are also published in Teile dieses Texts wurden veröffentlicht in: Katharina Hohmann and
Katharina Tietze (eds) (2006). K&K Magazin, Weimar: Verlag der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Long live the kiosk on Sophienstiftsplatz!
links: www.kkkiosk.de, www.koca-weimar.de, www.kiosk09.de
Next page folgende Seite:
Hagen Betzwieser: Institut für Allgemeine Theorie - Primordial Matter, KoCA 2009. Foto: Hagen Betzwieser
36
Introduction
Einleitung
37
Hans Peter reads Wilhelm Tell in old print.
Kevin tries to learn it: now it is his task to
read the next passage. Then Hans Peter
writes in our guest book with old german
handwriting.
Hans Peter liest Wilhelm Tell in Sütterlinschrift. Kevin versucht, es zu lernen: Nun
ist es seine Aufgabe, eine Textpassage
zu lesen. Hans Peter schreibt in der alten
Schrift in unser Gästebuch..
This project was about living the public space
that the KoCa Inn provided us with. During
14 days and aware of its five senses, our body
was connected to everything we did. Through
this connection we also stimulated the senses
of others who happened to cross our street
existence. We were many among those 3 structures;
we crossed so many different worlds... new
encounters generating new spaces, through the
mobility that the environment offered us.
Dieses Projekt handelte davon, den öffentlichen
Raum, den der KoCA Inn uns zur Verfügung stellte,
zu (er)leben. 14 Tage lang und sich aller fünf
Sinne bewusst waren unsere Körper mit dem, was
wir taten, verbunden. Durch diese Verbindung
haben wir auch die Sinne anderer stimmuliert,
die unser Straßendasein durchquerten. Wir waren
zahlreich zwischen den drei Strukturen. Wir haben
viele Welten durchquert…. Neue Begegnungen generierten neue Räume, die durch die Mobilität des
Umfelds ermöglicht wurden.
der Straße schlafen?! , fragten wir uns immer wieder. Diese Vorstellung
beängstigte uns, erweckte Besorgnis, es schien noch kälter zu werden,
wenn wir daran dachten, im Freien schlafen zu müssen. Die ungewohnte
Situation – an einer Straßenkreuzung zu übernachten – begann uns aus
dem Gleichgewicht zu bringen. Wir verschoben es immer wieder, unsere
Namen in die Liste für die Nachtschicht zu setzen. Die Summary 09
wurde in dieser Nacht eröffnet und in der ganzen Stadt waren Partys. Ich
traf meine Entscheidung und ging beim Hotel Miranda vorbei, nahm
einen Schlafsack, eine Wolldecke, ein Laken, zog mir eine wärmere Jacke
über, noch ein paar Strümpfe an und eine Mütze, und ging zum Kiosk.
Als ich ankam, schlief Sven bereits in der ersten Etage eines der
Gerüste in einem Schlafsack, auf Strohmatten gebettet. Er wachte auf,
als ich kam. Ich legte mein “Bett“ neben seins. Währenddessen holte er
In
the following
we
Auf denwar
folgenden
seinen
Computer.pages
Sein Bildschirmhintergrund
ein FotoSeiten ver
vom Fenster
suchen
attempt
to Zimmer,
make readable
thegeschlafen
in meinem
in dem er
hatte, wir,
als erdie
inKomplexität
Salvador war.des
LebensErinneam
complexity
of theuns
two
weeks
Wir unterhielten
lange
während wirzweiwöchigen
auf das Bild schauten.
of
life atan
KoCA
Inn. This
is not
a Ich zog
KoCA
Inn
lesbar
zu und
machen.
rungen
Salvador
kamen
hoch.
mir
meine
Jacke
ein Hemd
chronology
as war
much
happened
Es ist
keine Chronologie,
denn
aus. Die Nacht
doch
nicht so kalt. Wir
schliefen
ein. Mein Schlaf
simultaneously.
Here
a numberder Straße
vieles
geschah
gleichzeitig.
war recht leicht, die
Geräusche
waren
nahe und
eindringlich.
of
thematic
points
of view
Eine
Anzahl
von thematischen
Svens
Atmung
hingegen
ließ einen tiefen
Schlaf
erkennen…
Am nächsten
put
events
and er
happenings
in Der Bagger
Schwerpunkten
setzt die
Morgen
wachte
auf und ging.
auf der gegenüberliegenden
relation
a collage
of Wand einzureißen.
Geschehnisse
eine Kol
Baustellethrough
war schon
dabei, eine
Ich durch
stand von
der
participants
narrations:
various
lage aus Erzählungen
Matratze auf und
legte mich
in eine Hängematte.
Ein Mann, derder
auf dem
Teilnehmer
in Beziehung: ver
voices
highlight
the
subjectivity
Bürgersteig
vorbei
lief,
hatte mich gesehen,
nahm zwei
Brötchen aus seischiedene
Stimmen
betonen
of
thatmir
experience
nerinterpretations
Tasche, zeigte sie
und ließ sie unten
auf dem
Tisch liegen.
Ich ging
enables.
die falls
Subjektivität
der Sichtweisen.
runter, aß eines und nahm das andere mit,
ich auf Weimars
Straßen
meinem Schlafkameraden wiederbegegnen sollte...
24/7 (x2)
Occupation
Inbesitznahme
Within three days the Sophien
stiftsplatz was occupied: a few
structural elements, a semiparasitic infrastructure, basic
operating systems, a growing
range of involved people, ideas,
aims and resources, and
endless plug-Inns. KoCA Inn
activated the public space with
its on-going transformations,
experimentations, informality
and engagement.
Innerhalb von drei Tagen war
der Sophienstiftsplatz in Besitz
genommen: wenige bauliche
Elemente, eine halb-parasitäre
Infrastruktur, grundlegende
Betriebssysteme, eine wachs
ende Zahl involvierter
Menschen, Ideen, Ziele und
Ressourcen und zahllose
Plug-Inns. Mit seiner ununterbrochenen Transformation,
den Experimenten, der Infor
malität und dem Engagement
aktivierte KoCA Inn den öffent
lichen Raum.
Urban Situation
Urbane Situation
Goethe & Schiller Monument at Theaterplatz
Kiosk of Contemporary Art at Sophienstiftsplatz
44
Goethe & Schiller Denkmal am Theaterplatz
Project area in an afternoon / week day / summer time
pedestrians/hour Fußgänger/Stunde
Projektgebiet an einem Nachmittag / Wochentag / Sommer
vehicles/hour Fahrzeuge/Stunde
Occupation
Inbesitznahme
45
Feira de São Joaquim
Sleeping Quellen
Sources Schlafen
At the first work meeting we had after arriving in Weimar, we were
warned: every night two of us would sleep at the Kiosk, one Brazilian
and one German-speaking person. This piece of news fell like a bomb
amongst the Brazilians: “How to sleep in the street in this cold?!” we
wondered again and again. This outlook frightened us, bringing up
apprehensions, the cold seemed more intense merely thinking about the
night outdoors. The uncommon situation – to sleep at a street corner –
made us lose our balanwce. Several times we delayed our signing in on
the night shift schedule . The “Summary 09“ was opening that night and
Weimar was partying. I made my decision and passed by Hotel Miranda,
got a sleeping bag, a woolen blanket, a sheet, put on a warmer jacket, an
extra pair of socks and a hat, and went to the Kiosk. When I arrived, Sven
was already sleeping on the ground of one of the scaffolding-mezzanines,
in a sleeping bag bedded on straw mats. He woke up at my arrival. I put
my “bed” beside his. Meanwhile, he took his computer. The screen image
of his desktop was a photo of the window in my room, where he had lived
when he was in Salvador. While looking at that image we kept talking for
a while. Memories from Salvador were brought up. I took off my jacket
and one shirt. The night was not that cold. We slept. My sleep was quite
light, the street sounds were close and invasive. Sven’s breathing was
demonstrating his profound sleep... The next morning he woke up and
left. The excavator at the construction site close by was already knocking
down a wall. I got up from the mat and laid in a hammock. A guy passing
by on the sidewalk noticed me, took two bread rolls out of his bag,
showed them to me and placed them on the table. I went down, ate one
and took the other one with me, in case I met my night’s companion on
Weimar’s streets...
In der ersten Arbeitsbesprechung nachdem wir in Weimar angekommen waren, wurden wir gewarnt, dass jede Nacht zwei Leute am Kiosk
schlafen müssten: einE BrasilianerIn und ein Deutschsprechender. Das
versetzte die Brasilianer in Schrecken: Wie sollten wir bei dieser Kälte auf
9,5 h im Flugzeug/ by plane
Layher-Gerüst-Depot/ scaffolding depot
5,5 h per LKW/ by truck
Schrottplatz/ junkyard
1,75 h
mit dem Auto/ by car
Papierfabrik/ paper factory
2,75 h mit dem Auto/ by car
5 h per Transporter/ by delivery van
Weimarer Tafel
Baumarkt/ DIY store
2,5 h per Kleinbus/ by minivan
Supermarkt/ supermarket
6,5 h mit dem Einkaufswagen/ by shopping cart
Inbesitznahme
47
Sleeping Schlafen
Structure Struktur
236 kg
120 l
500 l 1553 kg
WC-Kabinen/ portable toilets
Frischwasser/ fresh water
Abwassertank/ cesspool
Layher-Gerüst/ scaffolding
seinen Computer. Sein Bildschirmhintergrund war ein Foto vom Fenster
in meinem Zimmer, in dem er geschlafen hatte, als er in Salvador war.
Wir unterhielten uns lange während wir auf das Bild schauten. Erinnerungen an Salvador kamen hoch. Ich zog mir meine Jacke und ein Hemd
aus. Die Nacht war doch nicht so kalt. Wir schliefen ein. Mein Schlaf
war recht leicht, die Geräusche der Straße waren nahe und eindringlich.
Svens Atmung hingegen ließ einen tiefen Schlaf erkennen… Am nächsten
Morgen wachte er auf und ging. Der Bagger auf der gegenüberliegenden
Baustelle war schon dabei, eine Wand einzureißen. Ich stand von der
Matratze auf und legte mich in eine Hängematte. Ein Mann, der auf dem
Bürgersteig vorbei lief, hatte mich gesehen, nahm zwei Brötchen aus seiner Tasche, zeigte sie mir und ließ sie unten auf dem Tisch liegen. Ich ging
runter, aß eines und nahm das andere mit, falls ich auf Weimars Straßen
Inbesitznahme
49
Sleeping Schlafen
Materials Materialien
6 kg
45 kg
43 kg
13 Stk
Aluminium-Wellblech/ corrugated metal sheet
Alteisen/ scrap iron
Sperrmüllküche/ recycled kitchen
Europaletten/ europalett
50
Occupation
Inbesitznahme
51
52 m²
10,5 m²
52
Gewebeplane/tarp
Montagelatten/ contruction boards
6 m
Leuchtschlauch/tube light
0,7 m²
Plexiglas (grün)/ plexiglass (green)
28 m²
Kunststofffolien / plastic foil
Noppenbahn/burling sheetplastik
12,5 m²
Polyester-Wellenbahn/corrugated sheetpolyester
16,8 m²
Strohmatten/staw mats
14 m²
Texilien/textiles
Occupation
40 m
Inbesitznahme
53
176 m
370 m
Schnur/ string
70 m
Seile/ cords
39 m
Stromkabel/ electric cable
800
Kabelbinder/ cable connectors
80
54
Wäscheleine/ clothesline
Occupation
300
kurze Schrauben/ short screws
13
Schrauber-Bits/ drill bits
2
Bohrer/ power drill
200 m
Krepp-Band/ masking tape
100 m
Paketband/ packaging tape
150 m
Gaffer-Tape/ gaffer tape
180 m
Frischhaltefolie/ saran wrap
lange Schrauben/ long screws
Inbesitznahme
55
Plug-Inns
T
he diagram shows the main usage of
KoCA Inn spaces and plug-Inns. However,
sometimes both the kitchen and the living
room were on the side walk, or people would
stay over-night in the living-room. Plug-Inns
moved often and changed function to attend
new uses and adapt to needs.
Waste water into city’s
sewage system
Sports field
Schmutzwasser in die
Sportplatz
Kanalisation
D
as Diagramm veranschaulicht die
Hauptnutzungen des KoCA Inn und seiner
plug-Inns. Manches Mal aber befanden sich
die Küche und das Wohnzimmer auf dem
Bürgersteig, oder wir beherbergten Schlafgäste
in der Nacht im Wohnzimmer. Die Plug-Inns
zogen oft um oder änderten ihre Funktion,
um neuen Nutzungen und Events gerecht zu
werden.
Fresh water from
Bed room
neighbors and
Schlafzimmer
fountain
Frisches Wasser
von Nachbarn und
WC
Brunnen
Kitchen
Küche
Living room
Showroom, cash register, Soundset
Wohnzimmer
Ausstellungsraum, Kasse, Musikanlage
Objects from Objekte der
Weimarer Tafel
56
Occupation
Inbesitznahme
57
Reactions Reaktionen
D
uring the construction , surprised passers-by were
interviewed by Radio Lotte and asked to guess what could
be coming into being here: “What do you think this will be?”
V
erwunderte Passanten wurden von Radio Lotte während
des Aufbaus befragt, was da wohl am Entstehen sei:
“Was meinen Sie, was das wird?”
I think I read something about that, about
a tree house. ... With some roots in the air
bending over so that the tree can lay on
top of them.
Ich glaube, da habe ich mal was gelesen,
zwecks Baumhaus. ... Mit irgendwelchen
Luftwurzeln, die dann umgelagert werden,
Although, it can’t really be for the
No idea. Perhaps a stage.
It is already a scaffolding. But with several spaces up there ...
trees, I guess. Because... well,
one, two, three, four. No idea.
in landscape architecture it looks
Ein Baugerüst isses ja sowieso, aber mit mehreren Stellflächen
somehow different when they
Looks like a climbing
oben … eins, zwo, drei, vier. Keine Ahnung.
lop trees.
frame. A climbing
Obwohl, für Bäume kann das ja
park?
That is going to be a house, or not?
eigentlich nicht sein, glaube
Sieht irgendwie aus
Aber das wird n Haus, oder?
ich. Weil das ja…für Gartenbau-
wie ‘n Klettergerüst.
landschaft sieht das ja irgendwie
‘n Kletterpark?
damit dann der Baum sich drüber legt.
Well. I don’t know.
Only, that someone will play music.
Höchstens, dass da Musik gemacht wird.
Tja. Weiß ich nicht.
It’s too small for theatre.
Für Theater ist sie zu klein.
anders aus, wenn sie die Bäume
beschneiden.
Keine Idee. Eine Bühne vielleicht.
Art
Kunst
Sleeping Schlafen
Opening g
n
u
n
f
f
ö
r
E
A
s the opening is about to begin, we are
still scrambling, building make-shift roofs
with tarps between the structures, as the
sky has blessed us with rain. The furniture
from the Weimarer Tafel had been delivered
that morning and we had spent the day
transforming two scaffolding structures into
a habitat; including a living room, a hammock
sleeping lounge, an outdoor dining area,
the kiosk showroom for the objects on sale
or for use and finalizing the kitchen. The
self-imported Brazilian food is still being
prepared in Hotel Miranda and waiting
to be transported to the kiosk with borrowed
shopping carts. The public kitchen awaits
its first test-run without running water, and
we carry our two 20 liter containers to the
nearby Kebab shop to ask for a water
donation. We have ice, limes, oranges, strawberries, sugar and cachaça
to be mixed and to accompany the Vatapá and Farofa de Banana. Before
coming to Weimar, the Brazilian group spent a day with Icaro’s grand
mother learning the recipe and cooking together…
A few of us work in the kitchen preparing caipirinhas, others serve
the drinks. With no visible donation box yet we ask for donations directly
and begin the playful barter which is somewhat foreign to German
everyday culture. Our budget does not include money for food and drinks
and it is important to communicate and initiate a system of active
participation. Donations serve to cover the costs and buy further supplies
which will again be offered to guests, passers-by, and participants.
Who can give – gives; who can’t – still receives. All donations are recycled
in use; there is no intention for profit. And there are many ways to pitch
in. We initially receive confused looks when we ask people to wash their
own glasses. Hoisted on the edge of the kitchen counter is the water
container with a tab and bellow a bucket to collect the dirty water. This
project is a collective effort. We don’t intend to provide a service, but
62
Occupation
D
ie Eröffnung soll gleich anfangen und wir
sind noch dabei, Dächer aus Campingplanen zu improvisieren, die uns vor dem
(segnenden) Regen schützen sollen. Am
Morgen waren schon die Möbel der Weimarer
Tafel geliefert worden und wir hatten den
Tag damit verbracht, die zwei Baugerüste in
einen Lebensraum zu verwandeln, samt
Wohnzimmer, einer Hängematten-Schlaf-Lounge, einem offenen Essbereich, dem Ausstellungs- und Verkaufsbereich im Kiosk und die Küche
fertig zu stellen. Das selbst eingeführte brasilianische Essen wird noch im
Hotel Miranda vorbereitet und wartet darauf, mit geborgten Einkaufs
wagen zum Kiosk transportiert zu werden. Die öffentliche Küche erwartet
ihre Einweihnung ohne fließend Wasser und wir tragen noch schnell
unsere zwei 20 Liter Kanister zum Döner-Laden, um nach einer Wasserspende zu fragen. Wir haben Eiswürfel, Limetten, Orangen, Erdbeeren,
Zucker und Cachaça, die gemischt das Vatapá und Farofa de Banana
begleiten sollen. Vor ihrer Reise nach Weimar haben die Brasilianer einen
Tag bei Icaros Großmutter verbracht, um eigenhändig diese Rezepte zu
lernen. Einige von uns arbeiten in der Küche und mixen die Caipirinhas,
während andere die Drinks servieren. Wir haben noch keine sichtbare
Spendenbüchse, so dass wir direkt die Spenden einfordern und anfangen,
spielerisch Preise zu verhandeln – eine Angelegenheit die in der deutschen Kultur etwas fremd ist. Unser Budget beinhaltet keine Gelder für
Essen oder Getränke; deshalb ist es wichtig das System der aktiven Betei
ligung zu kommunizieren. Die Spenden sollen unsere Kosten decken
und es ermöglichen, neue Vorräte zu kaufen, die wir dann von neuem den
Gästen, Passanten und Beteiligten anbieten können. Wer etwas geben
kann, gibt; wer es nicht kann, bekommt trotzdem. Alle Spenden werden
direkt zum Kauf verwendet. Es besteht keine Absicht einen Gewinn zu
machen. Und es gibt viele Möglichkeiten beizutragen. Am Anfang erhal
ten wir verwirrte Blicke, als wir die Leute bitten, ihre benutzten Gläser
selber abzuwaschen. Auf dem Rand der Küchenplatte steht der Wasser
container mit Hahn, darunter ein Eimer, der das Abwasser auffängt.
Dieses Projekt ist eine gemeinschaftliche Leistung. Wir wollen keinen
Inbesitznahme
63
rather to propose systems of initiative, co-operation and public sociability.
This is maybe the most important message to convey at the opening – not
with words, but with actions. When our ingredients run out, we propose
to the visitors to bring further supplies and to mix their own drinks. In the
meantime there is dance, music and the space to explore. One Brazilian
song, then a German song; back and forth. Translations, gestures,teaching
dance moves, swinging in hammocks, climbing up and down the ladders
to explore, testing the living room for a rest,
separating the garbage, labeled with inter
nationally understandable signs, explaining
the foreign objects and materials brought
from Brazil, burning incense against evil
spirits, meeting new faces, laughing, making
first sales and explaining that the project
is open to all forms of participation and
initiative. The first step towards two weeks
of proposing and experimenting with the
potential of public space.
T
he project, which aims to explore the
informal use and appropriation of public
space, as well as to examine how subjective
bodies respond to cultural and physical space,
had clear legal boundaries, defined by
various permissions of municipal departments
for order and safety. We challenged these
boundaries on a daily basis, occupying the
sidewalks with our dinner table, or placing
used items for sale on the various surrounding
traffic isles. In this usually so regulated
space where the inhabitants mostly rush along
and don’t question the order, the most
gratifying moments were those when the
public reacted and trespassed the boundaries.
Service anbieten, sondern viel eher ein System
aus Initiative, Kooperation und öffentli
cher Gesellschaftlichkeit vorschlagen. Dies
ist wahrscheinlich der wichtigste Punkt,
den wir bei der Eröffnung vermitteln wollen
– nicht nur mit Worten, sondern mit Taten.
Als unsere Zutaten aufgebraucht sind, schlagen wir den Gästen vor, neue zu besorgen
und ihre eigenen Getränke zu mixen. In der
Zwischenzeit gibt es Tanz, Musik und viel
Raum, um zu entdecken. Ein brasilianisches
Lied, dann ein deutsches, hin und her.
Gesten, Tanzbewegungen lernen, in den Hängematten schaukeln, Leitern rauf und runter
klettern, im Wohnzimmer eine Ausruh-Probe,
den Müll trennen, der mit international verständlichen Symbolen gekennzeichnet wurde,
die fremden Objekte und Materialien aus
Brasilien erklären, Räucherstäbchen gegen böse Geister zünden, neue
Gesichter kennenlernen, lachen, die ersten Verkäufe machen und den
Leuten erklären, dass dieses Projekt offen steht für jegliche Form von
Initiaiven und Beteiligung. Dies sind die ersten Schritte in Richtung der
zwei Wochen experimenteller Nutzung des öffentlichen Raums.
D
em Projekt, das informelle Nutzungen und Aneignungen des öffentli
chen Raumes und die Reaktionen subjektiver Körper auf kulturelle
und physische Grenzen erforschen wollte, waren klare rechtliche Grenzen
gesetzt. Diese waren von Genehmigungen verschiedener Stadtverwaltungsabteilungen für Ordnung und Sicherheit definiert worden. Täglich
zweifelten wir diese Grenzen an, besetzten den Bürgersteig mit unserem
Esstisch oder platzierten auf den Verkehrsinseln Gebrauchtwaren zum
Verkauf. An diesem Ort, der normalerweise so sehr reguliert ist, an dem
die Stadtbewohner vorbeieilen und dessen Ordnung sie nicht in Frage
stellen, waren die erfreulichsten Momente die, in denen Menschen
reagierten und die Grenzen überschritten.
Inbesitznahme
65
Caipirinha, vatapá
e farofa de banana
FAROFA DE BANANA
FAROFA DE BANANA
ingredientes:
ingredients:
1 kg de farinha de mandioca
1 kg manioc flour
2 colheres de sopa de manteiga
2 tablespoons of butter
3 cebolas grandes
3 big onions
½ dúzia de bananas
½ dozen bananas
1 colher de sopa de sal
1 tablespoon of salt
1 xícara de manteiga de garrafa
1 cup of “bottle butter”
salsinha
(clarified butter)
parsley
modo de preparo:
Em uma frigideira grande
way to prepare:
deposite as duas colheres de
In a large skillet, put the
sopa de manteiga e as cebolas
two tablespoons of butter
picadas em pequenos pedaços,
and onions chopped into small
deixe dourar as cebolas e
pieces, let the onions brown
adicione a farinha aos poucos,
and add the flour gradually.
sempre mexendo a mistura,
Always stirring the mixture,
adicione as bananas cortadas em
add the bananas cut into slices
rodelas e por fim a manteiga de
and finally the butter liquid,
garrafa, mexa bem até a farofa
stir well to have a soft and
ganhar ficar soltinha e dourada.
golden farofa. To serve, add
Para servir, acrescente a
the chopped parsley.
salsinha picada.
66
10 pessoas)
VATAPÁ (serve
:
ingredientes
ses velhos
4 pães france
ite de côco
500 ml de le
ê
eite de dend
az
de
500 ml
co
se
100g camarão
100g castanha
100g amendoim
5 cebolas
ibre
queno de geng
um pedaço pe
a
sal e piment
s 10 people)
VATAPÁ (serve
ingredients:
loaves
4 old bread
conut milk
co
of
ml
500
lm oil
500 ml of pa
rimps
sh
d
ie
dr
100g
100g cashews
100g peanuts
5 onions
e of ginger
a small piec
er
pp
salt and pe
e:
way to prepar
d
ust of the ol
o:
cr
ar
e
ep
th
pr
ve
de
Remo
modo
lho,
white part
ve
e
o
th
pã
k
do
ea
a
br
bread, and
Retire a casc
cooker
speak them in a
o miolo e de
in pieces. So
despedaçando
te
en
, and if
acresc
lk
,
mi
la
t
ne
nu
pa
co
a
with the co
jando em um
Blend
ssário
bit of water.
co e se nece
needed add a
o leite de co
é
at
ind
Gr
os
e. Set aside.
água. MIstur
until smooth
um pouco de
sor,
es
oc
pr
od
fo
.
in a
separe
the shrimps
ficar macio,
cashews and
co,
e
se
th
o
d
rã
in
ma
gr
ca
set aside;
Processe o
ind
rve,
set aside; gr
stanha, rese
the peanuts,
reserve, a ca
ou
6
as
nger. All
ta
gi
ba
e
e,
th
rv
d
se
an
the onion
amendoim, re
ground
r e o
nts must be
liquidificado
the ingredie
7 cebolas no
nie
ed
Heat the
y.
s ingr
el
se
fin
es
d
s
an
do
To
separately
gengibre.
d the
separaa skillet, ad
r triturados
palm oil in
tes devem se
e
ur
do
ure until
ndê,
xt
de
mi
o
er
te
ng
en
gi
qu
onion and
damente. Es
ibre
ground
en. Add the
cebola e geng
soft and gold
as mistura de
ha
an
st
ca
a
and sauté
e
t
ur
le
Do
il
sk
a.
e
ci
th
nuts to
até ficar ma
ng a
eo se
s more, addi
, adicione ól
a few minute
e o amendoim
o
rã
ma
ary, until
o ca
ss
ne
ce
io
ne
ic
if
Ad
l
.
little oi
necessário
and the
leite
the shrimps
ura de pão e
golden. Add
seco, a mist
e.
ur
vá
ao fogo e
t-milk mixt
bread-coconu
de coco. Leve
er.
pp
o
pe
d
os
an
uc
salt
aos po
Season with
adicionando
about 15 min,
r
de coco e o
fo
e
it
ng
le
ri
ir
do
Cook, st
restante
and oil
com sal
coconut milk
ndê, tempere
adding more
azeite de de
has
20
ge
a
id
The porr
deixe por 15
if necessary.
e pimenta e
ncy.
o
te
r
is
gi
ns
in
co
at
k
é
ic
at
to reach a th
minutos. Deve
uma
istência de
Serve warm.
ponto de cons
.
Servir quente
pasta firme.
Shifts Schichten
It took us three days to plan and organize the shift schedule. After
some initial frustration, once written it all went smooth. The shift
began when receiving the keys to the kiosk, cash register and toilets.
Responsibilities included making the sales transactions, writing receipts
and putting Tafel money aside, as well as cleaning at the end of the
shift, rearranging objects and keeping the mood – by cooking, making
coffee or playing some music ... The night shift slept at the kiosk. The
project ran based on a simple time schedule with four shifts a day. There
was only one rule: two people had to always be there. The two in charge
were seldomly there by themselves. Therefore, it was not a big deal to
keep the place running: simply being there was the main responsibility.
68
Occupation
Drei Tage brauchten wir dafür, die Schichtenverteilung zu planen
und zu organisieren. Sobald der Zeitplan aber stand, lief alles problem
los. Die Schicht begann mit der Übernahme der Schlüssel für den Kiosk,
die Kasse und die Toiletten. Die Verantwortlichkeiten beinhalteten:
Verkäufe abwickeln, Quittungen schreiben und Tafel-Geld von anderen
Spenden trennen. Außerdem musste am Ende der Schicht geputzt
werden, Gegenstände hier und dort hingetragen und die Laune gehalten
werden – durch Kochen, Kaffee machen oder Musik spielen. Die Nachtschicht schlief am Kiosk. Durch diese einfache Zeiteinteilung der
vier Schichten pro Tag funktionierte das Projekt. Es gab nur eine ein
zige Regel: zwei Leute mussten immer da sein. Die zwei Verantwortlichen
waren selten alleine am Kiosk. Entsprechend war es keine schwierige
Aufgabe, die Schicht zu übernehmen: einfach da sein war die Hauptverantwortung.
Inbesitznahme
69
Economy Wirtschaft
Setting up the KoCA Inn as a platform started with an open-ended,
risk-taking collaboration between the research groups of Weimar
and Salvador, who decided to follow the project through without the
guarantee of economic support. This nucleus, based on the sharing
of responsibilities, expanded in associations with local structures.
It gained dimension and extended capabilities as people joined in, and
was finally amplified with the financial support of Fonds Soziokultur
granted two-weeks before the opening.
Yet the project’s purpose and its functioning, growth and dynamic
were based on a system of active participation. As an economic system it
proposed the recognition and utilization of human skills and talents
as resources, as well as testing out alternative material resources through
recycling and exchanging. The two are linked through availability,
initiative, collaboration and creativity. The central idea was the structure
of an informal market place where these resources could be exchanged,
recycled or even sold. The public was invited to propose specific skills to
be shared and exchanged through workshops and events. But that could
also be unspecific and spontaneous, as by sharing knowledge through
conversation and bringing together various socio-cultural backgrounds.
Offering coffee, drinks and food was maintained through a system
of donations, and the initiators and publics’ availability to cook. Sperrmüll
became a resource for usage, for trade or sale. Everyone was welcome
to set up a flea market. Various participants realized events based on the
direct exchange and sharing of goods, others offered to share their
expertise or even simply their time. In this creative environment of selfgovernance, space and possibilities grew exponentially as resources came
in and a cooperative open community was put into practice.
70
Occupation
Den KoCA Inn als Plattform auszubauen, begann mit einer offenen
und risikoreichen Kollaboration zwischen den Forschungsgruppen
in Weimar und in Salvador. Sie nahmen sich vor, das Projekt zu Ende zu
führen, ohne dass finanzielle Unterstützung garantiert war. Diese Keimzelle, die auf dem Teilen von Verantwortungen basierte, breitete sich
in Verbindung mit lokalen Strukturen aus, indem mehr Leute zu dem
Projekt dazu stießen, nahm es an Dimensionen zu und das Leistungsver
mögen weitete sich aus. Letzten Endes wurde es durch die finanzielle
Unterstützung des Soziokultur Fonds ermöglicht, dessen Zusage zwei
Wochen vor der Eröffnung kam.
Die Absicht des Projekts, seine Funktionsweise, sein Wachstum und
seine Dynamik fußten dennoch auf einem System aktiver Teilnahme.
Als Wirtschaftssystem schlug das Projekt vor, menschliche Fähigkeiten
und Talente als Ressourcen anzuerkennen und zu nutzen. Außerdem
wurden alternative materielle Ressourcen durch Recycling und Austausch
getestet. Diese zwei Arten von Ressourcen waren durch Verfügbarkeit,
Initiative, Kollaboration und Kreativität miteinander verbunden. Der
Kerngedanke sah die Struktur eines informellen Marktes vor, auf dem
diese Ressourcen getauscht, recycelt oder sogar verkauft werden konnten.
Die Leute wurden dazu eingeladen, ihre speziellen Fähigkeiten in Workshops und Veranstaltungen auszubieten. Der Austausch konnte aber auch
ganz ungezielt und spontan geschehen: Wissen konnte in Gesprächen
den Besitzer wechseln, verschiedene soziokulturelle Hintergründe fanden
zusammen.
Das Anbieten von Kaffee, Getränken und Essen war durch ein Spendensystem und die Verfügbarkeit der Initiatoren und der Öffentlichkeit
zum Kochen gesichert. Sperrmüll wurde zu einer wichtigen Ressource für
Nutzungen und zum Handel und Verkauf. Jeder war willkommen, einen
Flohmarkt zu initiieren. Verschiedene Teilnehmer realisierten Veranstaltungen, die auf dem direkten Austausch und dem Teilen von Waren
basierten. Andere boten ihre Erfahrungen an, oder einfach nur ihre Zeit.
In dieser kreativen Umgebung des Selbstregierens wuchsen Raum und
Möglichkeiten exponentiell zu den hinzukommenden Ressourcen und
dem Entstehen einer kooperativen, offenen Gemeinschaft.
Inbesitznahme
71
Inhabitation
Bewohnen
For two weeks we lived our daily
lives at KoCA Inn, inviting the
public to join us. We adapted
our private daily routines
to the conditions of an open air
settlement. We explored the
potential of Sophienstiftsplatz
by expanding its uses and
transforming it into a livingspace.
Zwei Wochen lang lebten wir
unseren Alltag am KoCA Inn
und luden Menschen dazu ein, es uns gleich zu tun. Unsere
täglichen privaten Routinen
passten wir an die Bedingungen
dieser Open-Air-Besiedlung an.
Wir erforschten das Potenzial
des Sophienstiftsplatzes, indem
wir seine Nutzungen ausweiteten
und ihn in einen Lebensraum
verwandelten.
Survival, pleasure,
fund raising, an open
Cooking and Eating
Kochen und Essen
M
itchens
tdoor k
en
I ou
r-Küch
Outdoo
Ich 74
Inhabitation
y family experience with cooking is linked to abundance. Very often
someone joined the intimacy of the family, entering the kitchen
and tasting the confidential flavors. Cooking at the KoCA Inn carried on
this experience of abundance, of a type of intimacy with another person,
permeated by sharing food – sometimes with a passer-by at that corner.
The preparation of the food happened in a dispersed or concentrated state
of mind, according to the recipe’s complexity. At some moments the
kitchen was fixed underneath the scaffoldings where the sink was installed
and the water tank reservoirs, the trolley-stove, the sauces, the pans,
the glasses. At other moments, the kitchen was spread on the sidewalk
amidst conversation, followed by a simple preparation, where hands
were working, seasoning, tasting. Such other experiences were happening
simultaneously, expanding this atmosphere of the intimacy of cooking
onto the sidewalk, allowing for encounters provoked by the fragrance
of the food and by the curiosity for its taste.
invitation, a space for
encounters and sharing
Überleben, Genuss,
Spendenaktion, eine
offene Einladung,
ein Ort für Begegnung
und zum Teilen
W
egen meiner Erfahrung in der Familie verbinde ich Kochen mit
Überfluss. Sehr oft gesellte sich jemand zur Privatsphäre der Familie
dazu, indem er die Küche betrat und die nur uns vertrauten Aromen
kostete. Beim Kochen am KoCA Inn machte ich dieselbe Erfahrung des
Überflusses, einer Art von Intimität mit einem anderen Menschen,
mit dem man das Essen teilt – manchmal war es jemand, der an der Ecke
vorüberging. Abhängig von der Komplexität des Rezepts fand die Zubereitung des Essens in einer verstreuten oder konzentrierten Stimmung
statt. In einem Moment war die Küche unter dem Gerüst angebracht,
wo wir das Waschbecken installiert hatten, unsere Wasserreserven in
den Kanistern, den Einkaufswagen-Herd, die Soßen, die Pfannen und
die Gläser. In einem anderen Moment, einer Zeit für Unterhaltung,
wurde die Küche auf den Bürgersteig verlegt, wonach eine einfache
Vorbereitung folgte, bei der Hände arbeiteten, würzten, probierten
und anderes gleichzeitig geschah. Dabei weitete sich die Atmosphäre
der Intimität des Kochens auf den Bürgersteig aus und ermöglichte Begegnungen, die durch den Duft des Essens und die Neugierde nach
seinem Geschmack ausgelöst wurden.
Bewohnen
75
I
t was an equilibrist’s task to arrange space for the cutting, washing
and storing of food. The sense of accumulation and improvisation was
always present – as for the dish drainer converted into the drainer for
salad leaves and vegetables. We thought we would have lunch with five
people and soon ten were arriving. A dinner was planned for ten, and
another ten followed the smell surrounding the pans and soon stood
beside the stove.
E
s war der Akt eines Akrobaten,
den Platz zum Schneiden, Waschen und Aufbewahren des Essens zu organisieren. Immer war ein gewisser Ansammelund Improvisationssinn von Nöten – indem
zum Beispiel das Geschirrabtropfgitter zum
Abtropfen des Salats Verwendung fand. Wir
dachten, wir würden mit fünf Leuten Mittag
essen und schon kamen zehn. Ein Abendessen war für zehn Leute geplant und zehn
weitere folgten dem Duft der die Pfannen
umgab und waren bald beim Herd.
FENOUIL MAXIMO
FENOUIL MAXIMO
Ingredients:
Zutaten:
1 fennel
1 Fenchel
2 zucchini
2 Zucchini
3 bellpeppers
3 Paprika
12 tomatoes
12 Tomaten
2 onions
2 Zwiebeln
some lavender
etwas Lavendel
2 cans of peeled tomatoes
2 Dosen geschälte Tomaten
salt, pepper and herbs
Salz, Pfeffer und Kräuter
Preperation:
Zubereitung:
Fry the fennel, zucchini,
Fenchel, Zucchini, Paprika,
bellpepper and onions in oil.
Zwie
bel in Öl anbraten. Mit
Add the peeled tomatoes and let
geschäl
ten Tomaten ablöschen
everything simmer. Add salt,
und köcheln lassen, nach
pepper, lavender and herbs to
Belie
ben mit Salz, Pfeffer,
desire, then add the diced
Lavendel und Kräutern würzen,
fresh tomatoes. Serve with a
frische Tomaten hinzugeben
variety of bread.
und mit ver
schie
denen Brotsor
ten ser
vieren.
Bewohnen
77
The mobile kitchen
Die mobile Küche
The mobile grill
Der mobile Grill
extension for
storage space for
ingredients and utensils
Stauraum für
place to hang dishtowel
Geschirrhandtuchträger
work space
ready sausages
Arbeitsfläche
Verlängerung
für fertige Würste
Zutaten und Geräte
electric ofen/stove:
attach to extension cord
Elektroherd/-ofen
mit Verlängerungskabel
anschließen
2 levels for
coal and ashes
zwei Ebenen für
Kohle und Asche
borrowed shopping cart
geliehener Getränke-
small work space
Arbeitsplatte
storage space for pots and pans
storage space
Stauraum
Einkaufswagen
Stauraum für Töpfe und Pfannen
78
Inhabitation
Bewohnen
79
Waffles and Jam Waffeln und Marmelade
G
erda and Hans Peter passed by and noticed that a jam workshop was
planned for the next day. But jam without waffles? How could that be?
Hans Peter wrote on our calendar: Wednesday, 9 am, waffles. Good
timing for a mid-week late breakfast. Gerda prepared the batter of three
full loads of Rostock waffles – her grandchildren’s favourites. Her pink
towel, her waffle machine and her blue bowl all at go, she started baking
just on time. The first kioskers got a huge breakfast with the jam of the
day before, the maple syrup left over from the pancakes, and with lots of
butter and a bit of salt (as the Brazilians like it). Waffles were baked
quicker than we could eat them. This is why we started another action:
giving heart-shaped waffles with freshly made raspberry jam to drivers
and passers-by. Meanwhile Hans Peter taught us how to read old
German print, in Schiller’s Wilhem Tell.
G
erda und Hans Peter kamen zufällig am Kiosk vorbei und bemerkten,
dass dort am nächsten Tag ein Marmeladen-Workshop stattfinden
werde. Aber Marmelade ohne Waffeln? Wie konnte das denn sein? Für
den Tag nach der Marmelade trug Hans Peter auf unseren Kalender ein:
Mittwoch, 9 Uhr, Waffeln. Eine gute Zeit für ein spätes Frühstück mitten
in der Woche. Gerda bereitete den Teig für drei Ladungen Rostocker
Waffeln vor – den Lieblingswaffeln ihrer Enkel. Mit ihrem rosa Handtuch,
ihrem Waffeleisen und ihrer blauen Schüssel begann sie pünktlich zu
backen. Für die ersten Kiosker gab es ein großes Frühstück mit der Marmelade vom Vortag, dem Ahornsirup von den Pfannkuchen und mit
viel Butter und Salz (wie es die Brasilianer am liebsten aßen). Die Waffeln
waren schneller gebacken als sie gegessen werden konnten. So wurde
schnell eine neue Aktion erfunden: wir verteilten Herzchenwaffeln
mit frischer Himbeermarmelade an Autofahrer und Passanten. In
der Zwischenzeit brachte Hans Peter uns mit Hilfe von Schillers Wilhelm
Tell bei, wie man altdeutsche Sütterlinschrift liest.
80
Inhabitation
Jam workshop: the plan is to ride around
by bike and pick fruits, then to buy the
missing ingredients and make our own
jam.
Marmeladen Workshop: Der Plan ist mit
dem Fahrrad herum zu fahren und
Früchte zu pflücken, danach noch die
restlichen Zutaten einzukaufen
und dann eigene Marmelade zu machen.
Bewohnen
81
Hans Peter reads Wilhelm Tell in old print.
Sleeping Schlafen
Kevin tries to learn it: now it is his task to
read the next passage. Then Hans Peter
writes in our guest book with old German
handwriting.
Hans Peter liest Wilhelm Tell in Sütterlinschrift. Kevin versucht, es zu lernen: Nun
ist es seine Aufgabe, eine Textpassage
zu lesen. Hans Peter schreibt in der alten
Schrift in unser Gästebuch.
Gerda’s heart-wafflEs
Herzchenwaffeln von Gerda
Ingredients:
Zutaten:
125g margarine
125g Margarine
30g sugar
30g Zucker
1 package vanillin sugar
1 Päcken Vanillinzucker
salt
Salz
2 tablespoons rum
2 Eßlöffel Rum
3 eggs
3 Eier
250g flour
250g Mehl
almost 1 teaspoon baking powder
knapp 1 Teelöffel Backpulver
1/8 l milk
1/8 L Milch
1/8 l water
1/8 L Wasser
Preparation:
Zubereitung:
Mix all ingredients well,
Alle Zutaten recht gut mit-
let the liquid dough rest for
einander verrühren, etwa 10
about 10 minutes and then bake
Minuten ruhen lassen und
portion by portion in the waffle
portionsweise im Waffeleisen
iron.
backen.
“It was an interesting experience with the young people from
Brazil. In this way it is possible to meet. We baked waffles and
are very glad that they have all been eaten. We wish these young
people all the best, may they keep good memories of Weimar.”
82
Inhabitation
Bewohnen
83
La cena colombiana
Andrea Morales, Elizabeth Joecker,
Grace Bayer, Andrea Acosta
A
lot of people say Hogao is the basis of Colombian cooking, and just
recently I learned that the word comes from a verb that makes an
allusion to slow cooking. The adaptations made for the kiosk are partly
close to the originals, but somehow metamorphosed by our foreign
surroundings. The lack of certain ingredients plus our inventions resulted
in a mix of fact and fiction, creating a magical moment around food
and unexpected encounters with people. Buen Provecho!
V
iele Menschen sagen, Hogao sei das Fundament der kolumbianischen
Küche. Erst vor kurzem habe ich erfahren, dass das Wort von einem
Verb stammt, das auf slow cooking anspielt. Die Variationen, die für den
Kiosk zubereitet wurden, hielten sich dicht am Original, wurden aber in
gewisser Weise von der fremden Umgebung beeinflusst. Das Fehlen
bestimmter Zutaten und unsere Improvisation führten zu einer Mischung
aus Fakten und Fiktion. Dies ließ einen magischen Moment um das Essen
und unerwartete Begegnungen mit Menschen entstehen. Buen Provecho!
KOLUMBIANISCHES MENU
Zwiebeln 2 Minuten anbraten.
hirviendo y luego desmenuzar.
15. JULI
Die Tomaten und Hühnerbrühe
Freír el maíz con un poco de
dazugeben und auf niedriger
aceite y agregar luego el
Papas Saladas
Flamme einige weitere Minuten
pollo. Dejar cocinar por
(salzige Kartoffeln)
köcheln lassen.
algunos minutos, luego poner en
una vasija honda, agregar el
2 kg Kartoffeln
queso y mezclar.
Salz
Bocadillo con Quezo (Guava
Die Kartoffeln für 20 min in
Paste mit Käse in Bananenblatt
heißem Wasser kochen, abgießen,
gewickelt)
Hogao
mit Salz bestreuen und umheben.
Guava-Paste in Stücke schneiden
1 kilo de tomates
und mit weißem Käse servieren.
750 gramos de cebolla
4 cucharadas de aceite
Ceviche de Mango (Mango Ceviche)
1 Mango
Aguardiente
2 cucharadas de mantequilla
3 Zwiebeln
(Liqueur, Anis Geschmack)
1 tableta de sazonador de pollo
1 Tasse Tomatensoße
Pur in einzelnen Shots trinken
(concentrado de pollo)
Caliente una sartén con el
3 Zitronen
Salz und Pfeffer
MENU COLombiano
aceite y la mantequilla.
Die Mango und Zwiebeln in klei-
15. JULIo
Agregar las cebollas y freirlas
ligeramente por 2 minutos.
ne Stücke schneiden und vermischen. Die Tomatensoße und den
Papas Saladas
Colocar los tomates y el
Saft der 3 Zitronen dazugeben.
2 kilos de papas (patatas)
concentrado de pollo, cocinando
Je nach Geschmack mit Salz und
sal
a fuego bajo por algunos
Pfeffer würzen.
Cocine las papas en agua
minutos.
caliente por 20 minutos. Retire
Pollo con Mais y Quezo
el agua, agrégue sal y remueva.
Bocadillo con Queso
Pasta de guayaba cortada en
(Hühnchen mit Mais und Käse)
3 Hühnerschenkel
Ceviche de Mango
trozos y servida con queso
1 kg Maiskörner
1 mango
blanco.
200 g geriebener Käse
3 cebollas
Das Fleisch in heißem Wasser
1 taza de salsa de tomate
Aguardiente
kochen und dann zerkleinern.
3 limones
Beber directamente en copas
Den Mais mit etwas Öl anbraten,
sal y pimienta
pequeñas (shots)
dann das Fleisch dazugeben und
Corte el mango y las cebollas
einige Minuten kochen lassen.
en pequeños trozos, luego
In einer Schüssel mit dem Käse
mezcle. Agrégue una taza de
mischen und servieren.
salsa de tomate y el jugo de
tres limones. Sazone al gusto
Hogao (criollo SoSSe)
con sal y pimienta.
1 kg Tomaten
750 g Zwiebeln
Pollo con Maíz y Queso
4 EL Öl
3 piernas de pollo
2 EL Butter
100 gramos de granos de maíz
1 Bouillionwürfel
frescos
Das Öl und die Butter in einer
200 gramos de queso rallado
Pfanne erhitzen. Die gehackten
Cocine el pollo en agua
85
Cleaning Putzen
I
am amazed at the great satisfaction I gain from bending down to turn
the little plastic tap on the front of our water jugs. I fill a bowl with
cool water, empty it in the sink, back and forth, to cover the many dirty
dishes. Scrubbing is difficult in cold water. After that, I drain the sink,
careful to watch that the water doesn’t overflow the bucket below serving
as our drainage. It fills, I pick it up, walk to the gutter and empty it into
the city drain. I like this cycle.
O
ur main sources of fresh water were the friendly neighborhood
Döner Kebab store and the hairdresser. However, by the end of our
two week stint these wells seemed dried out, due to our over-use.
This is when we really needed to get creative. After that, our water
sources always varied; sometimes we asked people living in the area for
water, other times we schlepped the containers over to Hotel Miranda.
Through a network of friends, neighbors, businesses, fountains,
restaurants and total strangers, we were somehow always able to find
water to do the dishes.
potable water
Trinkwasser
water from public fountain
Brunnenwasser
I
ch bin begeistert von der Zufriedenheit, die mich überkommt, wenn
ich mich hinunterbeuge und den kleinen Plastikwasserhahn an unserem
Wasserkanister aufdrehe. Ich fülle eine Schüssel mit kaltem Wasser, entleere sie im Waschbecken wieder und wieder, um das schmutzige Geschirr
mit Wasser zu bedecken. Schrubben im kalten Wasser ist nicht einfach.
Wenn ich fertig bin, lasse ich das Wasser aus dem Waschbecken, vorsichtig
beobachtend, dass der darunter stehende Eimer, der als unser Abwas
sersystem funktioniert, nicht überläuft. Der Eimer füllt sich, ich nehme
ihn und gehe hinüber zum Staßenrand, wo ich ihn in der städtischen
Kanalisation entleere. Dieser Kreislauf gefällt mir.
F
risches Wasser bekamen wir größtenteils von dem freundlichen Nachbarschafts-Döner oder dem Frisör. Gegen Ende unseres zwei
wöchigen Projekts schienen diese Quellen wegen Übernutzung jedoch
ausgetrocknet zu sein. Dann kam es darauf an wirklich kreativ zu werden.
Unsere Wasserquellen veränderten sich nun ständig. Manchmal fragten
wir Leute, die in der Nachbarschaft wohnten, nach Wasser, ein anderes
Mal trugen wir die Kanister zum Hotel Miranda. Durch ein Netzwerk
von Freunden, Nachbarn, Geschäften, Springbrunnen, Restaurants und
Fremden fanden wir irgendwie immer Wasser, um das Geschirr zu spülen.
Bewohnen
87
Relaxing Ausruhen
B
etween and amidst the flux of happenings and events the possibility
to relax at the kiosk was highly valued and made possible by the
range of furniture and existing urban structures, as well as the introduced
structures of KoCA Inn. The available furniture and Plug-Inns were
rearranged daily due to the desires of visitors, inhabiting the sidewalks,
searching for shade or sun, grouping and dispersing. The living room
and sleeping room offered more intimate settings to withdraw. Six
hammocks – which were moving around the area – attracted many people
to come by and take a break. Extra activities, as the screening of
movies in the Brazilian TV room or offering foot-massages would also
insert unexpected moments of relaxing.
Z
wischen und mitten unter den Ereignissen und Veranstaltungen war
es vor allem die Möglichkeit, am Kiosk zu entspannen, die hoch
geschätzt wurde. Sie wurde durch die Möbel, die existierende städtische
Struktur sowie die Struktur des KoCA Inn ermöglicht. Die zur Verfü
gung stehenden Möbel und Plug-Inns wurden jeden Tag neu arrangiert,
immer abhängig davon, welche neuen Bedürfnisse die Besucher mitbrachten. Sie nahmen den Bürgersteig in Beschlag, waren auf der Suche
nach Schatten oder Sonne, nach einem Zusammenrücken oder sich
Verteilen. Das Wohnzimmer und das Schlafzimmer boten intimere Orte,
um sich zurückzuziehen. Sechs Hängematten – die sich durch die
Gegend bewegten – zogen viele Leute an, vorbeizuschauen und sich eine
Pause zu gönnen. Extra Veranstaltungen wie das Filmezeigen im brasilianischen Fernsehzimmer oder das Anbieten von Fußmassagen boten
zusätzliche, unerwartete Momente des Entspannens.
Sleeping Tanzen
Dancing Schlafen
D
ancing at the kiosk happened almost by contamination. Some soft
moves, some arms raised up, some legs practicing a few steps, and
suddenly the sidewalk was full. Movements that could fill up that space
and reach the streets, with a whole bunch of people or just a few. One
Titus was enough to make our bodies vibrate. It took just a look in the eyes,
and music. Lots of music: drums that made us dance a Ciranda, a synchronization between Max and Ícaro that made us jump, Naomi’s
and Querida Catherine’s cool stuff, o valente do Otto, um pandeiro e uma
cuica. Hummm… and some forró! “Just hit me with music!”
T
L
W
ike breathing, chatting or using the toilet, dancing as an action frequently waved in and out of occurrence as part of the dynamic social
sculpture called the KoCA Inn. Many of my memories involve me
concentrating on a conversation, or task at hand, while in my peripheral
vision watching a pair of Brazilians slow-dance to their favorite song.
Dance moves were exchanged (taught and learned) like niceties in
a conversation. We danced to stretch our legs and souls, we danced as a
form of advertising, we danced simply because someone else started
it, and we danced to communicate in a language not reliant on speech.
anzen am Kiosk war fast ansteckend. Einige sanfte Bewegungen, ein paar Arme in der Luft, ein paar Tanzschritte mit den Beinen aus
probiert und schon war der Bürgersteig voll. Bewegungen, die den
Raum erfüllten und die Straße erreichten, mal mit vielen Leuten, mal mit
wenigen. Ein Titus war genug, um unsere Körper vibrieren zu lassen.
Viel Musik: Trommeln, die uns eine Ciranda tanzen ließen, Synchronisa
tion zwischen Max und Ícaro, die uns zum Springen brachten, Naomis
und Querida Catherines cool stuff, o valente do Otto, um pandeiro e uma
cuica. Hummm… Und forró! „Just hit me with music!“
ie atmen, quatschen oder zur Toilette müssen: Tanzen als Aktion
schwappte hoch und runter, es wurde zum Teil der dynamischen
sozialen Struktur, die KoCA Inn heißt. Viele meiner Erinnerungen sehen so
aus: Ich versuche mich auf ein Gespräch oder eine Aufgabe zu konzen
trieren und beobachte gleichzeitig aus meinen Augenwinkeln heraus ein
brasilianisches Paar, das zu seiner Lieblingsmusik einen langsamen
Tanz aufs Parkett legt. Tanzbewegungen wurden wie Feinheiten einer
Konversation ausgetauscht (gelehrt und gelernt). Wir tanzten, um
unsere Beine und unsere Seele zu dehnen, wir tanzten als eine Form der
Werbung, wir tanzten einfach deshalb, weil jemand anderes damit
angefangen hatte, und wir tanzten, um in einer Sprache zu kommunizieren,
die nicht auf Worte angewiesen war.
Sleeping By
night Nachts
Schlafen
I
n the first nights we felt the need for protection, of somehow trying to
shut what was intended to be open. The wish to barricade off the
space had a more psychological effect on us and on the people who were
there, “closing down” was a way of saying it’s time to go home. For
those sleeping there, it was a way of marking the territory and of feeling
safe. With self-ironic silliness and as a reason for solution-driven, creative
survival strategies, we built little fences and made up alarm systems
and booby traps. Just as every day, every night the space looked different,
it was structured and organized according to who packed up and
slept there: sometimes we cleared all the furniture and built fences, on
other occasions we left some furniture outside and used it to block
the access; we left the light on in the kiosk, or not…
I
n den ersten Nächten brauchten wir Schutz. In gewisser Weise versuchten wir das zu schließen, was offen sein sollte. Der Wunsch, den Raum
zu verbarrikadieren hatte am ehesten einen psychologischen Effekt
für uns und die Menschen, die mit uns dort waren. „Schließen“ war eine
Art zu sagen, es ist Zeit, nach Hause zu gehen. Für diejenigen, die dort
schliefen, war es ein Weg, das Territorium zu
markieren und sich sicher zu fühlen. Mit
selbstironischer Albernheit und als Anlass für
zielorientierte, kreative Überlebensstrategien
bauten wir kleine Zäune und dachten uns
Alarmsysteme und Fallen aus. So wie der Ort
jeden Tag anders aussah, so veränderte
er sich auch jede Nacht. Seine Struktur und
Organisation hingen davon ab, wer „ein
gepackt“ hatte und dort schlief: Manchmal
räumten wir alle Möbel weg und gebauten
Zäune, ein anderes Mal ließen wir ein paar Möbel draußen stehen und
benutzten sie, um den Eingang zu blockieren; wir ließen das Licht im
Kiosk an oder schalteten es aus…
Bewohnen
95
Sleeping Sala
de televisão
Schlafen
The first film was projected with the help
and
took due
the toother
one withof me, in case I met my night’s companion on
of a mirror,
the difficulties
Weimar’s
streets...
the Brazilians
understanding the German
settings. (or, in Portuguese: jeitinho,
see page 300)
In der ersten Arbeitsbesprechung nachdem wir in Weimar angekomDer erst Film wurde mit Hilfe eines
men
waren,
wurden
wir
gewarnt, dass jede Nacht zwei Leute am Kiosk
Spiegels
projeziert,
da die
Brasilianer
schlafen
müssten:
einE BrasilianerIn
und ein Deutschsprechender. Das
die deutschen
Einstellungen
nicht
verstanden.die
(oder,
auf Portugiesisch:
versetzte
Brasilianer
in Schrecken: Wie sollten wir bei dieser Kälte auf
jeitinho, siehe Seite 300)
96
Inhabitation
Bewohnen
97
Sleeping Schlafen
A
t the first work meeting we had after arriving in Weimar, we were
made us lose our balance. Several times we delayed our signing in on the
night shift schedule . The Summary 09 was opening that night and
got a sleeping bag, a woolen blanket, a sheet, put on a warmer jacket,
an extra pair of socks and a hat, and went to the kiosk.
When I arrived, Sven was already sleeping on the ground of one of
the scaffolding-mezzanines, in a sleeping bag bedded on straw mats.
He woke up at my arrival. I put my “bed” beside his. Meanwhile, he took
his computer. The screen image of his desktop was a photo of the
window in my room, where he had lived when he was in Salvador. While
looking at that image we kept talking for a while. Memories from Salvador
were brought up. I took off my jacket and one shirt. The night was not
that cold. We slept. My sleep was quite light, the street sounds were close
and invasive. Sven’s breathing was demonstrating his profound sleep. The
next morning he woke up and left. The excavator at the construction site
close by was already knocking down a wall. I got up from the mat
and laid in a hammock. A guy passing by on the sidewalk noticed me, took
two bread rolls out of his bag, showed them to me and placed them on
the table. I went down, ate one and took the other one with me, in case I
met my night’s companion on Weimar’s streets…
98
Inhabitation
I
n der ersten Arbeitsbesprechung nachdem wir in Weimar angekommen
waren, wurden wir gewarnt, dass jede Nacht zwei Leute am Kiosk
schlafen müssten: ein Brasilianer und ein Deutschsprechender. Das versetzte die Brasilianer in Schrecken: „Wie sollten wir bei dieser Kälte
auf der Straße schlafen?!“, fragten wir uns immer wieder. Diese Vorstellung
Situation – an einer Straßenkreuzung zu übernachten – begann uns
aus dem Gleichgewicht zu bringen. Wir verschoben es immer
wieder, unsere Namen in die Liste für die Nachtschicht zu
setzen. Die Summary 09 wurde in dieser Nacht eröffnet und in
der ganzen Stadt waren Partys. Ich traf meine Entscheidung
und ging beim Hotel Miranda vorbei, nahm einen Schlafsack,
eine Wolldecke, ein Laken, zog mir eine wärmere Jacke über,
noch ein paar Strümpfe an und eine Mütze, und ging zum Kiosk.
Als ich ankam, schlief Sven bereits in der ersten Etage
eines der Gerüste in einem Schlafsack, auf Strohmatten gebettet.
Er wachte auf, als ich kam. Ich legte mein „Bett“ neben seines.
Währenddessen holte er seinen Computer. Sein Bildschirmhintergrund war ein Foto vom Fenster in meinem Zimmer, in
dem er geschlafen hatte, als er in Salvador war. Wir unterhielten
uns lange während wir auf das Bild schauten. Erinnerungen
an Salvador kamen hoch. Ich zog mir meine Jacke und ein Hemd
aus. Die Nacht war doch nicht so kalt. Wir schliefen ein. Mein
Schlaf war recht leicht, die Geräusche der Straße waren nahe und
eindringlich. Svens Atmung hingegen ließ einen tiefen Schlaf
erkennen. Am nächsten Morgen wachte er auf und ging. Der
Bagger auf der gegenüberliegenden Baustelle war schon dabei,
eine Wand einzureißen. Ich stand von der Matte auf und legte
I have a strong memory of fresh air.
Surprisingly on this busy street corner, I felt mich in eine Hängematte. Ein Mann, der auf dem Bürgersteig
fresh, safe and slept quietly under
vorbeilief, hatte mich gesehen, nahm zwei Brötchen aus
the canopy of our tree. Ich erinnere mich
seiner Tasche, zeigte sie mir und ließ sie unten auf dem Tisch
stark an frische Luft. Überraschenderweise
liegen. Ich ging runter, aß eines und nahm das andere mit,
fühlte ich mich an dieser belebten
falls ich auf Weimars Straßen meinem Schlafkameraden wiederStraßenecke frisch, sicher und ich schlief
ruhig unter dem Dach unseres Baumes.
begegnen sollte…
Bewohnen
99
“Incredibly affectionate people, solid doses of
kookiness, and clever creativity, made us curious upon
our passing through (Weimar) on our Europe-tour.
Not in Italy, not in Amsterdam, not in the Alps, nor in all
the other places our travels had taken us, were
we welcomed with similar kindness. You gave us
a home for a night. In the coming time we will probably
speak of you often, as we are tremendously
THANKFUL for such an amount of straightforward
humaneness.
Wholehearted Thanks, Julia & Arndt (from Rostock)
~Love conquers all.~”
I
I
slept there the first time on the fourth night: a Saturday. We had an
improvised fence and the kiosk light was on. It was difficult to sleep.
Several groups walked by, stopped and looked. I woke up four times
to a similar situation: a group discussion about all the things that could be
stolen and a contemplation of whether they should steal or not. I could
see them from atop the scaffolding, where we slept in hammocks. Early
in the morning a friend came from a party and became our first guest
to sleep there. Over the next few days the barriers were slowly forgotten
about. It seemed as though everyone knew we were sleeping there.
The line between us and them began to vanish: only people! And the
kiosk was open to people. We had more and more guests sleep there:
friends, but also strangers and travellers who needed a place for the night,
or, having the option, decided to stay in Weimar an extra day or two. Also
people whom we didn’t know before, but who had become regular
visitors and eventually part of the core group. Contrary to our initial
fear, we never had any problems finding someone willing to sleep at the
kiosk. It became a communal experience, hosting people overnight: all
hammocks and the couch were occupied. Some stayed for the experience,
some out of need.
100
Inhabitation
n der vierten Nacht schlief ich zum ersten Mal dort, an einem Samstag.
Wir hatten einen improvisierten Zaun gebaut und das Licht im Kiosk
angelassen. Es war schwer zu schlafen. Mehrere Gruppen von Leuten gingen vorbei, hielten an und schauten sich um. Vier Mal wachte ich auf
und erlebte eine ähnliche Situation: eine Gruppendiskussion darüber, was
man alles stehlen könne und ein Grübeln darüber, ob man es tatsäch
lich tun solle oder nicht. Ich konnte sie vom Gerüst aus beobachten, wo
wir in unseren Hängematten schliefen. Früh am Morgen kam eine
Freundin vorbei, die von einer Party zurückkehrte, und sie wurde unser
erster Schlafgast. Im Laufe der folgenden Tage vergaßen wir die Schranken mehr und mehr. Es schien, als würde jeder wissen, dass wir dort
schliefen. Die Grenze zwischen ihnen und uns begann sich aufzulösen:
nur Menschen. Und der Kiosk war offen für Menschen. Wir hatten
mehr und mehr Schlafgäste: Freunde, aber auch Fremde und Reisende,
die eine Unterkunft für die Nacht suchten oder sich spontan entschie
den, noch ein oder zwei weitere Tage in Weimar zu bleiben. Es schliefen
auch Leute da, die wir am Anfang nicht kannten, die dann zu regel
mäßigen Besuchern und schließlich zu einem Teil der Kerngruppe wurden.
Entgegen unserer anfänglichen Befürchtung hatten wir nie Probleme,
jemanden zu finden, der am Kiosk schlief. Es wurde zu einer gesellschaftlichen Erfahrung, Menschen für eine Nacht aufzunehmen: alle
Hängematten und die Coach waren besetzt. Einige bleiben der Erfahrung
wegen, andere aus der Not heraus.
Bewohnen
101
Communication
Kommunikation
Marketing strategies and signage
systems were produced on site
using immediately available
resources. They allude to the
improvised and low-cost
solutions observed in the streets
of Salvador. Simultaneously
they were an invitation to the
public and an expression of
the project concepts.
Marketing-Strategien und
Beschilderungen wurden
vor Ort mit den zur Verfügung
stehenden Mitteln produziert.
Sie spielen auf die improvisierten
und Low-Budget-Lösungen an,
die wir in den Straßen von
Salvador beobachtet hatten.
Sie waren gleichzeitig eine
Einladung an die Öffentlichkeit
und Ausdruck des Projektkonzepts.
Calendar Kalender
A
window of time popped up in this Weimarer corner, when a calendar
painted on a blackboard became a space measuring 14 days. The
calendar was installed outside the main façade of our living room, inviting
people to stop by and try to figure out what was going on. We had just
three events formally planned to which we had invited some people, but
overall the project commenced with an empty time-table. Day by day the
calendar filled up as events were posted in chalk, in various handwritings
and colors. It was easy to figure out that anyone could add something,
but what? An idea, something to be offered, or a small public event bringing
people together. Simply for the pleasure of sharing free time with someone
new, inviting them to do something simple that you normally do at
home, exchanging daily activities. In the end there was a jam workshop,
waffles, pancakes, potato fritters, capoeira, drumming, clothes exchange,
a Colombian dinner, a Data Picnic, TV room, games, a magic show ...
E
in Zeitfenster wurde geöffnet, als unser Kalender auf einer Wandtafel
erschien und einen messbaren Zeitraum aufspannte und unterteilte:
14 Tage. Der Kalender wurde an der Hauptfassade des Wohnzimmers
angebracht, wo Passanten zum Anhalten eingeladen wurden und erforschen konnten, was dort stattfand. Im Voraus hatten wir lediglich drei
Aktionen geplant und einige Gäste eingeladen. Das Projekt begann also
mit einem nahezu leeren Kalender. Tag für Tag wurden Aktionen mit
Kreide eingetragen, in verschiedenen Handschriften, in verschiedenen
Farben. Es war leicht zu erkennen, dass jeder etwas dazu schreiben
konnte. Aber was? Eine Idee, etwas zum Anbieten, ein kleines öffentliches
Ereignis, um Menschen zusammenzubringen. Für die Freude, die Frei
zeit mit Menschen zu teilen, die man zuvor nicht kannte, sie einzuladen,
eine einfache Sache zu tun, die man normalerweise zu Hause oder
mir Freunden macht. Gewöhnliche, alltägliche Aktivitäten wurden geteilt.
Zum Ende gab es ein Marmeladen Workshop, Waffeln, Eierkuchen,
Capoeira, Trommeln, Kleiderwechsel, kolumbianisches Abendessen, ein
Daten Picknick, Fernehsehraum, Spiele, eine Zaubershow …
104
Communication
Kommunikation
105
Window Schaufenster
The kiosk was rendered into a cabinet of
curiosities. It exhibited a mix of souvenirs,
lucky charms, personal objects, flavors,
scents and memories from Salvador,
random nostalgic objects and kitsch from
the Weimarer Tafel, and an open mini
Senhor do Bonfim Bracelets
library of art and urbanism theory books
Be an outlaw, be a hero
3 knots = 3 wishes
that informed the project. Slowly it also
Oiticica’s poster as cover for the
Senhor-Do-Bonfim-Armbänder
became a medium for advertising events
Tropicália exhibition catalogue, 2007
3 Knoten = 3 Wünsche
and quoting artistic thoughts.
Sei ein Gesetzloser, sei ein Held
Der Kiosk wurde in eine Art Kuriositä
Oiticica-Poster als Titelseite des
tenkabinett verwandelt. Eine Mischung
Tropicália-Ausstellungskatalogs, 2007
aus Reisesouvenirs, Glücksbringern,
Necklace of Olho de Boi,
persönlichen Gegenständen, Düften,
Yemanjá: Queen of Waters
protection against jealousy
Geschmäckern und Erinnerungen
Yemanjá: Wasserkönigin
Olho de Boi-Kette
aus Salvador wurden ausgestellt. Dazu
Schutz gegen Eifersucht
gesellten sich zufällige nostalgische
Objekte, Kitsch von der Weimarer Tafel
und eine kleine Sammlung an Büchern
über Kunst und urbanistische Theorien.
Mit der Zeit wurde das Schaufenster
zum Träger von Werbeplakaten, Anzeigen
für Events und künstlerischen Zitaten
erweitert.
Relational objects, biological
Magazine about Orixás,
architectures and other works from
brought from Salvador
Lygia Clark
Zeitschrift über Orixás,
Caetano Veloso
Relationale Objekte, biologische
aus Salvador mitgebracht
Verdade Tropical
Architektur und weitere Werke
von Lygia Clark
106
Communication
Kommunikation
107
Green board Grüne Tafel
108
Communication
Kommunikation
109
Street Chalk Straßenkreide
110
Communication
Kommunikation
111
Flyers
after / nachher
The kiosk dressed with
its tropical, ostalgic
and precarious plug-Inns.
Der Kiosk wurde in
tropische, ostalgische
und prekäre Plug-Inns
gekleidet
Two months after the occupation had finished, a round table was held in Hotel Miranda to
show the documentation and discuss how this book could be organized. This event also
before / vorher
112
Communication
aimed to highlight the partnership between the Hotel and the Inn, making them evident to
the public.
Wishes and ideas to be
Zwei Monate nach Ende der Inbesitznahme fand ein Runder Tisch im Hotel Miranda statt,
plugged into the kiosk
bei dem die Dokumentation gezeigt und auch diskutiert wurde, wie das Buch organisiert
Wünsche und Ideen zum
werden soll. Diese Veranstaltung beabsichtigte auch, die Partnerschaft von Hotel und Inn
Einfügen
ins Bewußtsein der Öffentlichkeit zu bringen.
Kommunikation
113
Newspapers Zeitungen
Q
uite often newspapers lay around at KoCA Inn. Articles in the Thüringer
Allgemeine and the Thüringische Landeszeitung, reporting on the
opening event, had generated curiosity among Weimar’s inhabitants and
brought us many visitors. As this book shows, the users and visitors of
this space displayed a varied set of opinions of what KoCA Inn was. The next
two pages show the “mediatic readings”. These newspaper articles were
the ones that reached the majority of people at the time. As the kiosk
presented itself without visible written explanations, the visitors had to
ask what the project was about. According to whom they asked, they
got different answers in various languages, including bodily gestures.
Z
iemlich oft gab es am KoCA Inn Zeitungen zum Lesen. Aber die Neugierde der Weimarer wurde durch die Reportage am Tag der Eröffnung
in der Thüringer Allgemeine und der Thüringischen Landeszeitung
geweckt. Viele unserer Besucher kamen ihretwegen. Dieses Buch listet die vielen Meinungen darüber, was der KoCA Inn war. Auf den folgenden Seiten zeigen wir die „Medieninterpretationen“, die zu dem Zeitpunkt
am meisten Menschen erreichten. Am Kiosk selbst gab es für die Besucher keine sichtbare Information darüber, was es mit diesem Projekt auf
sich hatte. Sie mussten fragen – und abhängig davon wen sie fragten,
gab es ganz unterschiedliche Antworten, in mehreren Sprachen, Körper
sprache eingeschlossen.
Kommunikation
115
Brazil at KoCA Inn
Artistic project transforms the
area in a mini-village with
market for the Sozialkaufhaus.
Thüringer Allgemeine,
9 July 2009
Dancing in the gambling saloon
Thüringer Allgemeine, 15 July 2009
Painless living with little money
For 14 days the Art Kiosk is Hotel KoCA Inn.
Thüringische Landeszeitung, 9 July 2009
116
Communication
Kommunikation
117
Sandwichwoman
If hanging posters is so controlled and
regulated in Weimar, why not advertise
with your own body while you shop for
toothpaste? A former KoCA Inn wall, some
ink, a piece of twine, 10 minutes, and
voilà! An interactive and mobile marketing
strategy, blended with daily life.
Wenn das Aufhängen von Postern in Weimar so kontrolliert ist, warum dann nicht
den eigenen Körper als Werbetafel nutzen,
während du Zahnpasta kaufen gehst?
Eine alte KoCA Inn-Wand, etwas Farbe, ein
Stück Strick, 10 Minuten und voilà!
Interaktive und bewegliche Marketingstrategie mit Alltag vermischt.
118
Communication
Islands &
Territories
Inseln & Gebiete
This fictional narration of real
events and situations highlights
the ongoing appropriation
and transformation of public
space that KoCA Inn engaged
in, as well as introducing
two collaborative partners within
Weimar that made the project
possible.
Diese erdichtete Erzählung
tatsächlich stattgefundener
Ereignisse und Situationen
betont die beständige Aneignung und Transformation des
öffentlichen Raumes durch
den KoCA Inn. Zwei Kollaborationspartner in Weimar werden
vorgestellt, die dazu beitrugen,
das Projekt zu ermöglichen.
122
Unbekannte Siedlung
Grosse Gemeinschaft von Kindern
Kommunikationsversuche der KoCA Inn-
Für die KoCA Inn-Forscher war dieser Ort
KoCA Inn Inseln
Forscher ergaben, dass die Eingeborenen
nicht zugänglich während sie die Region
weiße Sandstrände
nicht freundlich sind und es bevorzugen,
in Besitz nahmen. Feldforschungen haben
exotische Hybridpalmen
eine geschlossene Gesellschaft
ergeben, dass die meisten Kinder
Holzbrücke
zu bleiben.
im Urlaub oder irgendwo anders waren.
Frischwasserbrunnen
Islands & Territories
Inseln & Gebiete
123
T
he Occupied Islands are located at the intersection of Sophienstifts
platz, right in front of the KoCA Inn Main Land. The city’s regulations
specified the usable space as limited to this Main Land. As the project
developed and became integrated intothe everyday life of the city,
temporary occupations of the surrounding islands were achieved, even
if in some cases short-lived. The islands were transformed from
places that simply directed traffic flows to Land-of-plenty-Islands,
Sports-Islands, Wellness-Islands and tropical Pirate-Islands.
D
ie Besetzten Inseln sind vor dem KoCA Inn-Festland an der Kreuzung
am Sophienstiftsplatz gelegen. Die Vorsch riften der Stadt begrenz
ten die Nutzung des Ortes auf dieses Festland. Während sich das
Projekt entwickelte und sich in das Alltagsleben der Stadt integrierte,
wurden temporäre Besetzungen der umliegendenden Inseln, auch
wenn zum Teil nur von kurzer Dauer, erfolgreich umgesetzt. Die Inseln
wurden so von reinen Verkehrsinseln zu Sportinseln, SchlaraffenlandInseln, Relaxinseln und tropischen Piraten-Inseln.
124
Inseln & Gebiete
125
T
he tropical relaxing islands were reclaimed by the City Hall. KoCA Inn
settlers tried to resist, but an official from the city warned hammock
users of receiving high fines in case coconut trees were damaged.
D
ie tropischen Relaxinseln wurden von der Stadtverwaltung zurückver
langt. Die KoCA Inn-Siedler versuchten, sich dagegen zu wehren, aber
ein Beamter der Stadt warnte die Hängemattennutzer, eine hohe Strafe zu
bekommen, falls die Kokospalmen beschädigt werden sollten.
„City Hall Administration
Civil Engineering Department
Please remove the
hammocks immediately
(between the traffic lights)“
126
Inseln & Gebiete
127
Die permanent annektierten Gebiete
P
ermanent annexed territories of KoCA Inn were Hotel Miranda enclave
and the lands of Weimarer Tafel. Active migration and trade
routes were established between the territories, resources were shared,
and common politics and communication forms were adopted.
D
ie permanent annektierten Gebiete des KoCA Inn waren die Enclave
Hotel Miranda und die Ländereien der Weimarer Tafel. Aktive
Migrations- und Handelsrouten wurden zwischen den Territorien auf
gebaut. Ressourcen wurden geteilt und eine einheitliche Politik und
Kommunikationsweise wurden eingeführt.
128
Inseln & Gebiete
129
Die Ländereien der Weimarer Tafel
W
elcome to the lands of Weimarer Tafel and Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé.
Supported by the Diakonie Foundation we offer a variety of
social services: soup kitchen, meeting points, repair shops, managing the
donations and sales of second hand furniture, houseware, clothes, and
all sorts of random stuff.
W
illkommen in den Ländereien der Weimarer Tafel und dem Sozial
kaufhaus Möbilé. Mit Unterstützung der Diakoniestiftung
bieten wir eine Vielfalt an sozialen Leistungen an: Essen- und Lebensmit
telausgabe, Begegnungsstätte, Reparationswerkstatt, die Verwaltung
von Spenden und den Verkauf gebrauchter Möbel, von Haushaltswaren,
Kleidern und einer Menge zusammengewürfeltem Kram.
Katrin Lausch (left, links)
Koca Inn ambassador of the
Lands of Weimarer Tafel
and Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé
KoCA Inn Botschafterin der
Here you can also receive a cup of coffee for a small donation and leave a message in
Länder Weimarer Tafel
the Guest Book. Auch hier bekommst du gegen eine kleine Spende eine Tasse Kaffee und
und Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé
kannst dich im Gästebuch äußern.
Inseln & Gebiete
131
Die Hotel Miranda-Enclave
T
he Hotel Miranda was an artistic installation developed by the Bau
stelle M10 for the special Weimarer summer of 2009. It was
used as an artistic residency by participants from Salvador during their
three-week stay. The Baustelle M10 was founded by Daniela Brasil
and Otto Hernandez in October 2007 with the collaboration of Elias
Wachholz and Teresa Huber. They rented the house to run a Gallery
of Contemporary Experiments and to use it as studio space. This “in
between” usage had no defined timeframe, as the rental contract could
be terminated at any time: the house was subjected to the interest
of the market. Built in 1834, it is the oldest house in Marienstraße, and
one of the few unrenovated buildings in Weimar’s city center. But not
for long: in February 2009 it was bought by private owners who intend
to build a hotel.
132
Room Installation
Otto Hernandez,
July 2008
Rauminstallation
Otto Hernandez,
Juli 2008
left: Carmen Miranda,
by Felix Scholz
links: Carmen Miranda,
von Felix Scholz
D
as Hotel Miranda war eine künstlerische Installation der Baustelle
M10 für den besonderen Weimarer Sommer 2009. Während ihres
dreiwöchigen Aufenthalts war es die künstlerische Residenz für die Teil
nehmer aus Salvador. Die Baustelle M10 wurde im Oktober 2007 von
Daniela Brasil und Otto Hernandez, mit der Hilfe von Elias Wachholz and
Teresa Huber gegründet. Sie mieteten das Haus, um es als Galerie für
zeitgenössische Experimente und als Atelierräume zu nutzen. Es gab keinen
festgelegten Zeitrahmen für diese Zwischennutzung, denn jederzeit
konnte das Aus vor der Tür stehen: abhängig von Marktinteressen. Das
1834 erbaute Haus ist das älteste Haus in der Marienstraße und eines
der letzten noch nicht renovierten in Weimars Stadtzentrum. Aber nicht
mehr lange: im Februar 2009 wurde es von Privatleuten gekauft, die
es in ein Hotel umbauen werden.
Inseln & Gebiete
133
Hotel Miranda:
rooms, reception and
restaurant.
Deus Exit,
by Stephan Weitzel
Hotel Miranda:
Zimmer, Rezeption und
Restaurant.
Deus Exit,
von Stephan Weitzel
H
otel Miranda announced and questioned these plans, in a homage
to Carmen Miranda’s 100th anniversary – the inspiring diva of
Tropicalism. Under the motto precarious luxury, rooms were renovated
and decorated with left-overs from former art shows, and the Hotel
Hopefull screen-printings series by Stephan Weitzel, especially made for
the occasion. Room 401 hosted Cacá and Pedro, room 205 was for
Clara and Edu, and finally the double suite 303 for Aline, Diego and Ícaro.
An anticipated re-enactment of M10’s uncertain future: “The hotel as
the crossing-point of traces, as the fulminent culmination of escape, hope,
desire and rest.” (Weitzel, 2009)
D
as Hotel Miranda – eine Hommage an Carmen Miranda zum 100-jäh
rigen Geburtstag dieser inspirierenden Diva des Tropicalismo – nahm
diese Idee vorweg und hinterfragte sie. Unter dem Motto prekärer
Luxus wurden Räume renoviert und mit Zurückgelassenem von früheren
Kunstshows renoviert und dekoriert. Mit dabei waren Siebdrucke von
Stephan Weitzels Hotel Hopefull, die eigens für diesen Anlass angefertigt
wurden. Zimmer 401 beherbergte Cacá und Pedro, Zimmer 205
Clara und Edu, und schließlich die Doppel-Suite Aline, Diego und Ícaro.
Eine vorhersehende Wiederholung der ungewissen Zukunft der M10:
„Das Hotel als Kreuzung zwischen Spuren, als fulminanter Höhepunkt
von Flucht, Hoffnung, Sehnsüchten und Rast.“ (Weitzel, 2009)
Inseln & Gebiete
135
Constructing a shower
Eine Dusche bauen
I
was given the task of constructing a shower at the Hotel Miranda. It
was an outdoor shower constructed on the exterior wall of the building.
It relied on the warmth of the sun and the existing outside drainage
system. The main shower construction was assembled with copper
tubing, fixed to the outside wall, holding up the curtain and also acting
as the source of the “tropical-rain-shower”. The water ran through a
long hose that zig-zagged across the exterior wall allowing the water to be heated naturally by the sun. The hose was connected to the coppertube-construction pierced with small holes creating “the tropicalrain-shower”. Due to the lack of fixation points on the wall, a large part
of the construction had to be done by rappelling down the wall from
a second-story-window. Brazilian guests, however, used to the abundant
tropical showers got intimidated by this construction in the mild
Weimar summer. The precarious rain shower was then substituted by
expeditions in the neighborhood, in the search for warmer waters.
Sven rappelling Hotel Miranda’s wall with
Otto’s help to build the shower.
Sven lässt sich mit Hilfe von Otto an der
Wand von Hotel Miranda runter, um
die Dusche zu bauen.
Breakfast in Hotel garden
Frühstück im Hotel-Garten
KoCA Inn + Corpocidade presentation
and round table September 2009
KoCA Inn + Corpocidade Präsentation
und Runder Tisch, September 2009
I
ch hatte die Aufgabe, die Dusche des Hotel Miranda zu bauen. Die
Dusche musste an der Außenwand des Gebäudes installiert werden, die
Wärme der Sonne und das im Hof vorhandene Entwässerungssystem
nutzend. Die Duschkonstruktion entstand aus Kupferrohren, die an der
Hauswand befestigt wurden und gleichzeitig als Vorhangstange dienten,
verbunden mit einem langen Schlauch. Das Wasser wurde dabei von
alleine erwärmt und floss dann in die Konstruktion aus durchlöcherten
Kupferrohren: eine „tropische Regendusche“. Da an der Wand kaum
Fixpunkte vorhanden waren, wurde der Großteil der Dusche installiert,
indem von oben die Wand hinab geklettert wurde. Die brasilianischen
Gäste, die „tropische Regengüsse“ reichlich gewohnt sind, wurden von die
ser Konstruktion und dem milden Weimarer Sommer verschreckt. Die
prekäre Regendusche wurde durch Expeditionen in der Nachbarschaft auf
der Suche nach wärmerem Wasser abgelöst.
Explorations
Erkundungen
The city is an open space to
constantly reinterpret and
rediscover. Various moments
of conviviality were explored
through the KoCA Inn: some
planned, others spontaneous,
one action generating another.
Eine Stadt ist ein offener Raum,
den es ständig neu zu
interpretieren und zu entdecken
gilt. Viele fröhliche Momente
der Geselligkeit wurden durch
den KoCA Inn hervorgerufen:
Einige geplant, andere spontan.
Eine Aktion führt zur nächsten.
Playing Spielen
D
T
he KoCA Inn structure I keep in mind can be best described as a
gigantic playhouse. A space that reminded me of the tree-houses,
secret-hide-outs and favorite-play-spaces of my childhood. Adults
and children alike were attracted to this haphazard construction as an
imaginative space calling for play. We often said: the KoCA Inn can be
whatever you make of it. Play in this context was any, and everything,
ranging from “playhouse” to magic shows and “only-pretending-to-play”.
One of my favorite “pretending” activities was something lightheartedly referred to as the GDR Space Training Program. A couple of
people at the kiosk began to use an old rotating foot-stool that had
been recently transformed into a roulette wheel as a play object. Taking
turns, we sat or laid on our bellies with legs and arms sprawled, while
someone from the group would then spin us around. Faster, faster and
faster we spun until our faces turned red of blood-pressure or laughter.
What started as a partner-to-partner activity was soon embraced by the
entire group and quickly began to attract passers-by. We joked about
creating official training completion certificates and staging graduation
ceremonies for the new “cadets”. None of which we were serious about
doing, but it is important to note how the KoCA Inn created an open space,
inviting for play and waking wild imagination.
140
Explorations
ie Struktur des KoCA Inn, die ich in meinem Kopf habe, kann am besten
als ein gigantisches Spielhaus beschrieben werden. Ein Ort, der
mich an Baumhäuser meiner Kindheit erinnerte, an sichere Verstecke und
an meine Lieblingsspielecken. Erwachsene und Kinder waren gleicher
maßen von diesem willkürlichen Bau, einem inspirierenden Raum, der
zum Spielen anregte, fasziniert. Oft sagten wir: der KoCA Inn kann all
das sein, was du aus ihm machst. In diesem Kontext konnte auch Spielen
alles bedeuten, vom „Spielhaus“ über die Zaubershow bis zum „Nurso-tun-also-ob-man-spiele“.
Eines meiner Lieblingsspiele war etwas, das ich leichtfertig als DDRRaumtrainingsprogramm bezeichnen würde. Ein paar Leute am Kiosk
begannen, einen alten Drehstuhl, der kurz zuvor in einen Roulettetisch ver
wandelt worden war, als Spielobjekt zu verwenden. Während wir mit
ausgebreiteten Armen und Beinen saßen oder auf unseren Bäuchen lagen,
ließen wir uns abwechselnd von jemandem anschieben. Schneller und
schneller drehten wir uns, bis uns das Blut ins Gesicht stieg oder wir vor
Lachen rot anliefen. Was als Partneraktion begonnen hatte, wurde
bald zu einer Gruppenaktivität und zog schließlich auch Passanten an.
Wir scherzten über ein offizielles Trainingsprogramm, das mit einem
Diplom abgeschlossen werden konnte und inszenierten Absolvierungs
feiern für die neuen „Kadetten“. Auch wenn wir nicht wirklich daran dachten, diese Pläne umzusetzen, so ist es doch bemerkenswert, dass der
KoCA Inn einen offenen Raum kreierte, der zum Spielen einlud und die
wildeste Vorstellungkraft weckte.
Erkundungen
141
“Dear Bau
- m - häus
ler,
Georg say
arkus and
Barbara, M
Risk-Party
for the fun
the
thank you
e bought
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eehouse.
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up in the tr
on
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game for
And we
with you.
d
un
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playing
ea
as gr t!
y that it w
have to sa
n in the
fu
h
u muc
We wish yo
treehouse,
kus”
bara, Mar
Georg, Bar
au is
is a tree, B
(TN: Baum
usler is a
hä
au
B
n,
d
constructio
students an
dress the
)
ol
term to ad
ho
sc
us
the Bauha
masters of
Drumming Trommeln
trommel gruppe
Drum Group tambour du soleil
I
t is known that the traffic in Weimar is quite well regulated, that rules are
respected and the sidewalks exist for pedestrians only. Traffic islands
are occupied solely by the city’s employees – once in a while – to remove
the grass growing in-between the stones. There are a sufficient number
of barriers and signs to keep pedestrians and cars in their places. But what
can the rhythm of drums and people’s enthusiasm do? Detour a driving
mother with her daughter from their way. She parked her car on the traffic
island and stayed, watching what was happening on the other side of the
road. We were perhaps more astonished than her. There are enough places
in the world where no one would notice that, but not here. And not
for that long. After more than 10 minutes Aline crossed over in a moment
of curiosity and somehow of solidarity. They started a conversation and
Rachel (now we knew her name) left the car with her kid. They stayed
over an hour. No police, no fines, but a good long moment of liberation
and harmless transgression.
146
Explorations
E
s ist bekannt, dass der Verkehr in Weimar gut geregelt ist, dass Regeln
respektiert werden und Bürgersteige nur für Fußgänger sind. Die
Verkehrsinseln werden nur – und auch das so gut wie nie – von Angestell
ten der Stadtverwaltung genutzt, um das zwischen den Steinen wach
sende Gras zu beseitigen. Es gibt genug Schranken und Zeichen, die die
Fußgänger und Autos an den richtigen Orten halten. Aber was kann
der Rhythmus von Trommeln und der Enthusiasmus von Menschen aus
lösen? Sie können eine Auto fahrende Mutter mit ihrem Kind von
ihrem Weg abbringen. Sie parkte ihr Auto auf der Verkehrsinsel, blieb
drinnen sitzen und beobachtete, was auf der anderen Straßenseite
passierte. Vielleicht waren wir sogar erstaunter als sie. Es gäbe genügend
Orte auf der Welt, wo dieses Verhalten niemandem aufgefallen wäre,
aber doch nicht hier. Und nicht für so lange. Nach mehr als 10 Minuten
ging Aline, neugierig und aus Solidarität, zu ihnen hinüber. Sie begannen
sich zu unterhalten, und Rachel (jetzt kannten wir ihren Namen) und
ihr Kind verließen das Auto. Sie blieben über eine Stunde. Keine Polizei,
kein Strafzettel. Aber ein guter, langer Moment der Freiheit und der
harmlosen Grenzüberschreitung.
Erkundungen
147
A
Impressions from a Drummer
Eindrücke eines Trommlers
Stephan Dietl, tambour du soleil
T
he rather spontaneous idea to play at the KoCA Inn in Weimar led to
our first public performance. We were hardly prepared for it. They told
us we would perform at the Sophienstiftsplatz intersection in Weimar.
When we heard “intersection”, we had the image from an ordinary traffic
intersection in mind, so we had no idea what to expect. As we arrived
at the Sophienstiftsplatz that night we had no idea who else of our drum
group would be showing up. Neither the program, nor the duration of
the concert were fixed yet, but the resulting improvisation concert could
not have been any better! After a warm welcome and some interesting
conversations with the friendly inhabitants, we placed our drums in the
middle of the sidewalk and began to play the African rhythms. Pedestrians
trying to cross the intersection were sent on a detour, because we now
inhabited their very route. The sound of our drumming echoed in the
streets and attracted many people. At first they listened intently and later
started to dance and join in the drum circle. Some people joined in
by playing the African rhythms on ordinary objects such as glasses or the
scaffolding. It was exciting to see how the beat was taken in by people.
An elderly woman started dancing and was totally abandoned to the
rhythm. This was truly a unique and unusual experience to me. Even
while talking, people were beating their claves to the beat.
This was exactly what we wanted to achieve. We wanted the
audience to be enthralled by the rhythm. This concert was also
a special experience for us, the musicians. It was great for see how
easily one simple idea can bring many people from around the
world together! The perfect interplay between music, dance and
location created an incredible atmosphere at this unassuming
intersection. Even the traffic noise around us was drowned out by
rhythmic drumming that lasted three full hours.
148
Explorations
This popular dance from
Pernambuco starts
with a small circle and
tends to grow when
new participants join in.
Dieser Folkstanz aus
Pernambuco fängt mit
einem kleinen Kreis
an und wächst mit den
Teilnehmern, die dazu
stoßen.
us dieser recht spontanen Idee, beim Projekt KoCA Inn in Weimar zu
spielen, wurde unser erster öffentlicher Auftritt. Auf diesen hatten wir
uns nur wenig vorbereitet. Die Kreuzung Sophienstiftsplatz in Weimar
wurde uns als Konzertort genannt. Unter einer Kreuzung konnten wir uns
nur die übliche Straßenkreuzung vorstellen. Wir wussten also nicht,
was uns dort erwarten würde. Als wir am Sophienstiftsplatz ankamen, war
noch nicht einmal klar, wer alles von unserer Trommelgruppe an diesem
Abend kommen würde. Auch das Programm und die Dauer des Konzertes
waren noch nicht festgelegt. Doch das daraus entstandene Improvisa
tionskonzert hätte besser nicht laufen können! Nach dem freundlichen
Empfang durch die Bewohner und einigen interessanten Gesprächen
bauten wir unsere Trommeln mitten auf dem Gehweg auf und begannen,
afrikanische Rhythmen zu spielen. Ankommende Passanten, die die
Kreuzung überqueren wollten, wurden aufgehalten, da für den alltägli
chen Gebrauch der Kreuzung kein Durchkommen mehr war.
Die durch die Straßen hallenden Trommeln lockten unzählige Leute
an, die dann angeregt zuhörten und später anfingen zu tanzen oder
selbst mitzutrommeln. Manch einer nutzte alltägliche Gegenstände, um
sich den afrikanischen Rhythmen anzuschließen. So wurden zum
Beispiel einige Gläser oder das Baugerüst als Glocken verwendet. Es war
spannend zu sehen, wie der Rhythmus von den Leuten angenommen
wurde. Eine ältere Frau fing auf einmal an zu tanzen und gab sich einfach
der Musik hin. Das war für mich schon eine ungewöhnliche Erfah
rung. Selbst wenn sich die Leute unterhielten, wurde nebenbei mit
Klanghölzern mitgespielt. Genau das wollten wir erreichen.
Die Zuschauer sollten von den Rhythmen gepackt werden und den
Alltag für ein paar Stunden vergessen können.
Auch für uns war dieses Konzert eine besondere Erfah
rung. Wie einfach es ist, viele fremde Menschen mit
Hilfe einer kleinen Idee zusammenzubringen! Das perfekte
Zusammenspiel von Musik, Tanz und Stimmung
erzeugte eine unglaubliche Atmosphäre, direkt auf einer
Kreuzung. Selbst der Verkehrslärm um uns herum
wurde durch die Trommeln übertönt. Und das ganze
drei Stunden lang.
Erkundungen
149
Giving Geben
G
iving is one of the most powerful means. It leads to the expansion of
everything. Throughout the construction and during the two KoCA Inn
event weeks, everybody seemed to be benefitting from his or her own
contribution: the more you contributed, the more usage you got. As a
host and participant my feeling at the end, after dismantling and clearing
the kiosk location, when all traces of the KoCA Inn were removed, was
weirdly enough one of homelessness.
G
eben ist eines der stärksten Mittel. Es führt dazu, dass alles expandiert.
Es schien, als ob alle während des Aufbaus und der zwei Wochen
des KoCA Inn-Projekts von ihrer Beteiligung profitierten: Je mehr man bei
steuerte, desto mehr Nutzen hatte man. Als Gastgeber und Teilnehmer
hatte ich am Ende, nach dem Abbau und nachdem der Platz wieder aufge
räumt war, als alle Spuren des KoCA Inn enfernt waren, komischerweise
ein Gefühl der Heimatlosigkeit.
150
Explorations
AFTERNOONS
OF BRIGADEI
RO
S
Ingredient
s:
2 cans of
condensed
milk (sugar
and creamy
y
one)
2 teaspoon
s of cocoa
or powder
chocolate
1 dish of
chocolate
sprinkles,
colourful
or not
2 tablespo
ons of butt
er
TARDES DE
BRIGADEIRO
Ingredient
es
2 latas de
leite cond
ensado
2 colheres
de cacau ou
chocolate
em pó
1 prato de
sopa de gr
anulados de
chocolate,
coloridos
ou não
2 colheres
de sopa de
manteiga
Way to prep
Mo
do
de preparo:
are:
In a medium
Numa panela
saucepan,
média, desp
pour the
two cans of
eje as
duas latas
condensed
de leite co
milk,
two tables
ndensado,
as colheres
poons of bu
de manteiga
tter and
chocolate
e as
duas colher
powder. Mi
es de choc
x the
olate em
ingredient
pó
. Misture
s in the sa
os
ingredient
ucepan,
boil it an
e
na própria
d lower th
panela, de
e heat
ixando
if necessar
ferver e ab
y. The mixt
ai
xa
nd
o
ur
o
e of
fogo
chocolate
quando nece
should get
ssário. A
a paste
mistura
consistenc
de chocolat
y, and shou
e
de
ve adquirir
ld not bind
to pan, st
consistênc
ir it fore
ia pastosa
ver, with
mais
a wooden sp
dura, e nã
oon. Remove
o deve grud
it from
ar na
the pan an
pa
ne
la
d place it
, para isso
in a bowl
mexa sempre
and store
com uma co
,
it in the
lher de pa
fridge when
u. Quando
cold. When
estiver no
the mixtur
po
nto retire
e is cold
enough, st
da
panela e co
art to make
loque numa
the balls
of brigadie
vasilha
e conserve
r.
para esfria
Making the
r, pode
guardar na
balls: rub
geladeira.
your hands
with butter
Quando a
mistura es
and with a
ti
ver fria,
small
spoon, remo
comece a
fazer as bo
ve from th
las de brig
e canister
a small am
adeiro.
Fazendo as
ount of ch
bolas: unte
ocolate to
furl, the
as mãos
com mantei
spoon is th
ga e com um
e measure.
a pequena
Roll the Br
co
lher retire
igadier wi
da vasilha
th smooth
movement,
uma
pequena qu
forming th
antidade de
e chocolat
spread unti
chocolate
e
pa
ra
en
l it gets
rolar, a co
ro
lher é a
und.
After furl
medida. En
ing the ba
role o brig
lls of
adeiro
chocolate,
com movime
throw them
nt
o
suaves, da
one by
one on the
ndo
forma a pa
dish with
sta de choc
sprinkles
olate até
to cover th
ficar redond
em. Serve
a.
Ap
ós
it
enrolar as
for the
kids and th
diversas bo
e kids!
linhas de
chocolate,
jogue-as um
a a uma no
prato de
granulado,
até cobrilas. Sirva
para as cr
ianças e pa
ra as
crianças!
152
Explorations
Erkundungen
153
Searching for Freedom Auf der Suche nach Freiheit
Gilda Bartel & Lucian Patermann
T
he question is: “What is freedom?” There are no hierarchies; there is
no boss, no “students”, nothing to be taught. There was a starting
point when Luke and Gilda asked themselves if one could conceive the
notion of Freiheitsentzug* without having questioned or thought of
the meaning of freedom. This contemplation led to the idea of organizing
a weeklong workshop around these questions with those concerned:
delinquent youngsters from the Weimar Youth Penitentiary. There is an
initial idea to develop a game together – one that could be played in
the streets, involving people and starting
There is freedom where six people
discussions about freedom and imprisonment.
that barely know each other
And there is a location to make this possible:
embark on a common search for
the KoCA Inn. For now there is nothing concrete
except for the people and the potential these
an answer.
people bring with them.
Freiheit ist da, wo sechs Personen,
die sich nicht wirklich kennen,
sich gemeinsam auf die Suche
begeben nach einer Antwort.
D
ie Frage ist: „Was ist Freiheit?“ Es gibt keine
Hierarchien, es gibt keinen Chef, keine
„Schüler“, denen etwas beigebracht werden soll.
Es gibt den Ausgangspunkt, dass Luke und Gilda sich gefragt hatten, ob
man Freiheitsentzug (Gefängnisaufenthalt) denken kann, ohne sich dabei
irgendwie Gedanken zu machen, was Freiheit denn dann sei. Daraus
entsteht die Überlegung, mit straffälligen Jugendlichen eine Projektwoche
zu gestalten. Es gibt vorab die Idee, dass wir in der Woche ein Spiel
entwerfen könnten, das man mit Menschen auf der Straße spielen kann,
um mit ihnen ins Gespräch zu kommen über das Thema Freiheit und
Gefangensein. Und es gibt einen Ort, an dem das möglich ist: das KoCA Inn.
Konkreteres gibt es nicht, außer den Menschen, dem Potenzial, das
diese Menschen mitbringen.
154
Explorations
FREEDOM RULES PUNISHMENT PRISON FEAR ANGER MAKING DECISIONS LUCK BAD LUCK LOSING PLAYING HAVING
FUN IDEALS IDEAS REALIZATIONS ART GETTING TOGETHER DANCE MOVEMENT MUSIC PLAYING FEAR OF LOSING
CONTROL LAUGHING COMPULSIVE SENSE OF ORDER TIDINESS HYGIENE SOUL CARE SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE EMBRACE GRIEF WARMNESS LOVE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIALOGUE OPENNESS COURAGE MISTAKES FORGIVING LEARNING TEACHING COMMUNITY SHARING TAKING AWAY SUPPORTING SORROW CRYING TEARS OF JOY HAPPINESS RIGHTS COINCIDENCE DESTINY FUTURE UNCERTAINTY CONFUSION CHALLENGE INSISTING RESPONSIBILITY SELF CONFIDENCE INTERNAL FORCE COLLECTIVE STRENGTH FRIENDSHIP CREATIVITY PAINTING RESEARCHING CURIOSITY ASKING QUESTIONS DISCOVERING LIVING DREAMS UTOPIA SEARCHING LOSSES FEARS HOPE COURAGE THE WICKED TEMPTATIONS THE GOOD TRUSTING STRANGENESS FORCE THE OWN INSIDE-OUTSIDE MASQUERADE FREEDOM Monday:
Arriving at KoCA Inn, the boys are hesitant because of the many new
faces. There is coffee. Luke is running late. Gilda and Catherine meet. It is
good to take the time to observe life at the kiosk. Soon Kevin is making
some first attempts in English conversation; shyness, still. We start with an
exercise, a chain of associations. It is a first step towards opening up a
process. We take turns. One word leads to the next.
Kevin asks: “So, what is freedom then? It’s such a difficult question.
Can we not go and ask someone else?” Sure! Now the interactions can
start. We take our question and some chalk
and walk over to Theaterplatz. We approach
There is freedom
pedestrians. “Excuse me, could you tell us
where I can ask questions.
what freedom is?” Some have answers, others
Freiheit ist da,
don’t. It takes some courage to approach
wo ich Fragen stellen kann.
strangers and to share questions that don’t
have a clear answer, that are open for debate.
With chalk we write the answers we get on
the ground of the square. Basti thinks we are vandalizing and refuses to play
along. As the square is slowly filling with quotes more people begin to
approach us; the discussion expands. Luke draws a circle on the ground
and writes “Freedom is here” next to it, and places a piece of chalk
within the circle. It is time for lunch, but we stay and watch people taking
the chalk and adding their comments to the discussion, expanding this
mind-map of possible freedoms. Then they neatly place the chalk back in
the circle for others to use. We walk off with a smile.
156
Explorations
FREIHEIT REGELN STRAFE GEFÄNGNIS ANGST WUT ENTSCHEIDUNGEN TREFFEN GLÜCK UNGLÜCK VERLIEREN SPIELEN SPASS HABEN IDEALE IDEEN UMSETZUNG KUNST ZUSAMMENKOMMEN TANZ BEWEGEN MUSIK SPIELEN KONTROLLZWANG LACHEN ORDNUNGSWAHN SAUBERKEIT HYGIENE SEELENPFLEGE SEELSORGE UMARMUNG TRAUER WÄRME LIEBE EMOTIONALE INTELLIGENZ GESPRÄCH OFFENHEIT MUT FEHLER VERGEBEN LERNEN BEIBRINGEN GEMEINSCHAFT TEILEN WEGNEHMEN UNTERSTÜTZEN TRAUER WEINEN FREUDENTRÄNEN GLÜCKSGEFÜHLE RECHT ZUFALL SCHICKSAL ZUKUNFT UNGEWISSHEIT VERWIRRUNG HERAUSFORDERUNG BESTEHEN VERANTWORTUNG BÖSE
SELBSTBEWUSSTSEIN INNERE STÄRKE GEMEINSAME STÄRKE FREUNDSCHAFT KREATIVITÄT MALEN FORSCHEN NEUGIER FRAGEN ENTDECKEN SEINEN TRÄUMEN NACHGEHEN UTOPIE SUCHEN VERLUSTE ÄNGSTE HOFFNUNG BEFÜRCHTUNGEN VERSUCHUNG DAS GUTE VERTRAUEN FREMDHEIT ZWANG DAS EIGENE INNEN-AUSSEN MUT VERKLEIDUNG FREIHEIT
Montag:
Ankommen am KoCA Inn, Befangensein der Jugendlichen wegen
so vieler fremder Gesichter, erstmal Kaffee trinken, warten, bis Luke aufwacht. Catherine kennenlernen. Sitzen, beobachten, erste Sprach
annäherungsversuche durch Kevin. Schüchternheit. Eine Assoziations
kette, die uns den Einstieg erleichtern soll. Immer abwechselnd werfen
wir uns Worte zu.
Kevin fragt: „Was ist Freiheit eigentlich? So eine schwere Frage.
Können wir da nicht mal jemanden fragen?“ Na klar! Jetzt beginnt
Interaktion. Mit der Frage und Straßenmalkreide geht’s zum Theaterplatz.
Wir gehen auf die Passanten zu: „Entschuldigen Sie, können sie uns
sagen, was Freiheit ist?“ Einige haben Antworten parat, andere nicht.
Es erfordert einigen Mut, Fremde anzusprechen und Fragen zu stellen,
die keine klaren Antworten kennen, die Diskussionen anregen. Basti
ist der Meinung, dass wir hier den Ort mutwillig beschädigen und weigert
sich, mitzumachen. Als sich der Platz langsam mit immer mehr Zitaten
füllt, kommen mehr Menschen auf uns zu, die Diskussion weitet sich aus.
Luke malt einen Kreis auf den Boden und schreibt dazu: „Freiheit ist
hier“ und legt ein Stückchen Kreide in den Kreis. Es ist Zeit, Mittagessen
zu gehen. Doch wir bleiben stehen, um die Leute zu beobachten, die
die Kreide nehmen und neue Kommentare zur Diskussion beitragen, die
Gedankenkarte der möglichen Freiheit erweitern. Sie legen das Krei
destückchen fein säuberlich in den Kreis zurück, um auch anderen die
Möglichkeit zu geben, etwas dazu zu schreiben. Mit einem Lächeln
gehen wir davon.
Erkundungen
157
Tuesday:
Today, we walk through the center of Weimar in silence. We are
searching for traces of freedom inside and outside of ourselves. Which are
moments of freedom and where do we find constraint? The freedom
to listen. The constraint of seeing the world with prejudices. The freedom
to not take things personally. We walk and take notes, negotiating without
words the route to take, splitting up and gathering again, searching for
instances of experiencing freedom. The walk comes to its end after about
an hour, after leading us to the squat on Gerberstraße. The boys are
observing the graffiti and banners hanging from the building and decide
to break the silence. They want to know what the squatters have to say
on the theme of freedom, and we use the opportunity to have lunch in
their soup kitchen and continue our interviews of the day before. The
boys are impressed with the space and the possibility of selfdetermination.
Back at the kiosk we try to sort our thoughts and impressions, and
slowly we begin to mold some useful forms: we all agree that we are free
when we have to take a decision. There is no pure, abstract freedom, as
it can exist conceptually in our minds. When do I really feel free?
Where can I actually experience freedom? And which are the spaces in
life allowing for free decision-making? At this point it is clear that the
game we will develop must be flexible, not rigid, that it must involve
multiple options and decision to make in order to move ahead. Again,
the boys begin to speak of luck and bad fortune. Even if we realize their
errors/misdoings, it is their experience that reminds us how chance can
influence decisions. We notice a game on the bookshelf next to us:
Das Verrückte Labyrinth (the loony labyrinth). Maybe this could be the
perfect template for our game.
158
Explorations
Dienstag:
Heute gehen wir auf den Spuren der Freiheit schweigend durch die
Weimarer Innenstadt und suchen nach Augenblicken von Freiheit
und Unfreiheit im Außen und Innen: Die Freiheit, zuhören zu können.
Die Unfreiheit, mit Vorurteilen durch die Welt zu gehen. Die Freiheit,
Dinge nicht persönlich zu nehmen. Wir laufen umher und machen
Notizen, handeln den Weg aus ohne Worte, teilen uns auf und kommen
wieder zusammen. Wir suchen nach Beispielen, wo wir Freiheit erfah
ren. Nach etwa einer Stunde sind wir am Ende unserer Wanderung, als
wir bei dem besetzten Haus in der Gerber
straße ankommen. Die Jungen begutachten
There is freedom where I
die Graffitis und die Transparente, die an
make decisions.
der Hauswand hängen und entscheiden sich,
Freiheit ist da, wo ich
die Stille zu brechen. Sie wollen wissen,
etwas entscheide.
was die Hausbesetzer über Freiheit denken
und wir nutzen die Möglichkeit, Mittag
in ihrer Volksküche zu essen und unsere Inter
views des Vortags fortzusetzen. Die Jungs
zeigen sich beeindruckt von dem Ort und der Möglichkeit der Selbstbe
stimmung.
Zurück am Kiosk gibt es Gedankenordnung. Allmählich ergießt
es sich in brauchbare Formen: Frei ist man da, wo man sich entscheiden
muss. Eine rein gedachte abstrakte Freiheit gibt es nicht. Wo fühle ich
mich wirklich frei? Welche Entscheidungsräume gibt es im Leben? Bis
zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt ist klar, dass unser Spiel beweglich sein muss,
nicht starr, dass dabei etwas entschieden werden muss, bevor man weitere
Schritte gehen kann. Wieder sprechen die Jungs von Glück und Unglück.
Auch wenn wir ihre Fehler/Taten wahrnehmen, so sind es doch ihre
Erfahrungen, die uns an das Zufällige erinnern, das eine Rolle spielt und
Entscheidungen beeinflusst. Wir entdecken ein Spiel im Bücherregal
neben uns: Das Verrückte Labyrinth. Vielleicht kann das die perfekte Vor
lage für unser Spiel sein.
Erkundungen
159
Wednesday/Thursday:
We spend the next two days at the KoCA Inn. The boys are increasingly
opening up, telling their stories to the people at the kiosk, and engaging
with the improvisational situation around them. Prejudices are being
dismantled; cross-cultural communication skills build up. Alongside the
workshop there is the everyday life, and the boys cook for the first time
in the public kitchen. They are eager to help, recycling glass or unloading a
truck-load of furniture from the Weimarer Tafel … and they are always
keeping their eyes and ears open for powerful cars driving by – an interest
that they share. We spend half a day scavenging
materials that we can recycle to construct
the playing fields. We laugh, smoke cigarettes,
and lounge in the hammocks. We think
out loud and work on our project. We collect
“spaces of freedom” for our game (freedom
of thought, freedom of opinion, religious
freedom, the freedom money provides, or the
freedom of choosing what to wear …).
For each space of freedom we develop small
exercises to be carried out in the game
and symbols to draw on the playing cards.
Basti and René briefly “fall in love” with one of
the Brazilian girls and discuss their distaste
for the large age difference of a couple visiting
the kiosk. We discuss their experiences in
prison and the fact that, as expected, they had
to take off the Brazilian bracelets they had
received from KoCA Inn. In the meantime there is painting, cutting, gluing,
drawing, and the recurring attempts at grasping the final necessary steps
of the game. For every game-move there should be a possible action that
visually exemplifies where a person has spaces for decision-making. We
find some collaborators in our two days of building. Theresa joins us with
painting the labyrinth, Clara and Cacá with cutting out pieces. And we
meet Manuel, a neighbor’s boy attracted by all the activity, who does us a
huge favor and successfully casts a spell to make the rain disappear.
160
Explorations
Mittwoch/Donnerstag:
Die nächsten zwei Tage sind wir ständig vor Ort am KoCA Inn. Die
Jungs tauen immer mehr auf und erzählen den Menschen am Kiosk ihre
Geschichten. Vorurteile bauen sich ab, Fremdsprachenkenntnisse auf.
Neben dem Workshop spielt auch der Alltag eine Rolle. Die Jungs kochen
zum ersten Mal in der öffentlichen Küche. Sie sind eifrig dabei zu hel
fen, Recyclingglas auszusortieren oder eine Ladung voller Möbel von der
Weimarer Tafel abzuladen. Und immer halten sie Augen und Ohren
geöffnet für die schweren Autos, die vorbeifahren – ein Interesse, das die
Drei teilen. Einen halben Tag verbringen
wir damit, Material zusammenzusuchen, das
There is freedom where
wir recyceln und zum Bau unseres Spielfelds
verwenden können. Es wird gelacht, geraucht,
I truely encounter people.
in der Hängematte gelegen, zusammen geda
cht und gebaut. Wir sammeln die „Räume
Menschen wirklich begegne.
der Freiheit“ für das Spiel (Gedankenfreiheit,
Meinungsfreiheit, Glaubensfreiheit, Geld
freiheit, Kleidungsfreiheit …) und überlegen
uns dazu passende Aufgaben und Symbole.
Basti und René „verlieben“ sich kurzzeitig in
eine Brasilianerin und empören sich über
den Altersunterschied eines Paares, das zu
Besuch am Kiosk ist. Wir sprechen über ihre
Erfahrungen im Gefängnis. Wie erwartet
hatten sie das brasilianische Armband vom
KoCA Inn abnehmen müssen. Ansonsten
Streichen, Schneiden, Kleben, Zeichnen.
Dazwischen immer wieder der Versuch, die letzten nötigen Gedanken zum
Spiel zu greifen, zu jedem Spielzug eine Aktion zu entwickeln, die im
Außen sichtbar machen soll, wo der Mensch Entscheidungsräume hat.
Wir finden Helfer für unsere 2-tägige Bauaktion. Theresa unterstützt
uns beim Malen des Labyrinths, Clara und Cacá beim Ausschneiden der
Teile. Wir lernen Manuel kennen, ein Junge aus der Nachbarschaft, der
von dem vielen Leben angezogen wurde. Er tut uns einen großen Gefallen
und spricht ein Zauberwort, das erfolgreich den Regen vertreibt.
Erkundungen
161
Rocking chair to relax
Schaukelstuhl um auszuruhen
Sauerkraut juice to try
something new
Sauerkraut-Saft um etwas
Neues zu probieren
Books to learn something new
Bücher, um etwas Neues
zu lernen
Sidewalk chalk to make a
change in the environment
Straßenkreide, um eine
Veränderung in der
Umgebung zu machen
boards to manifest opinions
wishing-box to admit wishes
Schilder, um Meinungen
and prejudices
zu manifestieren
Wunschbox, um Wünsche und
Vorurteile zuzugeben
Brazilian exchange
table to “buy” something
Brasilianische Tauschbörse,
um etwas zu „kaufen“
Friday:
Today we play. It is Friday; the day that some of the boys will learn
whether they will be released that evening, and the energy is a little
unstable as a result. We check our list for all the needed parts. Our game
consists of so many pieces that we need a small wheelbarrow to transport
them, even a rocking chair and empty demonstration signs. Some of
the Brazilians accompany us as we carry all our stuff to Theaterplatz, back
where our project began one week ago. Here we want to make another
attempt at involving the pedestrians, inviting them to play with us. But in
this we don’t succeed, not the way we had imagined. And so we play
amongst ourselves with Eduardo, Cacá, Clara, Luke, Catherine, Kevin,
Basti, Gilda, and René. Pedro carries his vendor’s tray and our game
becomes an opportunity for further actions. Basti remains reserved and
spends most of the time sitting in the rocking chair observing. René
is in his best mood and Kevin picks flowers in exchange for a candomblé
chain from Clara. Gilda trades a thought for a Brazilian sweet. Much
is happening between us, not so much with the pedestrians. Luke and
Catherine dance in a moment of rain. We decorate our clothes as an
expressive freedom, we write political manifestos and demonstrate our
opinions on the square, we taste foreign food, we take a time to relax,
and we admit our prejudices; all this according to which playing field was
given to us by chance.
162
Explorations
Freitag:
Spieltag heute. Es ist Freitag und der Tag, an dem die Jungs erfahren,
ob sie am Abend entlassen werden oder nicht. Entsprechend ist die
Stimmung etwas angespannt. Wir überprüfen unsere Liste nach allen benö
tigten Teilen. Unser Spiel besteht aus vielen Einzelteilen, die in einer
Schubkarre bewegt werden, aus einem Schaukelstuhl, leeren Demonstra
tionsschildern. Einige der Brasilianer begleiten uns mit unserem ganzen
„Gepäck“ auf den Theaterplatz. Hier wollen wir wieder versuchen, mit
Menschen ins Spielen zu kommen. Aber es funktioniert nicht, nicht so
wie wir uns das vorgestellt haben. Also spielen wir untereinander mit
Eduardo, Cacá, Clara, Luke, Catherine, Kevin,
There is freedom where I
Basti, Gilda, und René. Pedro trägt seinen
can let go.
Bauchladen wieder bei sich und es vermischen
sich Spiel und andere Aktionen. Basti bleibt
loslassen kann.
die meiste Zeit im Schaukelstuhl sitzen, etwas
verklemmt. René läuft zu seiner persönli
chen Hochform auf. Kevin tauscht eine gepflückte Blume gegen eine bra
silianische Candomblékette von Clara. Gilda tauscht einen Gedanken
gegen eine brasilianische Süßigkeit. Es passiert viel zwischen uns, wenig
mit anderen Passanten. Luke und Catherine tanzen im Regen. Wir
dekorieren unsere Kleidung als Ausdruck unserer Freiheit, wir schreiben
politische Manifeste und demonstrieren unsere Meinungen auf dem
Platz, wir kosten fremdartiges Essen, wir nehmen uns Zeit zum Entspan
nen, und wir geben zu, welche Vorurteile wir haben; all dies dem Zufall
entsprechend, je nachdem auf welchem Spielfeld wir landen.
Erkundungen
163
At the end of the week it is obvious that it is not about the product.
It is nice that we have constructed a game, but the essence was between the
lines. It lay in the encounters, in the dialogues with strangers, in the
overcoming of our own boundaries, in testing out new paths, in letting go
of prejudices, in experiencing kindness without knowing each other.
It was about exchange and collective construction, free of selfishness.
Basti was fascinated by the possibility of creating something out of
nothing. At the same time he was surprised to realize how difficult it was
for him to overcome some of his fears. René was most impressed by
experiencing easy and difficult so closely intertwined. Catherine liked
the balance between discussing and testing out ideas. For Kevin the
week was simply “cool” and he enjoyed the possibility of testing out many
new things he wouldn’t have dared in his daily life. Gilda realized at
the end of the week that each space of freedom also proposes a space for
learning, a space that allows oneself to grow. Luke was most impressed
with challenging his own boundaries and what is familiar to him. For
There is freedom. him this week was a week of encounters.
Freiheit ist da. Das Ende der Woche zeigt, dass es nicht um das Produkt geht. Schön,
dass wir das Spiel wirklich gebaut haben, aber das Wesentliche
geschah zwischen den Zeilen, beim Umsetzen. Es geschah in den Begeg
nungen mittendrin, in den Gesprächen mit fremden Menschen, in der
Überwindung der eigenen Grenzen, im Ausprobieren von neuen Wegen,
im Loslassen von Vorurteilen, in der Erfahrung von Freundlichkeit, ohne
sich zu kennen. Es ging um Austausch, gemeinsames Gestalten, frei
von Egoismen. Basti war fasziniert davon, dass aus Nichts etwas entstehen
“Freiheitsentzug” literally
kann und gleichzeitig war er geschockt von sich selbst und der Schwierig
translates to the removal or
deprivation of freedom. The
keit, seine eigenen Ängste zu überwinden. Bemerkenswert für René
Jugendarrestanstalt (youth
war, dass Schwer und Einfach so nah beieinander liegen. Catherine fand,
penitentiary) is located in
die Balance zwischen Gespräch und Ausprobieren in der Woche war
the center of Weimar and
gut. Für Kevin war die Woche einfach nur „geil“, er hat so viel Neues aus
hosts boys from age 15 – 21
for a maximum sentence
probiert, was er sich so in seinem normalen Alltag nicht getraut hätte.
of one month. As part of the
Gilda erkannte, dass ein Freiraum immer auch ein Bildungsraum ist, der
“educational measure”, they
ermöglicht, sich selbst in seinem Menschsein zu bilden. Luke fand
can participate in community
die Überwindung der eigenen Grenzen, des eigenen Bekannten am Ein
service activities, as well as
workshops, such as this one.
drucksvollsten. Für ihn war die Woche eine Woche der Begegnung.
164
Explorations
Magic show Zaubershow
Manuel,
told by erzählt von Mike young
M
anuel appeared on the scene and asked what was going on at the
kiosk, and what needed to be done. I had previously met him
in the neighborhood and asked if he would help me out with designing
a symbol for a game. A little later he compelled me to write something
down for him. Not knowing his intention, I began to write upon a piece
of cardboard, paying little attention to both layout and readability.
He sternly corrected my lack of attention to communicating what he was
trying to get across. I apologized, found a new piece of cardboard to
write upon and then proceeded to ruin the German language by writing
what turned out to be a horribly misspelled advertisement for a magic
show at 7pm later that same day.
“Will there be anyone here at 7 o’clock?” he later asked me. “There’s
always someone here”, I automatically replied. “Will there be lots of
people here?“ “Um … There’s always someone here”, I responded, having
just heard that a group of us would be heading over to the local outdoor
pool in order to enjoy the late-day summer sun. But I assured him that we
would be back in time for his show.
Upon our return over an hour later, Manuel gathered us together
– about seven of us – seating us in a couple of rows so we could watch
the show he had prepared. For his first trick, Manuel told us he would
be performing the Rabbit-in-the-Hat-Trick. After producing a hat and
pausing long enough for us to all wonder how the hell this kid was going
to produce a rabbit from this hat?, he asked with a slight smile, “Do
any of you have a rabbit I could use?” Oh how we laughed at his well timed
question, and after looking around and taking off his belt and holding
it aloft, he then told us that he would now be performing the Snake-inthe-Hat Trick. We clapped. He hesitated briefly and then continued
with the show, calling out loudly, “Here is a hat! And now I will pull a
snake out of it!”
166
Explorations
“And now I will do a card trick!”, Manuel called out and took a
stack of newspapers and magazines. “Yaaay!”, we cheered and he started
walking down the line and telling each of us to “pick a card” from the
stack. After all the periodicals had been portioned out, he went down the
line again, opening each magazine or newspaper and telling
the holder what his or her prize was. I got a trip to New York
(that’s halfway home!, I thought), while others got other
free trips to such far-flung places as “Jena!” or “Burger King!”,
the less fortunate getting nothing at all. After constantly
being congratulated with a big “Blank!” when Manuel
opened his newspaper, one of my fellow audience members
leaned over and asked: “What did I do to him?”
Eventually, we all started to feel the sting whenever
we did not win a prize at all. At the tenth round of the
great Card Trick, we were tired of figuring out whom of us
Manuel liked enough to send him or her abroad, and
who would be getting a “Blank!” again, so that we decided
it was time to wrap up the magic show and move on.
M
anuel erschien kurz nach mir am Ort des Geschehens
und fragte, was am Kiosk los sei und was er machen
könne. Ich hatte ihn schon mal in der Nachbarschaft gesehen und fragte
ihn, ob er mir dabei helfen wolle, ein Symbol für ein Spiel zu entwer
fen. Kurz darauf verpflichtete er mich, etwas für ihn zu schreiben. Ohne
seine Absicht zu kennen, begann ich, auf ein Stück Pappe zu schreiben.
Ich achtete dabei nicht auf das Layout oder die Lesbarkeit. Streng bemän
gelte er meine fehlende Aufmerksamkeit seinen Erklärungsversuchen
gegenüber. Ich entschuldigte mich, fand ein neues Stück Pappe, auf das
ich schreiben konnte, und setzte fort, die deutsche Sprache mit einer
völlig falsch geschriebenen Werbeanzeige zu ruinieren. Die Werbeanzeige
lud zu einer Zaubershow am selben Tag um 19 Uhr ein.
„Wird denn um 19 Uhr überhaupt jemand da sein?“, fragte er mich
später. „Hier ist immer jemand.“, antwortete ich automatisch. „Werden
viele Menschen hier sein?“ – „Hm. Irgendjemand ist immer hier“, sagte ich,
da ich gehört hatte, dass einige von uns planten, ins Freibad zu gehen,
168
Explorations
um die Spätsommersonne zu genießen. Ich versicherte ihm, dass wir
rechtzeitig zu seiner Show zurück sein würden.
Als wir nach einer Stunde zurück kamen, rief Manuel uns – ungefähr
sieben – zusammen. Er platzierte uns in mehreren Reihen, damit wir
seine Show, die er vorbereitet hatte, anschauten. Als ersten Trick wollte
er uns den Hasen-aus-dem-Hut-Trick zeigen. Nachdem er einen Hut
hergestellt hatte, stoppte er mit seinen Handlungen lange genug, dass wir
uns fragten, wie um alles in der Welt er nun einen Hasen aus diesem
Hut hervorzaubern wolle. Mit einem leichten Grinsen fragte er uns schließ
lich: „Hat jemand von euch einen Hasen, den ich benutzen kann?“ Wie
wir über diese zum richtigen Zeitpunkt gestellte Frage lachten! Nachdem
er sich umgeschaut hatte, zog er seinen Gürtel ab, hielt ihn hoch und
teilte uns mit, dass er nun den Schlange-im-Hut-Trick vorführen werde.
Wir klatschten. Er zögerte kurz und setzte dann seine Show fort. Er rief
laut: „Hier ist ein Hut! Und nun werde ich eine Schlange herausziehen!“
„Und nun werde ich einen Kartentrick vorführen!“, rief Manuel
und nahm einen Stapel Zeitungen und Zeitschriften. „Jaaaaa!“, jubelten
wir ihm zu und er begann, an jedem von uns vorbeizugehen und uns
aufzufordern: „Nimm eine Karte vom Stapel“. Nachdem alle Zeit
schriften verteilt worden waren, ging er noch einmal einen jeden
von uns ab. Er öffnete jede Zeitschrift und teilte uns unseren Preis
mit. Ich gewann eine Reise nach New York (Das ist der halbe Weg
nach Hause!, dachte ich), während andere eine Gratisreise zu so entlege
nen Orten wie „Jena!“ oder „Burger King!“ gewannen. Ein Pechvogel
unter uns gewann gar nichts. Immer wieder wurde er von Manuel mit
„Niete!“ beglückwünscht, wenn er die Zeitschrift öffnete, und die
ser Zuschauer beugte sich zu mir rüber und fragte: „Was habe ich ihm
getan?“
Schließlich begannen wir alle den Stachel zu spüren, der sich ein
bohrte, wenn wir keinen Preis gewannen. Bei der zehnten Runde
des großen Kartentricks waren wir müde davon, herauszufinden, wen
Manuel genug mochte, um ihn ins Ausland zu schicken und wem er
immer wieder Nieten zuteilte. So entschieden wir uns, die Zaubershow
zu beenden und uns anderem zu widmen.
Erkundungen
169
Exhaust it on
Gabriela Tarcha
T
he performance took place throughout the streets of Weimar,
surprising and challenging the passer-by to question the boundaries
of public behavior, dance and physical space. Widening the field/horizon
of the possible with movements that are not directly identifiable as
dance but mixed with lots of in-between moments. Often these are things
that are simply displaced, that anyone has done or could do (like
crawling, walking with both arms wide open, etc.), but maybe does not
or at least not right there in public space.
D
ie Performance fand in den Straßen Weimars statt. Sie überraschte
die Passanten und forderte sie heraus, die Grenzen von angemessenem
Verhalten in der Öffentlichkeit, Tanz und Raum zu hinterfragen. Den
Horizont des Möglichen durch Bewegungen erweitern, die nicht direkt
als Tanz zu identifizieren, sondern mit vielen
Momenten dazwischen vermischt sind.
Oft sind es Dinge, die einfach deplatziert sind,
die jeder schon getan hat oder tun könnte
(kriechen, mit weit nach oben gestreckten
Armen umherlaufen, usw.), aber die man
nicht tut, zumindest nicht in der Öffentlich
keit.
Exchange
Austausch
KoCA Inn was a trade zone of
goods, skills and knowledge, of
stories and cultures, of modes
of being and ways of doing.
Some of these exchanges
were part of the everyday and
others intended to test out
alternative approaches to the
challenges of consumer
society and social isolation.
KoCA Inn war eine Handelszone
für Waren, Fähigkeiten und
Wissen, für Geschichten und
Kulturen, für Lebens- und Handelsweisen. Einige dieser
(Aus-)Tausche waren Teil
des Alltags, andere sollten alter
nativen Herangehensweisen
an die Herausforderungen der Konsumgesellschaft und
an gesellschaftliche Isolation
testen.
Coffee Kaffee
I
t was the morning after the opening and we were improvising our first
breakfast. Three ladies walked by and I offered them coffee, but it
was not enough for everyone. “Oh, sorry, we also have juice, would you
like some instead? Coffee is on its way”. They laughed and we sat down
for our first chat. They told me how this place used to be during the GDR
times, them coming here often to buy fish and newspapers. There used
to always be a queue for fish at this very place where we now had our
breakfast table. Not much later that morning, one of the ladies brought us
apples, organic fair-trade coffee, bottles of water and a large loaf of bread!
A
m Morgen nach der Eröffnung improvisieten wir gerade unser erstes
Frühstück als drei Frauen vorbeiliefen. Ich bot ihnen Kaffee an,
aber es reichte nicht für uns alle. „Oh, Entschuldigung. Aber wir haben
etwas Saft, wollen sie den stattdessen? Der Kaffee kommt gleich.“ Sie
lachten und wir setzten uns für unseren ersten Plausch. Sie erzählten mir,
wie der Ort zu DDR-Zeiten gewesen sei, wie oft sie herkamen, um
Fisch und Zeitung zu kaufen. Für den Fisch stand man Schlange, genau
an dem Ort, an dem wir nun zum Frühstück saßen. Eine der Damen
kam im Laufe des Morgens nochmal vorbei um uns Äpfel, Fair-TradeKaffee, Wasserflaschen und eine großes Brot zu bringen!
174
Exchange
Coffee is the one thing we never lack, the
Kaffee ist die Sache die uns nie fehlt, die
one thing we offer to everyone, and our
wir jedem anbieten, die wichtigste Zutat,
key ingredient for starting conversation,
um Unterhaltungen zu initiieren und Leute
inviting people to feel home...
einzuladen, sich zu Hause zu fühlen …
Austausch
175
M
any people never having met before, all of the sudden sat together,
having coffee, chatting about this and that, laughing and enjoying the
sun shine.
L
auter Leute, die sich noch nie zuvor im Leben begegnet waren, saßen
mit einem Mal zusammen am Kaffeetisch, unterhielten sich über
dieses und jenes, lachten und genossen den Sonnenschein.
“Many thanks for the delicious coffee, the
waffle, and the nice conversations with
you! I wish for many more of such great
ideas! We wish you many more guests and
lots of fun.”
"If the coffee is not only strong, but also
hot, this will become my favorite local
café!
2 tourists from Leipzig"
“Thanks for the coffee and I wish you
many more good encounters!”
Austausch
177
Flea Market Flohmarkt
5€!
T
he kiosk became an on-going flea market, where for a very modest
amount one could find all kinds of books, LPs, bags, shoes, small
benches and a big sofa, tables, pictures, lamps, suitcases, cups, thermo
bottles, vases and a variety of left-over curiosities of GDR times – selected
from the Weimarer Tafel or brought in by participants and visitors.
F
lohmarkt wurde zu einem Dauerzustand am Kiosk. Zu sehr geringen
Preisen konnte man alle möglichen Bücher, LPs, Taschen, Schuhe,
kleine Bänke und ein großes Sofa, Tische, Bilder, Lampen, Koffer, Tassen,
Thermoskannen, Vasen und eine Menge weiterer Kuriositäten und
Relikte aus DDR-Zeiten finden, die von der Weimarer Tafel, Teilnehmern
und Gästen ausgewählt wurden.
10€!
1€!
3€!
2€!
5€!
2€!
Clothes exchange Kleiderwechsel
Franziska stübgen
T
his project was at almost no cost: It was made possible by people’s
mere participation and their donations. The day before, small
teasers made of toilet-paper and self-composed stamps were distributed
in Weimar. Franz brought the “start up” clothes, and we provided a
clothesline and pins. People donated clothes they did not want anymore
or exchanged them for as many others as they liked. Others only took
things. Nana was very surprised and happy when she was told she could
simply take the blue gym trousers hanging there on her way home. She
and her father Olaf used to come often to the kiosk after he had bought
(but not taken) the curtain of KoCA Inn’s living room. He had decided
to leave it hanging until the project was over.
D
ieses Projekt funktionierte fast ohne Kosten: es entstand durch die
bloße Teilnahme und Spende von Interessierten. Einen Tag vor der
Aktion wurden Einladungen aus Toilettenpapier, bedruckt mit selbst
gebastelten Stempeln, in Weimar verteilt. Franz brachte die ersten „Start“Kleider mit und wir steuerten eine Wäscheleine und Wäscheklammern
bei. Interessierte gaben Kleidungsstücke ab, die sie nicht mehr wollten,
oder tauschten sie gegen andere, die sie interessant fanden. Andere
nahmen einfach nur mit. Nana war sehr überrascht und glücklich als sie
erfuhr, dass sie die blaue Gymnastikhose, die auf ihrem Weg nach
Hause hing, einfach mitnehmen konnte. Sie und ihr Vater Olaf kamen
oft zum Kiosk, nachdem er den Vorhang des KoCA Inn Wohnzimmers
gekauft (aber nicht mitgenommen) hatte. Er hatte sich entschieden, ihn
bis zum Ende des Projekts hängen zu lassen.
Austausch
181
“With pleasure I used your adorable
KoCA Inn-intersection-kiosk to hang the
second-hand clothes in public space.
Passers-by and guests were invited to
take something and/or leave some clothes
themselves. Many people participated,
enjoyed their new things, hung something
themselves and thus started up
conversations (of course, the coffee was
also conducive).
I also have to mention the huge help I
received to fix my broken bike. I can ride
home tonight.Furthermore dressed
with my new pullover and invigorated by
the delicious food and a short nap in
the hammock, I can now start my travel
to Halle.
It was wonderful here!
Many thanks, Franz”
182
Exchange
Austausch
183
Data Picnic Daten Picknick
eins 78 & BERND NAUMANN (Maschinenraum)
Trade your files through a wireless
network or exchange them for a Brazilian
“hand-made” CD. A pirating experiment,
discussing from open-source philosophy
to economic survival strategies.
Tausche deine Dateien durch ein drahtloses Netzwerk oder gegen eine “handgemachte“ brasilianische CD.
Ein Piraten-Experiment, das von einer
Open-Source-Philosophie, bishin zu
Überlebensstrategien diskutiert.
Without Internet but with hammocks
It seemed like a typical Saturday afternoon. I overslept and after my
routine of a cigarette and a much too strong coffee, I packed Princess
(computer) and my harddrive. I went to the Maschinenraum*, only this
time just to grab some Cat-5 wires and head on in the direction of
the kiosk. The Mate tea I had already taken from home. Yes, almost
everything as usual, only that things were going to take their own turn
today. I was still one hour earlier as everyone else when I arrived at
the kiosk and was given some coffee; I had my fifth cigarette on an empty
stomach that day. At some stage my stomach will thank me for it. It was
still the same as usual. I hooked up Princess with my data-archive, opened
the network and the Data Picnic began. On this Saturday afternoon we
met to exchange data. Yes, I know, it is still a typical Saturday. But the
setting was a very idyllically designed place in Weimar, with real people to
engage with.
For a Data Picnic not only existing of data. There was also some
cooking going on and we made ourselves comfortable, watching the
progress curves grow. Since for most people this isn't a relevant value of
information, time was passed with conversations, playing roulette,
and dancing until late into the night. The Brazilian mash-up was replaced
by minimal sounds in the later hours, and the looks of passers-by became
increasingly puzzeled. Dipping in and out of the spotlight of the cars
passing the intersection, we danced and celebrated the day together. The
setting for this was the KoCA Inn. A (free) living space was created there.
We experienced ourselves and our city, work, and life. Surrounded by
otherwise square GDR furniture and contemporary art, we showed more
or less artistically our vision of life. Of course, it was art. But people
here acted so playfully, almost infantile, that to many it gave the impression
of just being art and not the actively lived utopia of an ordinary and yet
quite perfect Saturday afternoon, because people cannot understand that
something like this is possible in the center of Weimar. Irritated by this
fact, many people passed, yet the few interested ones joining us in sharing
this experience forgot their meticulously planned day in the midst of
spontaneity.
Austausch
185
Ohne Internet aber mit
Hängematten
Es war eigentlich ein ganz normaler
Samstagnachmittag. Ich hatte verschlafen und
nach meinem standardisierten Frühstück
von einer Zigarette und einem viel zu starken
Kaffee packte ich Princess (Rechner) und
meine Festplatte. Ich ging in den Maschinenraum*, diesmal aber nur, um Cat-5- Kabel
zu holen und mich in Richtung Kiosk zu
begeben. Mit Mate hatte ich mich bereits zu
Hause eingedeckt. Ja, fast wie sonst auch,
aber es sollte doch irgendwie alles ganz
anderes werden.Ich war immer noch fast eine Stunde pünktlicher als der
Rest, als ich am Kiosk ankam und mir ein Kaffee hingestellt wurde.
Dazu rauchte ich die bereits fünfte Zigarette auf nüchternen Magen. Er
wird sich sicherlich eines Tages dafür bedanken.Es war immer noch
wie sonst auch. Ich verkabelte Princess mit meinem Datenarchiv, setzte
das Netzwerk auf, und das Daten Picknick begann. Man traf sich an
diesem Samstagnachmittag zum Datentauschen. Ja, ich weiß, es ist ein
immer noch so gewöhnlicher Samstag. Doch der Rahmen war diesmal
ein sehr idyllisch gestalteter Fleck in Weimar, mit Menschen auch
zum Anfassen.
Damit das Daten Picknick nicht nur aus Daten bestand, wurde
auch gekocht und man machte es sich gemütlich und sah (eigentlich wie
sonst auch) den Fortschrittsbalken beim Wachsen zu. Da so etwas für
viele Menschen aber auf Dauer keinen hohen Mehrwert an Information
bedeutet, vertrieb man sich die Zeit mit Gesprächen, Roulette spielen
und Tanzen, bis spät in die Nacht hinein. Brasilianische Mash-Ups wurden zur späteren Stunden von minimalistischeren Klängen abgelöst und
186
Exchange
die Blicke der vorbeigehenden Passanten immer verwunderlicher. In
Scheinwerferlicht der an der Ampelkreuzung wartenden Autos getaucht
tanzte und feierte man gemeinsam den Tag. Der Rahmen dafür war
das KoCA Inn. Dort entstand ein Lebens(frei)raum. Man lebte sich und
seine Stadt, seine Arbeit und sein Leben. Umhüllt von ansonsten spießigen DDR-Möbeln und zeitgenössischer Kunst zeigte man mehr oder
weniger künstlerisch seine Vorstellung vom Leben. Natürlich war es
Kunst, doch die Menschen hier gingen so verspielt, ja fast schon infantil
damit um, dass es für viele den Eindruck erweckt hat, es sei nur Kunst
und nicht eine aktiv gelebte Utopie von einem ganz gewöhnlichen und
doch so perfekten Samstagnachmittag, weil sie es nicht verstehen
konnten, dass so etwas mitten in Weimar möglich ist. Irritiert über diesen
Fakt gingen viele vorbei und doch verschlug es einige wenige Inter
essierte zu uns, um dieses Erlebnis zu teilen und sie vergaßen in ihrer
Spontaneität ihren akribisch verplanten Tag.
* is an open hackspace for people
* ist ein offener Hackspace für Menschen,
who interact in a creative way with their
die kreativ mit ihrer Umwelt interagieren.
environment. Our philosphy about
Unsere Philosophie vom „Hacken“ reicht
“hacking” includes soft- and hardware,
von Soft- und Hardware, Netzwerken
networking, art & culture and politcs
über Kunst und Kultur, bis hin zu Politik
and philosophy, too. The space is open
und Philosophie. Der Raum steht jedem
for all interested people and has
interessierten Menschen offen und ist
no command structure (grassroots
in sich hierarchiefrei (basisdemokratisch)
democracy) and is autonomous.
und unabhängig organisiert.
http://maschinenraum.tk/
http://maschinenraum.tk/
Austausch
187
TrocAção
UrbanDE: Aline Porto Lira, Cacá Fonseca, Clara Pignaton, Diego Ribeiro,
Eduardo Rocha, Ícaro Vilaça, Pedro Dultra Britto
A
s a central part of the collaborative urban research,
the Brazilian group UrbanDE developed a set
of actions for Weimar. Referring to the “daily trade”
present in the informal market atmosphere of
Salvador’s streets, objects from Feira de São Joaquim
were brought to Weimar and used as interfaces for
exchange. Embodying the figure of the mobile street
vendor, the group perambulated through Weimar
searching for contact with passers-by and inhabitants.
The following pages register the difficulties and
the rewarding moments that the group went through
while experimenting with intercultural forms of
communication.
games
A
ls ein Schwerpunkt der gemeinsamen städtischen
Forschung entwickelte die brasilianische Gruppe
UrbanDE eine Reihe von Aktionen für Weimar. Bezugnehmend auf den “täglichen Handel”, der als informelle Marktatmosphäre in Salvadors Straßen präsent
ist, wurden Objekte von der Feira de São Joaquim
nach Weimar gebracht, die in Weimar zur Schnittstelle
für Austausch wurden. Die Figur des mobilen Straßenverkäufers aufgreifend, zog die Gruppe auf der Suche
nach Kontakt zu Passanten und Einwohnern durch
Weimar. Die folgenden Seiten erfassen die Schwierigkeiten und die lohnenden Momente, die die Gruppe
beim Experimentieren mit interkulturellen Kommunikationsformen durchlebte.
baleiro
how
s
ic
vodu
bus displacement Schondorf
g
ma
TREE-house
swimming pool
DIAGRAMA: TROCAÇÃO
188
Exchange
TrocAção
189
Bus Ônibus
T
*Baleiro is an informal
walking street’s seller
who usually carries on
his body a tray with
candies to be sold, a
practice very common
in Salvador. In this text
the expression “baleiro”
is used to designate this
mobility object and the
person who dresses it.
** Brazilian musical
instrument, specially
used in capoeira, samba,
and other popular
expressions
190
Exchange
he experience of occupying the KoCA Inn corner was extended by the
action of walking into other spaces of the city with a mobile street
vendor device called Baleiro*. The Baleiro was a tool created to transmit
the sense of itinerant exchange with reference to the street vendor’s
mobility and his use of an everyday device so common in the city of
Salvador. The small market box made of soft wood and covered in a floral
textile directly relates to the cliché of Brazilian aesthetics. The box is
fixed to the body with straps and is supported by resting it on the belly.
The device is filled with guides, statuettes, coconut and guava sweets,
candies, ambience smokers, caxixis**. Passers-by are invited to exchange
a personal object for one of their choice from the Baleiro. Clear
and sensitive distinctions between the approximation-communicationexchange with the people from Weimar were experienced between
the KoCA Inn corner, the nearest bus stop, the actual bus and the Schön
dorf neighborhood, the bus’s final destination.
The departure was from a noisy square full of tourists amidst fruit
and bratwurst stalls, milling through Goethe's and Schiller’s historic
center, to the increasing silence of the peripheral neighborhood. In the
bus, some subtle facial expressions of rejection were revealed through
the constant evasion of glances. They do not want to exchange, to
intercept the other, the unknown. Even more when this unknown person
carries equipment on their body, does not know the language, does
not fit in the corridor between the seats and doesn’t announce that the
action is an artistic proposal. The Baleiro announced “Ihh Touschen”
(Ich tauschen in proper German for “I exchange”)with a timid tone and
mistaken accent. Several times the phrase was not understood and
the negation of the visual contact did not give the possibility for another
attempt in communication. The action lost its force and the Baleiro,
without the impetus of the exchange announcement, held his hands
disconcerted on the bus railing and sat down. He noticed he was being
observed, but the ladies quickly withdrew their impression of interest
by shaking their heads in disapproval. When leaving the kiosk’s corner,
the Baleiro is confronted with other situations of the approach-
A
* A expressão
“baleiro” é aqui usada
para designar tanto
o equipamento de
mobilidade quanto a
experiência de ocupar a esquina do KoCA Inn desdobrou-se na ação
de caminhar em outros espaços na cidade com o Baleiro*. O Baleiro
foi o dispositivo criado para realizar o sentido das trocas ambulantes,
referenciando aos equipamentos de mobilidade de uso cotidiano na
cidade de Salvador por vendedores-ambulantes. Uma pequena caixa de
feira de madeira macia, coberta com um tecido floral associado a um
clichê da estética brasileira. A caixa é instalada no corpo por uma alça, fica
apoiada à barriga e é preenchida por guias, estatuetas, cocada, goiabada,
balas, defumadores, caxixis. Os passantes são convidados a trocar um
objeto pessoal por um objeto à sua escolha disponível no Baleiro. Nítidas
e sensíveis distinções entre a aproximação-comunicação-troca com as
pessoas de Weimar foram vivenciadas entre a esquina KoCA Inn, o ponto de
ônibus, o próprio ônibus e destino final: o bairro Schöndorf.
Da partida de uma ruidosa praça cheia de turistas e moradores
atentos às barracas de frutas e de Bratwurst, a movimentação do centro
histórico de Goethe e Schiller, num silêncio crescente até o bairro de
periferia. No ônibus, algumas sutis expressões faciais de rejeição, reveladas
no desvio constante de olhares, que não querem se cruzar, interceptar o
outro, o desconhecido. Ainda mais quando este desconhecido porta um
equipamento no corpo, desconhece a língua, não cabe no corredor entre
os assentos e não anuncia que se trata de uma proposta artística. O
Baleiro anunciava “Ihh Touschen” ( “Eu troco”, em alemão correto: Ich
tauschen) num sotaque tímido com acentos equivocados. A frase muitas
vezes não era entendida e como a negação do contato visual não dava a
pessoa que o veste.
TrocAção
191
communication-experience interaction: the difficulty of making contact,
and of facilitating the meetings and the exchange proposals. Would
the Weimarers be used to moments of displacement like these in their daily
lives? Even outside of their tourist center and immense park? The Baleiro
didn’t even arouse a sense of strangeness, only indifference.
In Schöndorf, the empty streets reduced the possibility for public
interactions. The Baleiro opted for another approach: to knock at people’s
doors or intercept those who were working in the gardens of their homes.
Again the refusal and the direct answer:
“I’m not interested”. As this strategy was
appearing ineffective, the Baleiro elaborated
an argument to highlight his intentions of
making cultural exchanges. He composed
an English speech, which revealed the origin
of the objects for trade and communicated
the idea of bringing things back from
Weimar to create a memory of the trip. The
Baleiro dressed himself with this excited
announcement text to capture the residents in a longer chat and convince
them to accept the proposal of an unexpected break in their routines.
The sense of exchange was accomplished in two scattered situations
between many dismissive looks and little receptivity. A young woman,
who did not live in the neighborhood, but was there carrying out a
delivery threw an interested look at the Baleiro and decided to exchange
a yogurt for a red necklace. A man, who received the Baleiro in his
garden, exchanged a Weimar guidebook published in the GDR times.
In this garden the Baleiro tasted some red currants and took a deep
breath to take the bus back. This was the right moment to divest himself
of the device, stop announcing the exchange and return to the KoCA Inn,
ready to reconsider his perception of Weimar from the situation of the
island-corner.
192
Exchange
abertura para outra tentativa de comunicação, a ação foi perdendo sua
potência e o Baleiro desconcertado senta-se. Percebe que é observado por
algumas senhoras, que logo tratam de desfazer a impressão do interesse,
balançando negativamente a cabeça. Ao sair da esquina do quiosque, o
Baleiro depara-se com outras explicitações da interação aproximaçãocomunicação-vivência: a dificuldade do contato, da realização do encontro
e da proposição de uma troca. Estariam os weimarianos habituados à
momentos como esses em seus cotidianos? Mesmo fora de seu visitado
centro e imenso parque? Soube-se de festas
que já fecharam ruas, cabines que ocuparam
calçadas, mas o Baleiro não despertou nem
mesmo estranheza, apenas desinteresse.
No bairro Schöndorf, as ruas vazias reduziam as interações pelo encontro ao caminhar.
Optou-se por outra estratégia de aproximação,
bater nas portas ou interceptar as pessoas
que trabalhavam nos jardins de suas casas.
Novamente a recusa, a resposta direta “I’m not
interested”. A estratégia de bater na porta se revelava ineficiente e o
Baleiro, na companhia de Catherine, elaborou um argumento relativo às
trocas culturais, revelando a procedência dos objetos e a idéia do grupo
levar coisas de Weimar para a construção de uma memória da viagem.
O Baleiro vestiu-se de um discurso excitado de anúncio no ônibus, chegando à um papo mais demorado para conquistar os moradores do bairro
e convencê-los de aceitar a proposta de uma inusitada brecha nas suas
rotinas. O sentido da troca realizou-se em duas situações dispersas entre
inúmeros desencontros de olhares e pouca receptividade. Uma mulher
jovem, que não morava no bairro, encontrava-se ali por trabalhar como
entregadora. Lançou um olhar interessado para o Baleiro e decidiu trocar
um pote de iogurte por uma guia vermelha. Um homem que recebeu
o Baleiro em seu jardim, deu em troca um livro sobre Weimar no período
da RDA. Ali, o Baleiro provou algumas groselhas e respirou fundo para
tomar o ônibus de volta, momento em que desvinculou-se do dispositivo,
não anunciou a troca e retornou ao KoCA Inn, pronto para reconsiderar
suas percepções de Weimar, diante da situação da esquina-ilha.
TrocAção
193
Pool Piscina
T
he Baleiro device was installed on a small stool of about 30 cm height
and was placed next to us. Some boys approached curiously and
within a few minutes the device was surrounded by other children, as if
it were a toy. The sense of a walking vendor was temporarily lost and
the device was redefined as a toy filled with other toys: dolls, sweets, and
necklaces. Children in countless numbers approached. The group
of boys was soon discouraged by the many girls who came and were less
inhibited, agreeing to play for some small colorful pieces. In order to
make the rules of this momentary game – the exchange of objects –
understandable, a friend took charge of the communication between
the Baleiro and the children. They seemed very interested, but had
few options for exchange. In the face of this, the Baleiro created new
possibilities, offering to exchange some objects for singing songs.
The girls began to sing immediately, but the boys were inhibited by their
euphoria. Many exchanges took place. The girls and boys were going
and coming with objects brought from the bags of their families: snacks,
fruits and small personal objects, such as bracelets and earrings.
Suddenly, the rule of the game began to lose strength, since it seemed
that anything could be valid for exchange, from stones to garbage.
At this moment, the Baleiro re-established the rules, and some more
exchanges occurred while others were lost. The unexpected relationship
with children was not exclusive to the swimming pool episode, but
was also present in the daily experience at the KoCA Inn through a powerful
connection with the affections and the difference provoked by them.
The game makes and remakes the cartography of this relation-space. An
amusement park was created from the viewpoint of the small heights
of their so varied ages: six, eight, four... ten. A park, its levels, its staircases,
small holes, colorful, high and low surfaces, passages between planes
that the eye doesn’t solve at first glance. It’s necessary to enter, to climb
and to take a risk in this thing that someone recognized as a tree house.
194
Exchange
O
Baleiro foi instalado sobre um banquinho de 30 cm de altura ao nosso
lado. Alguns meninos aproximaram-se curiosos e este episódio deixou
o dispositivo em poucos minutos cercado de outras crianças, como se
fosse um brinquedo. Suas cores no entorno da piscina perdiam o sentido
de “vendedor ambulante” e definiam-se como um brinquedo preenchido
de pequenos outros brinquedos: bonecas, doces, colares. Ali, só as
crianças se aproximaram e foram inúmeras. O grupo de meninos foi logo
desencorajado por muitas meninas que chegaram desinibidas topando
qualquer coisa pelas pequenas peças coloridas. Um amigo realizou a
comunicação entre o Baleiro e as crianças, para tornar compreensíveis
as regras implicadas neste brinquedo temporário. Quando criamos a
possibilidade de trocar objetos por músicas, as meninas começaram a
cantar imediatamente, mas os meninos foram inibidos por essa euforia.
Inúmeras trocas aconteceram, meninas e meninos iam e vinham com
objetos trazidos das bolsas de suas famílias, lanches, frutas, pequenos
objetos pessoais, pulseiras, brincos. O jogo começou a perder potência,
pois tudo parecia ter valor de troca, até pedras e coisas do lixo. O Baleiro
recolocou as regras, mais algumas trocas se deram e outras se perderam. O
inesperado na relação com as crianças surgiu não apenas na piscina, mas
no cotidiano do KoCA Inn: uma potente conexão com os afetos e diferenças
provocados por elas. O parque de diversões foi criado pelo olhar da altura
pequena das suas tão variadas idades: seis, oito, quatro... dez: um parque,
níveis, escadas, frestas, superfícies coloridas, altas e baixas, passagens entre
planos que a vista não desvenda de uma só vez. É preciso entrar, subir,
arriscar-se naquilo que alguns reconheceram como uma casa da árvore.
TrocAção
195
Voodoo Vodu
I
n the University's canteen, the lady at the coffee shop left her place and
came closer to us, attracted by the strange object. She apologized
for her difficulties of speaking in English and showed her interest very
directly: “What is that?” It was explained to her that it was a cultural
exchange device, and that if she was interested in something, she could
bring some object of her own and we would make an exchange. She
returned with a small white porcelain object, with a Ginkgo-Biloba leaf
painted on it, and told us that she already knew which object she would
exchange it for: a voodoo doll. She would send it through a friend to
an adoptive child in Africa. She explained to the group that she was a
member of a welfare program for poor children in Africa and that she had
adopted a “daughter”, who she supported financially and kept in contact
with regularly. It was known to the Brazilian group that this doll is directly
related to an African culture ritual that considers the doll as the body
of a person who is to be affected when it is pricked with needles. This
situation made the group apprehensive: how would the “African
daughter” receive such a present? This question destabilized the group.
The “mother” was enchanted by the puppet and some attempts were
made to convince her to take another object, but without success. In this
moment, in spite of being distressed, the group realized that the cultural
exchange that was expected from the Baleiro was really happening
and that it was necessary to admit the conflicts that were a part of the
process. To experience it meant also to take this risk.
196
Exchange
N
o refeitório da Universidade, a senhora que serve café abandonou
seu posto de trabalho e foi até onde estávamos, atraída pelo objeto
estranho. Pediu desculpas por ter dificuldades para falar inglês , mas
expressou claramente o seu interesse: “o que é isso?” Explicamos que era
um dispositivo de trocas culturais e que, caso ela se interessasse por algo,
era só trazer algum objeto seu que trocaríamos pelo que ela desejasse.
Ela retornou com um pequeno objeto de porcelana branca, pintado com
uma folha de Gingko-Biloba, e nos disse que já sabia com qual objeto
do Baleiro realizaria a troca: um boneco de vudu. Pedimos para que ela
escolhesse qual queria e ela nos contou o que faria com o objeto trocado:
iria enviá-lo por uma amiga à sua “filha adotiva” na África. Nos explicou
que era membro de um programa de assistência à crianças pobres e que
havia adotado essa “filha” com quem se comunicava sempre, além de
ajudar financeiramente. Como sabíamos que aquele boneco relaciona-se
diretamente com um ritual da cultura africana – onde o boneco representa o corpo de uma pessoa que se quer afetar, sendo espatado com
agulhas – ficamos super apreensivos: como receberia aquele presente
sua “filha africana”? Essa pergunta nos desestabilizava, a “mãe” estava
encantada com o boneco, tentamos convencê-la a levar um outro objeto,
sem sucesso. Neste momento, apesar de angustiados, percebemos que a
troca cultural que buscávamos realizar com o Baleiro pelas ruas de Weimar
realmente estava acontecendo e que era preciso admitir os conflitos que
aconteciam como parte do processo. Experiencia-lo era pôr-se em risco.
TrocAção
197
the gambler
loses his bet to the
Roulette Roleta
P
rocess: Roulette is a game of chance and it was an action planned
by us, UrbanDE, as a strategy to promote other exchanges, combining
bets and draws, unpredictability and surprise. An exchange between
several participants and, at the same time, involving emotion and action.
During the preparation we had a dilemma, as defining the type of board
would define the game’s functioning and the rules of participation.
Construction: For building a revolving surface - perhaps circular
– we paid attention to the available objects, things like an old bicycle
wheel. The solution appeared when a couple brought two pieces of
furniture to donate: a great armchair and a footstool... revolving! It was a
rectangular footstool, 50 cm high, quilted, covered with a light beige
and brown cloth printed with flowers, and fixed on a metal axle. It was
stable and able to realize a sufficiently quick rotation. On the cloth
three lines were embroidered with different colors and directions, arrows
pointing to the houses of the board, which was made from two mats
of straw. This board was divided into six symmetrical fields using colored
tape. For two days the Roulette was being built on the sidewalk and
it’s making - embroidering, sticking and experimenting - occupied part of
the space for pedestrians and cyclists. The Roulette Night was publicized
in the calendar and on the green board. Outside of the kiosk, some
pamphlets were distributed in Hotel Miranda, at the bus, and during
the Baleiro’s wanderings - also in Weimar West. A small add was
published in the local newspaper.
Rules: Brazilian objects were put in each one of the six fields. Each
player would bet his objects by putting them in a field where an object of
their interest had been placed. The game was played like this several
times, creating great anticipation for the final round, in which the final
prize, a hammock, could only be won by one person.
Game: At the time scheduled for the beginning of the game, people
were scattered around the kiosk, exchanging music and movies, preparing
198
Exchange
group UrbanDE
the gambler wins
the Brazilian object
and keeps his bet
both objects are
exchanged: the group
gets the gambler’s bet
and the gambler wins
the Brazilian object
P
rocesso: Roleta é um jogo de sorte e azar e foi uma ação planejada
pelo nosso grupo UrbanDE como estratégia para promover outras
trocas, combinando aposta e sorteio, imprevisibilidade e surpresa. Uma
troca entre vários participantes envolvendo, ao mesmo tempo, emoção e
ação. Na preparação ficamos num impasse, pois definir o tipo de tabuleiro
definiria o funcionamento e as regras de participação no jogo.
Construção: Para construir uma superfície giratória - talvez circular
– estávamos atentos aos objetos disponíveis, coisas como a roda velha
de uma bicicleta. A solução ocorreu quando um casal trouxe dois móveis
para doar: uma poltrona e um banco de apoio para os pés... giratório!
Era um banquinho retangular, com 50 cm de altura, acolchoado, revestido
com um tecido bege claro e marrom estampado com flores, fixado sobre
um eixo metálico. Era estável e girava rápido o suficiente. Sobre o tecido
foram bordadas três linhas com cores e sentidos diferentes, setas que
apontavam para as casas de um grande tabuleiro feito com duas esteiras
de palha. Este tabuleiro foi dividido com adesivos coloridos em seis casas
simétricas. Por dois dias a Roleta foi sendo construída na calçada da rua
e durante o seu fazer, bordar, colar e experimentar ocupou um trecho do
TrocAção
199
Sleeping Schlafen
200
Exchange
percurso de pedestres e ciclistas. A Noite da Roleta foi divulgada na lousa
do calendário e no quadro-placa, foram distribuídos panfletos no Hotel
Miranda, no ônibus, pelas andanças do Baleiro na cidade e no bairro Weimar West. Ainda um pequeno anúncio foi publicado num jornal local.
Regras: Objetos brasileiros eram colocados em cada uma das seis
casas e cada jogador apostaria os seus objetos colocando o mesmo numa
casa do tabuleiro onde tivesse algo do seu interesse. O jogo aconteceu
assim várias vezes, criando expectativa para a rodada final, na qual o prêmio era uma rede que apenas uma pessoa poderia ganhar.
Jogo: No horário previsto para o início do jogo as pessoas estavam
dispersas pelo quiosque, trocando de arquivos de músicas e filmes,
preparando comida, descansando nas redes, conversando, jogando xadrez
ou recolhidas nos andaimes-mezaninos. Toda preparação da Noite
da Roleta e o desejo de trocas deixou o grupo UrbanDE numa grande
expectativa, pensamos que não haveria interesse pelo jogo que ia começar.
Porém apareceram duas pessoas com sacolas de objetos e iniciamos
as apostas, gerando um movimento que mobilizou todos os presentes e
muita gente resolveu improvisar para participar.
Improviso: Brinco, agenda usada, casaco, cartão de saúde vencido
e lenço foram alguns dos objetos apostados pelas pessoas que resolveram
participar de improviso. Dentre os objetos trazidos especificamente para
o jogo havia uma chaleira na forma de uma tartaruga, cachecol, caneta,
catálogo de exposição de arte. Durante o jogo ocorreram pequenos
conflitos e situações inesperadas, como a discordância do sentido e valor
de certas apostas: algumas vezes mais de um jogador queria apostar no
mesmo objeto e casa, tendo que decidir entre eles quem teria a primazia;
um jogador alemão tentou apostar balas e foi reprimido pela maioria dos
outros jogadores; um português apostou uma jaqueta encontrada na
rua e ganhou seguidas vezes grandes prêmios sem perder seu objeto – até
que finalmente, sob grande expectativa e torcida, perdeu seu “casaquinho
da sorte”; um jogador cubano participou duas rodadas com seu cartão
de seguro saúde vencido e acabou ganhando uma sacola colorida; uma
brasileira que havia trazido diversos objetos apostou seguidas vezes
tentando obter a mesma sacola e perdeu todas até modificar a estratégia
e apostar em outro prêmio. O improviso também modificou padrões e
TrocAção
201
food, resting on the hammocks, talking, playing chess, or
gathering in the two scaffolding-mezzanines. The
preparations for the Roulette Night and the wish for
exchanging had built up great expectations in the
Brazilian group. For a moment it seemed that nobody
would be interested in the game that was about to
begin. However, two people showed up with bags of
objects for exchange, so we began the bets. This
created a movement that engaged all the people around,
who then decided to improvise and participate.
Improvisation: Earrings, a worn-out diary, a coat,
an expired health insurance card and a handkerchief
were some of the improvised objects people bet with. Among the objects
brought specifically for the game, there was a kettle in the form of
a turtle, a scarf, a pen, a catalogue of an art exhibition. While we were
playing, small conflicts and unexpected situations occurred, like
disagreements about the value of certain bets. Sometimes, more than one
player wanted to bet on the same object and field, and the group
had to decide between them who would have the priority; a German
player tried to bet candies and was held back by most of the other
players; a Portuguese bet a jacket that he had found on the street and
won various big prizes without losing his object – up to when finally,
under great anticipation and cheering, he lost his “lucky coat”; a Cuban
player bet his expired health insurance card for two rounds and ended
up winning a colorful bag; a Brazilian, who had brought several objects,
bet several times on the same bag and lost everything, until she changed
the strategy, betting on another prize. Improvisation also modified
the patterns and rules of the game, when a Brazilian sat on the footstool
during the round, revolving together with the roulette; or when a
Brazilian started the “Roulette Dance”, leading the players through a
dance around the board: at a sign players had to quickly place their
objects on the board. Finally for the final round, the two players that had
survived two rounds of elimination disputed the hammock. The
objects that were lost to the roulette were brought to Brazil and are
further possibilities for good or bad luck.
regras ao longo do jogo, quando um brasileiro resolveu
sentar no banquinho durante a rodada, girando juntamente com a roleta; ou quando foi instituída a “Dança da
Roleta”, na qual uma brasileira comandava os jogadores
em uma dança circular em torno do tabuleiro até emitir
um sinal de interrupção quando os jogadores tinham
que colocar rapidamente seus objetos no tabuleiro. Para
a rodada final, os apostadores foram selecionados e eliminados ao longo de duas rodadas, até sobrarem apenas
dois para disputar a rede. Os objetos que adquirimos
neste jogo foram trazidos para o Brasil e constituem
outras possibilidades para o azar e a sorte.
Cosme e Damião, Iemanjá and Iansã with their new Porcelain Doll friend traveling through
Weimar’s tourist book (in a nostalgic moment after their return to Salvador).
Cosme e Damião, Iemanjá e Iansã com sua nova amiga Boneca de Porcelana viajando
por um livro turístico de Weimar (num momento nostálgico após seu retorno à Salvador).
202
Exchange
TrocAção
203
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An “elegant post service”
was available for everyone
present: postwoman
Clara delivered notes and
messages upon personal
request.
Ein „eleganter Post Service“
stand allen Anwesenden
zu Verfügung: die Postfrau
Clara überlieferte Briefe und
Nachrichten auf Wunsch.
206
Exchange
he end of the KoCA Inn project was filled up with a range of emotions
and questions. How much longer could the project have run? On the
one hand, there was potential for growth; the project had just established
itself and was expanding. On the last days a new notice board was
installed, as one passer-by wanted to sell his bicycle and was seeking to
hire some helpers to move his apartment. There were also several
requests to fix bikes and people were just beginning to recognize the
KoCA Inn as a platform for the exchange of all kinds of resources. On
the other hand, we also began to question our capacity to maintain the
ongoing work of running the kiosk. What kind of conflicts would
have occurred had it run for another month? A community of regular
visitors and active participants had built up. Would the KoCA Inn have
remained flexible and open to all forms of use, and all possible visitors as
these regulars took on more ownership over the space?
In any case, the City Hall gave us permission to be there
for just two weeks, which was only possible because the
area was defined as an “art space” due to the prior existence
of the Kiosk of Contemporary Art. This gave us a special
“cultural” status and meant much more lenient regulations.
A long-term permission would have come with a higher
level of bureaucratic control and security guidelines. This, of
course, also posed a series of questions. Did we compromise
the concept of the project by playing within the rules and
regulations or was this “legal” use actually just another form
of adaptation to situation and context? There may be no
definite answer to these questions, but what remains from
this experience is the inspiration and drive to continue asking
and experimenting ways to foster collaboration, participation,
openness and horizontality in our cities and our societies.
D
as Ende des KoCA Inn war geladen mit einer Reihe von Emo
tionen und Fragen. Wie viel länger hätte das Projekt
dauern können? Auf der einen Seite gab es Potenziale für
ein weiteres Wachstum; das Projekt hatte sich gerade erst
etabliert und war im Wachsen begriffen. In den letzten Tagen
wurde eine neue Pinnwand installiert, nachdem ein Passant
sein Fahrrad verkaufen wollte und Helfer anstellen wollte, die
ihm beim Umzug helfen sollten. Es gab mehrere Anfragen,
Fahrräder zu reparieren und die Menschen waren gerade
dabei, den KoCA Inn als eine Plattform für den Austausch ganz
verschiedener Ressourcen anzusehen. Auf der anderen
Seite begannen wir auch, uns zu fragen, wie viele Kapazitäten
wir hatten, den Betrieb des Kiosks aufrecht zu erhalten. Welche
Konflikte hätten sich ergeben, wenn es für einen weiteren
Monat gelaufen wäre? Eine Gemeinschaft von Stammgästen
und aktiven Teilnehmer hatte sich gebildet. Wäre der KoCA Inn
flexibel und offen für alle Nutzungsformen und alle möglichen
Besucher geblieben, wenn Regelmäßigkeiten den Ort
mehr in Besitz genommen hätten? Wie auch immer, unsere
Genehmigung von der Stadt galt nur für zwei Wochen.
Und auch diese Genehmigung war nur möglich, weil die Ecke
durch die Existenz des Kiosk of Contemporary Art schon als
„Kunstraum“ definiert war. Dadurch erhielten wir einen
speziellen „kulturellen“ Status und wurden viel nachsichtiger
behandelt. Eine Langzeiterlaubnis hätte ein höheres Maß
an bürokratischer Kontrolle und mehr Sicherheitsrichtlinien
bedeutet. Natürlich stellte uns dies während des Prozesses
auch vor Fragen. Setzten wir unser Projektkonzept aufs Spiel,
indem wir nach den Regeln und Vorschriften spielten. Oder war diese
„legale“ Art nur eine andere Form der Aneignung der Situation und des
Kontexts? Möglich, dass es keine endgültige Antwort geben kann. Aber
was von dieser Erfahrung bleibt, ist die Inspiration und der Anspruch,
weiterhin Fragen zu stellen. Und mit Möglichkeiten zu experimentieren,
wie Kollaboration, Partizipation, Offenheit und Horizontalität in unseren
Städten und in unserer Gesellschaft vorangetrieben werden können.
Austausch
207
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209
Sleeping Schlafen
mit der Teilnahme
In
during
the Corpocidade
als2008,
ich kam.
Ich legte
mein “Bett“ neben2008
seins.begann
Währenddessen
holte er
an der Aktionsplattform
platform
of actions
seinen Computer.
Sein Bildschirmhintergrund
war ein Foto vom Fenster
Corpocidade
Salvadorwar.
eine
in
a two year
in Salvador,
meinem Zimmer,
in dem er geschlafen
hatte, als er in Salvador
collaboration
between
groups
Wir unterhielten
uns lange
während wirzweijährige
auf das BildKollaboration
schauten. Erinnezwischen
Gruppen
derein Hemd
from
Universidade
Federalhoch.
da Ich zog
rungen
an Salvador kamen
mir meine
Jacke und
Universidade
Federal
da Bahia
Bahia
and
Bauhaus-Universität
aus. Die
Nacht
war doch nicht so kalt. Wir
schliefen ein.
Mein Schlaf
undwaren
der Bauhaus-Universität
Weimar
initiated.
war rechtwas
leicht,
die Geräusche der Straße
nahe und eindringlich.
Weimar.
Techniken der
Techniques
of hingegen
artistic urban
Svens Atmung
ließ einen tiefen
Schlaf erkennen…
Amkünstlenächsten
rischen
wurden
research
were tested
out ging.
in a Der Bagger
Morgen wachte
er auf und
auf Stadtforschung
der gegenüberliegenden
durch Workshops
und
Perworkshop
and
performances.
Baustelle war
schon
dabei, eine Wand einzureißen.
Ich stand
von
der
formancesEin
erprobt.
Combining
Matratze aufthe
unddocumentation
legte mich in eine Hängematte.
Mann, In
derdiesem
auf dem
Kapitel
wird
dieBrötchen
Dokumentation
of
these experiments
Bürgersteig
vorbei lief, with
hatte mich gesehen,
nahm
zwei
aus seidieser
mit den
extracts
from
travel
ner Tasche,
zeigte
sie books,
mir und ließ sie unten
aufExperimente
dem Tisch liegen.
IchEinging
trägen
Reisetagebüchern
this
chapter
highlights
thedas
main
runter,
aß eines
und nahm
andere mit,
fallsvon
ich auf
Weimars Straßen
kombiniert.
inspirations,
references and
meinem Schlafkameraden
wiederbegegnen
sollte... Dadurch werden
Corpocidade
– Salvador
resources brought from Salvador
to Weimar for the realization
of KoCA Inn.
die wichtigsten Inspirationen,
Bezüge und Ressourcen, die aus
Salvador zum Projekt KoCA Inn
nach Weimar gebracht wurden,
vorgestellt.
W
e arrived, loaded with bags full of inner landscapes, full of notions of what would
and could be, and the way in which life might function. These notions we brought
had been molded by the places we had been to previously and where we had gathered
our experiences. We carried Weimar in our luggage – stereotyped: cleanliness, Bratwurst,
Goethe, snow. We had taken this expedition to the tropical city in order to encounter
the Brazilian everyday life, in an attempt to display our inner landscapes in a foreign
environment, and to let our ideas and preconceptions wander and be altered. Which
shapes could they take on when travelling back to Germany?
We find ourselves in a narrow alleyway. To the left and to the right are open bodegas.
Sacks of beans cover the floor, straw mats decorate the walls, metal utensils dangle off the
ceiling, smell of livestock, of geese and goats, is creeping up the nose. Mumble, the yelling
of the market in an incomprehensible language. Welcome to Feira de São Joaquim in the
Brazilian city of Salvador da Bahia.
212
Corpocidade - Salvador
W
ir kamen beladen mit einem Sack voller innerer Landschaften, von Vorstellungen davon, was ist und was sein darf. Von der Art und Weise wie das Leben
funktioniert. Die Vorstellungen, die wir mitbrachten, waren geprägt von den Orten,
an denen wir Erfahrungen gesammelt hatten. Wir hatten Weimar im Gepäck – stereotypisiert: Sauberkeit, Bratwurst, Goethe, Schnee. Nun hatten wir uns auf Expedition
in diese tropische Stadt begeben, um dem brasilianischen Lebensalltag zu begegnen,
um unsere inneren Landschaften in dieser fremden Umgebung nach außen zu tragen,
um unsere Ideen und Vorstellungen wandern und verändern zu lassen. Welche
Formen könnten sie annehmen, wenn sie sich wieder auf den Weg nach Deutschland
machten?
Wir befinden uns in einer engen Gasse. Links und rechts offene Buden. Bohnensäcke bedecken den Boden, Bastmatten zieren die Wände, Metallutensilien baumeln
von der Decke. Gerüche von Vieh, von Gänsen und Ziegen steigen in die Nase.
Gebrummel, Marktgeschrei in einer unverständlichen Sprache. Willkommen auf der
Feira de São Joaquim in der brasilianischen Stadt Salvador da Bahia
213
1
Defumadores
Smokers
A kind of incense used in Afro-Brazilian
religions for spiritual cleansing. It is
normally used to purify the ambience, to
achieve goals or to protect against certain
situations.
Räucherkerzen
Eine Art Weihrauch, der in der afro2
brasilianischen Religionen zur spirituellen
Reinigung genutzt wird. Oft findet er
Verwendung beim Reinigen der Räume,
um Ziele zu erreichen oder sich gegen
bestimmte Situationen zu schützen.
3
4
We encounter Dito Maradona, who has been selling defumadores (smokers) there
for 31 years. He tells us his story. We have become curious and observe his objects.
We ask ourselves which stories they might have to tell. Of which places could they give
accounts? Of which uses and users?
Wir begegnen Dito Maradona, der dort seit 31 Jahren Defumadores (Räucherkerzen) verkauft. Er erzählt uns seine Geschichte. Wir sind neugierig geworden,
betrachten die Gegenstände und fragen uns, ob auch sie etwas zu erzählen haben.
Von welchen Orten können sie uns berichten? Von welchem Nutzen, von welchen
Nutzern?
1
Get out of me, bad thing!
Raus aus mir, böses Zeug!
2
Win everything
Alles gewinnen
3
Bunch of money
Objects, ideas, and people wandered over
Geldstrauß
the ocean. It was them that flavored the
4
Big eye (envy)
KoCA Inn.
Große Augen (Neid)
Objekte, Ideen und Menschen wanderten
über den Ozean. Sie waren es, die dem
KoCA Inn seinen Charakter gaben.
215
Workshop: AQUI EU
O
rganized by the group UrbanDE, this workshop took place in the context of
the Corpocidade platform of actions. It was held in two locations: Boa Vista and
Plataforma communities in the Salvador periphery. Collaborating with local youth
centers, participants collectively analyzed and maped urban experiences that affected
their daily lives. Afterwards, in drifts through the neighborhoods, selected places were
marked with the inscription “I am here”.
D
ieser Workshop wurde von der Gruppe UrbanDE im Rahmen der Corpocidade
Aktionsplattform organisiert. Er fand an zwei Orten statt: den Boa Vista- und
Plataforma-Gemeinschaften in der Peripherie von Salvador. In Kollaboration mit den
dortigen Jugendzentren, analysierten und kartierten die Teilnehmer gemeinsam die
urbanen Erfahrungen ihres Alltags. Im Anschluss wurden bei Streifzügen durch die
Nachbarschaften bestimmt Orte mit dem Spruch „Ich bin hier“ markiert.
origem: origin, Herkunft
prazer: pleasure, Freude
medo: fear, Angst
lembrança: memory, Erinnerung
fronteira: boundary, Grenze
216
Performance:
7 linhas de UrbanDA
UrbanDA
Noun.
Daniela Brasil
1. Place as a Poetic Mode of Being.
W
ith seven walks throughout Salvador, UrbanDA members initiated situational
dialogues – with their embodied multiple inner landscapes, brought directly
from Weimar. They used languages made of impossible translations: where clichés,
sensibilities and affections (e)merged. Re-drawing private geographies, this
experiment located and blended some frontiers between cultures, their perceptions
and rhythms. Each walk was conceived by one of the members, and the others should
walk along. In some cases tasks were given, in others participants were expected to
react/interact spontaneously to passers-by and the city. Since in Salvador each day
of the week is devoted to one Orixá, some people dress in the color of that god/dess.
And so did UrbanDA: Sunday–Nanã–purple, Wednesday–Iansã–red, Thursday–
Ogum–green, Friday–Oxalá–White, Saturday–Iemanjá–light blue-white.
I
n sieben Spaziergängen durch Salvador initiierten die UrbanDA-Mitglieder mit
ihren diversen inneren Landschaften, die sie aus Weimar mitbrachten, situationelle
Dialoge. Sie benutzten Sprachen, die unmöglichen Übersetzungen entsprangen: bei
denen Klischees, Sensibilitäten und Zuneigungen entstanden und sich verbanden.
Indem private Geographien neu gezeichnet wurden, wurden einige Grenzen zwischen
Kulturen, ihren Wahrnehmungen und Rhythmen lokalisiert und miteinander in
Einklang gebracht. Jeder Spaziergang wurde von einem UrbanDA-Mitglied entworfen
und von den anderen Mitgliedern begleitet. Manchmal gab es Aufgaben zu erfüllen,
manchmal mussten die Teilnehmer spontan auf Passanten und die Stadt reagieren,
mit Passanten und der Stadt interagieren. In Salvador ist jeder Tag der Woche einem
Orixá gewidmet. Manche Menschen tragen an dem entsprechenden Wochentag
die Farbe des bestimmten Gottes oder der bestimmten Göttin. So hielten es auch
UrbanDA: Sonntag–Nanã–violett, Mittwoch–Iansã–rot, Donnerstag–Ogum–grün,
Freitag–Oxalá–weiß, Samstag–Iemanjá–hellblau–weiß.
Theresa Dietl
To be there, Dasein.
Catherine Grau
2. An urban band in which each member plays
Otto Oscar Hernandez
a different instrument while playing one
Katrin Karioth
common music.
Origin: The term evolved from the research
Bernhard König
Carlos Leon-Xjiménez
about everyday practices in Salvador, in which
Sven Müller
religious rituals play an important role. Umbanda:
a syncretic mix of catholicism, spiritism and AfroBrazilian religions.
Substantiv.
1. Ort als poetische Art des Seins.
Da sein, Dasein.
2. eine urbane Band, bei der jeder Spieler ein
Founding stone
anderes Instrument aber eine gemeinsame Musik
White tile painted live by Marlon, a street sales
spielt.
and craftsman, during UrbanDA’s first meeting
Ursprung: Das Wort entwickelte sich
after their arrival in Salvador, on October 23,
zur Beschreibung der Erforschung alltäglicher
2008.
Handlungen in Salvador, wo religiöse Rituale eine
After finishing his art work, and while the ink was
wichtige Rolle spielen. Umbanda: eine synkreti-
still fresh, Marlon gave us his painting tool - a
sche Mischung aus katholischer, spiritueller und
toothpick - so that we could make the inscription
afro-brasilianischer Religion.
which would make this painted tile the founding
stone of UrbanDA: an object that synthesises
the relations of performance, improvisation and
survival strategies embedded in daily life.
Grundstein
Eine weiße Fliese wurde von Marlon, einem Straßenhändler und –kunsthandwerker während des
ersten Treffens von UrbanDA nach deren Ankunft
in Salvador am 23. Oktober 2008 bemalt. Nachdem Marlon sein Kunstwerk fertig gestellt hatte,
gab er uns sein Malutensil – einen Zahnstocher
– mit dem wir die Inschrift vermerkten, die diese
Fliese zum Grundstein von UrbanDA machte.
Sie ist ein Objekt, das die Beziehung zwischen
Performance, Improvisation und Überlebensstrategien im alltäglichen Leben synkretisiert, das
heißt, vermischt.
218
219
Catherine Grau
sunday, Oct 26th, 08
sonntag, 26. Okt. 08
T
his intervention adopted the format of a collective procession of
celebration, to trace processes of food consumption and recycling
within the city. Moving along the beach promenade from Barra to
Ondina, a busy site for street food vendors, the Carro de Cafézinho (coffee
cart) was playing a sound collage of recordings made at the Feira de São
Joaquim, one of the general food markets. A group of people followed
the cart picking up waste from the street. The bags for collecting the trash
were labelled with the words Comi Salvador and Urbanofagia, alluding to a
process of eating and digesting the city. The aim was to investigate the city
as an organic organism and how to insert oneself within it .
F
ür diese Intervention wurde das Format einer kollektive Zelebrationsprozession gewählt, um Prozesse des Nahrungskonsums und des
Recycling in der Stadt zu untersuchen. Wir bewegten uns von Barra nach
Ondina an der Strandpromenade entlang, ein belebter Ort für Straßenverkäufer. Ein Carro de Cafézinho (Kaffeewagen) spielte eine Soundkollage
aus Aufnahmen von der Feira de São Joaquim, einem der Hauptlebensmittelmärkte der Stadt. Eine Gruppe von Menschen folgte dem Wagen
und sammelte Müll von der Straße auf. Die Müllsäcke waren mit Comi
Salvador und Urbanofagia beschriftet, um auf den Prozess die Stadt zu
essen und zu verdauen hinzudeuten. Das Ziel war die Stadt als einen
organischen Organismus zu erforschen und wie man sich darin einfügen
könnte.
220
221
Imported product, As we announced,
Lowest price. Importiertes Produkt,
Aus unserer Werbung, Niedrigster Preis.
Carlos Leon-Xjimenez
Sunday, Oct 26th,08
Sonntag, 26.okt.08
S
imiliar to the popular food sold on the streets in Salvador, a skewer mix of different
ingredients was sold, following the model of the grilled cheese street vendor, as
part of this intervention. Out of a trolley suitcase a mobile grill was built on which
unusual skewers made with German Rostbratwurst from Thuringia were combined
with pieces of tofu and the traditional Salvadorian cheese. This transnational skewer
mix was offered to people in Rio Vermelho at Lago da Mariquita Square, where a lot
of vendors offer their products to those gathering for food and beer at night.
Taste the delicious
cheese – sausage – tofu
Bahia – Thuringia – China
Authentic Peruvian recipe
Probiert die Leckerei
Käse – Bratwurst – Tofu
Bahia – Thüringen – China
Echtes peruanisches Rezept
B
eeinflusst von der Popularität der Essensverkäufer in den Straßen Salvadors und
insbesondere dem Modell der Grillkäse-Verkäufer folgend, wurde bei dieser
Intervention ein Spieß mit verschieden zusammengemischten Zutaten verkauft. Aus
einem Ziehkoffer wurde ein mobiler Grill gebaut, auf dem ungewöhnliche Spieße
mit Stückchen von Thüringer Rostbratwurst kombiniert mit Tofu und traditionellem
Käse aus Salvador, gegrillt wurden. Auf dem Lago da Mariquita-Platz im Stadtviertel
Rio Vermelho, einem Ort, an dem viele Straßenverkäufer am Abend Essen und Bier
anpreisen, wurde dieser transnationale Mix den Menschen angeboten.
Cardboard as
“ventilator” for
the grill
Karton als Fä
cher für den Gr
ill
224
225
Katrin Karioth
Wednesday, Oct 29th,08
Mittwoch, 29.okt.08
T
he body experience in the city of Salvador in connection with the existing
memories of everyday walking in Weimar were the inspiration for this
intervention. Members of UrbanDA had to cover their eyes to enhance their other
senses. While walking, they had to transcribe the sensations of the surface structures
of Salvador on a paper roll carried along. Other influences, such as the sounds of
the city, climatic impressions, urban barriers and sudden emotions like fear and
disorientations marked a strong personal experience. The perception of Salvador
turned more and more into a physical process of discovering.
D
iese Intervention wurde inspiriert vom Zusammenspiel der Körpererfahrungen
in Salvador mit den bestehenden Erinnerungen des täglichen Umherlaufens in
Weimar. Die Mitglieder von UrbanDA verbanden sich die Augen, um die anderen
Sinne zu stärken. Während sie durch die Stadt liefen, notierten sie die Wahrnehmungen der Oberfläche von Salvador auf einer Papierrolle, die sie mit sich führten. Andere
Einflüsse wie die Geräusche der Stadt, die Empfindung von Temperatur, urbane
Hindernisse und plötzliche Emotionen wie Angst und Desorientierung kennzeichneten eine starke persönliche Erfahrung. Die Wahrnehmung Salvadors wurde mehr und
mehr zu einem Prozess des physischen Entdeckens.
228
229
Theresa Dietl
Wednesday, Oct 29th,08
Mittwoch, 29.okt.08
T
he site-specific intervention O Santo Goethe intended to provoke a reflection
on the role and presence of religion in the public sphere and in everyday life. In
contrast to Weimar, a German city where religion is almost invisible – except for
churches being perceived as relics of ancient times – we experience a significantly
different reality in Salvador. The intervention is based on the experience of an
overwhelming presence of religiosity of various beliefs in the city of Salvador, and on
the idea of the Candomblé syncretism. A procession is carried out with elements from
Catholicism in honor of the “saint” of Weimar, the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
who is crucial to Weimar’s present search for identity. The path of the procession
leads from a shopping mall over highway bridges towards a building of the so-called
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. After negotiations with security guards,
procession members are allowed into the church, but O Santo Goethe has to remain
outside
D
ie ortsspezifische Intervention O Santo Goethe möchte eine Reflexion über die
Rolle und Sichtbarkeit von Religion in der Öffentlichkeit und im Alltag anregen.
Im Gegensatz zu Weimar, einem Ort, an dem Religion fast unsichtbar ist – abgesehen
von Kirchen, die als Relikte einer vergangenen Zeit betrachtet werden – , erleben wir
in Salvador eine völlig andere Realität. Die Intervention basiert auf der Erfahrung
einer überragenden Präsenz von Religiosität verschiedener Glaubensrichtungen
in Salvador und der Idee des Synkretismus des Candomblé. Eine Prozession nach
katholischer Tradition wird zu Ehren des „Heiligen“ der Stadt Weimar durchgeführt,
dem Dichter Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, der fundamental für die gegenwärtige
Suche der Stadt nach Identität ist. Der Prozes-sionszug führt von einem Einkaufzentrum über Autobahnbrücken zu einem Gebäude der so genannten Universalkirche
vom Reich Gottes. Erst nach Verhandlungen mit den Sicherheitsmännern betreten
einige Prozessionsteilnehmer die Kirche. O Santo Goethe muss draußen bleiben.
232
233
Sven Müller
Thursday, Oct 30th,08
Donnerstag, 30.okt.08
C
limbing as an alteration in the urban spatial environment is used as an uncommon
movement and to reach a position of exceptional sight by relating a specific
corporal interaction with a topographic texture. Leaving a common position can, in
one way, lead to the exclusion of oneself from the environment in terms of position
and rhythm, but can be used to attract people to shift into another dimension. I
used plastic buckets to allow a group of people to fundamentally alter their position
within common use of the public space. In this sense the movement appears not as
choreography but, as a personal experience of each participant. Through the body’s
position, it’s direction of sight, and its fixation to one point, it retracts from the
urban rhythm and grants a direction to a place. The tranquilization of the explorer is
the first step to understand this specific place and rhythm. Observation leads to an
intervention in the public space.
D
as Motiv des Kletterns als eine Veränderung in der Umwelt des städtischen
Raumes wird verwendet als eine ungewöhnliche Bewegung, um die Position für
einen ganz besonderen Blick zu gewinnen, der durch eine bestimmte Interaktion
des Körpers mit der topographischen Textur entsteht. Einen vertrauten Standpunkt
zu verlassen kann einen von dessen Umgebung ausschließen – von seiner Lage und
seinem Rhythmus. Es kann einem aber auch eine andere Dimension erschließen. Ich
benutzte Plastikeimer, um einer Gruppe zu ermöglichen, ihre Position der gewöhnlichen Nutzung des öffentlichen Raums grundlegend zu ändern. Die Bewegung
erscheint nicht als Choreographie, sondern als eine persönliche Erfahrung jedes einzelnen Teilnehmers. Durch den Blick, die Positionierung des Körpers und durch die
Fixierung auf einen Punkt löst sich jeder aus dem urbanen Rhythmus und gibt einem
Ort eine Richtung. Das Zur-Ruhe-Kommen des Entdeckers ist der erste Schritt, diesen bestimmten Ort und seinen Rhythmus zu verstehen. Beobachtung führt zu einer
Intervention im öffentlichen Raum.
236
237
Otto Hernandez
Friday, Oct 31th,08
Freitag, 31.okt.08
I
t is not the snow, but its silence and whiteness that I am bringing to Salvador de
Bahia, the “blackest” place in the world, after Africa. In four acts, the people around
are confronted to see and assimilate words and signs spelled and drawn in silence.
From 11:00 am to 12:00, starting at Lapa bus station and ending in the Praça de São
Bento where a nurse waits for me to take my blood pressure, the city will reach the
white hour.
Announced loud trough the Church’s bells.
E
s ist nicht der Schnee selbst, sondern seine Stille und sein Weißsein, die ich nach
Salvador da Bahia bringe, an den „schwarzesten“ Ort der Welt, nach Afrika. In vier
Akten werden Menschen, die sich gerade in meiner Nähe befinden, damit konfrontiert, Wörter und Zeichen zu sehen und sich anzueignen, die in Stille buchstabiert
und gezeichnet werden. Beginnend an der Bushaltestelle Lapa und endend am Praça
de São Bento, wo eine Krankenschwester wartet, um meinen Puls zu messen, legt sich
zwischen 11:00 und 12:00 Uhr die weiße Stunde über die Stadt.
Die Kirchenglocken läuten sie laut ein.
240
241
Daniela Brasil & Bernhard König
Saturday, Nov 1st,08
Samstag, 1.Nov.08
Igreja do Bonfim
Happy End Church
Kirche des Guten-Endes
T
ime to say goodbye to Salvador and All its Saints. Four hundred white balloons
filled with helium were to create a Walking Cloud. But, the wind was too strong
and our cloud became a sail. Suddenly it ripped, freeing the balloons up to the sky,
engulfing a group of tourists. Some UrbanDAs were waiting at the bottom of the
hill and saw the white cloud flying as a sign in the sky. When they reached us, the
walk – as planned – was no longer possible. Instead of the cloud, we used the fishing
net to connect our bodies. Underneath the 100m net, we walked down together –
sometimes closer, sometimes further apart – towards Boa Viagem. Once again the
wind tensioned the net and our bodies, in a live-drawing to wave Salvador goodbye.
As a backdrop we had the immense deep blue sky.
E
s ist Zeit, Abschied zu nehmen von Salvador und All seinen Heiligen. Aus vierhundert Luftballons mit Helium sollte eine Wandernde Wolke entstehen. Der Wind war
zu stark und unsere Wolke verwandelte sich in ein Segel. Plötzlich riss das Netz, die
Ballons befreiten sich und stiegen in den Himmel. Eine Gruppe Touristen wurde von
ihnen umweht. Einige UrbanDAs, die am Fuße des Hügels gewartet hatten, sahen die
davonfliegende weiße Wolke als Zeichen am Himmel. Als alle zusammentrafen, war
der gemeinsame Spaziergang nicht mehr wie geplant möglich. Anstelle der Wolke
sollte nun das leere Fischernetz unsere Körper verbinden. Wir wanderten unter dem
100m langen Netz hinunter nach Boa Viagem, manchmal enger zusammen, manchmal weiter auseinander. Der Wind blies durch das Netz und spannte es zwischen
unseren Körpern. Mit Wind und Fischernetz malten wir so ein Aufwiedersehen an
Salvador, den weiten, tiefblauen Himmel als Leinwand.
Praia da Boa Viagem
Good Journey Beach
Gute-Reise-Strand
Critical
Reflections
250
An Urbanistic Experiment
Ein Urbanistisches Experiment
Max Welch Guerra interviewed by Theresa Dietl
Max Welch Guerra IM GESPRÄCH MIT Theresa DietL
TD The two-week-long occupation of the Kiosk at Sophienstiftsplatz was
an attempt to use and inhabit German public space differently than it usually is
the case – differently than we are accustomed to. We wanted to extrovert the
private and bring it into the streets. We wanted to test out, experiment, and push
boundaries. As Professor of Spatial Planning and Spatial Research, you deal with
the alteration of spaces. The KoCA Inn made only a minimal structural alteration to
the intersection at Sophienstiftsplatz. At the same time, during these two weeks,
the place became a completely different one than it was before and after. This
change was created by the very people using the space – using it differently than
usual. We have received countless answers to the question of what the KoCA Inn
was – some well defined, others a paradox or controversial. Max, what was the
KoCA Inn for you?
MWG In my eyes it was an urbanistic experiment. Surely it was also a work
of art, but this is my perspective: it was an urbanistic experiment. One that was
altogether successful, that provoked thoughts. Completely unexpected uses were
publicly accomplished. That doesn’t happen often. We especially don’t find often
this kind of project in such a location, with such an amplitude, and with such a
production of images. It was a very mixed group, a very colorful group, obviously
artists, freaks, younger people, students, but also elderly people, and sometimes
socially marginalized people. It wasn’t a wild mix, it was a very harmonious mix.
Admittedly, a very unexpected one. Not that it was unusual to see these people,
these people exist in Weimar. The particularity lay in the activation of the place for
such a duration, with such openness, and the expressiveness it brought out. It is
a successful experiment, that also shows how community or social life can assert
itself within a space – within a place.
TD Mit unserer zweiwöchigen Inbesitznahme des Kiosks am Sophienstiftsplatz wollten wir den Versuch unternehmen, den öffentlichen Raum in Deutschland anders zu nutzen und zu beleben als es normalerweise der Fall ist, anders, als
wir es gewohnt sind. Wir wollten das Private nach außen, auf die Straße tragen.
Wir wollten ausprobieren, experimentieren, Grenzen austesten. Als Professor für
Raumplanung und Raumforschung beschäftigst du dich mit der Veränderung von
Räumen. Der KoCA Inn hat die Kreuzung am Sophienstiftsplatz baulich nur minimal verändert. Dennoch war der Ort für zwei Wochen ein völlig anderer als vorher
und auch nachher. Die Veränderungen entstanden durch die Menschen, die diesen Ort nutzten, die ihn anders nutzten als gewöhnlich. Wir haben unzählige Antworten auf die Frage bekommen, was der KoCA Inn war, eindeutige, gegensätzliche, kontroverse. Max, was war der KoCA Inn für dich?
MWG In meinen Augen war es ein urbanistisches Experiment, sicherlich
auch ein Kunstwerk, aber das ist mein Blick: es war ein urbanistisches Experiment. Ein ganz und gar gelungenes, das einem zu denken gibt. Es bestand darin,
dass völlig unerwartete Nutzungen dort öffentlich ausgeführt wurden. Das gibt es
nicht oft. Das gibt es vor allem nicht oft an so einer Stelle mit einer solchen Üppigkeit, mit einer solchen Produktion von Bildern. Das war eine gemischte Gruppe,
das war eine bunte Gruppe, offensichtlich Künstler, Freaks, Jüngere, Studierende, auch Ältere, auch zum Teil sozial benachteiligte Leute. Es war keine wilde
Mischung, es war eine sehr harmonische Mischung. Allerdings eine sehr ungewohnte. Das Ungewohnte war aber nicht, diese Menschen zu sehen, diese Menschen gibt es in Weimar. Das Besondere war, dass man diesen Ort bespielt hat,
so lang, so offen und so expressiv außen. Das ist ein gelungenes Experiment, das
zeigt auch, wie sehr sich Gesellschaft oder gesellschaftliches Leben durchsetzen
Critical Reflections
251
TD Two different impressions had an influence on the project: for one, the
feeling that what goes on in public spaces in Germany is normally strictly regulated
or even controlled. During our journey to Brazil, on the other hand, we had a
completely contrary experience. There, the public space is used very differently
than in Germany. People seem to appropriate the space. Creativity is present
throughout the city in a way we don’t find in the public spaces of Germany. Here
many people seem rather to be rushing from point A to point B, at the most looking
to their left and right, but not perceiving the space as their space that they could
potentially influence upon. The KoCA Inn wanted to challenge this.
Max, you were born and raised in Latin America, in Chile. You have been
living in Germany for many years now, and therefore know German as well as Latin
American culture, to the extent that we may trivialize and speak of clearly defined
cultures here.
In order to better spaces, do they always have to be reconstructed? Or could
it possibly be enough to change regulations, to give in a little and let people do,
give them space?
MWG I don’t share the assumptions that your question is based on. This
basic assumption implies that in Germany there is a bureaucracy that strictly
regulates what is permitted and what not, and that in Brazil everything is much
freer. I question that. In the first place, it is indeed true that we have a quite
extensive amount of definitions regarding rules. But I want to call to mind that
the [German] political system as well as the social circumstances permit public
drinking, that teenagers are allowed to sit on the ground drinking beer all night
long if they wish to do so. And that is not prohibited. In many countries this
is not the case. Secondly, there tend to be spaces that are free of repression,
for women, or for elderly people for example. One can say that there are safe,
accessible public spaces, not only in regard to crime. Of course, in Brazil there
is much more happening in the streets and that is also part of the allure. I have
experienced that for myself, also in Bahia. But I remind us that particularly in the
center of Bahia there are a tremendous amount of impressions. On the other hand
this is partially related to the direct existential destitution. If you want to eat in the
streets, children gather around you, clearly suffering hunger. Thus I don’t want
to idealize Brazilian public spaces in any case. We can leave that to the tourists,
or to those selling these kinds of travels. No, we have a very beautiful streetculture in Latin America, and this doesn’t only count for Brazil, yet this lifestyle
252
kann gegen Räume, gegen einen Ort.
TD Zwei unterschiedliche Eindrücke beeinflussten das Projekt: einerseits das
Gefühl, dass der öffentliche Raum in Deutschland, das, was dort ablaufen kann,
normalerweise durch strenge Regularien kontrolliert oder gar dirigiert wird. Während unserer Reise nach Brasilien haben wir andererseits eine völlig entgegengesetzte Erfahrung gemacht. Dort wird der öffentliche Raum ganz anders genutzt
als in Deutschland. Die Menschen scheinen sich den Raum anzueignen. Es ist
eine Kreativität in der Stadt präsent, die man in Deutschland so im öffentlichen
Raum eigentlich nicht finden kann. Viele Menschen scheinen hier eher von A nach
B zu hetzen, vielleicht noch nach rechts und links zu gucken, aber nicht wirklich
den Raum als ihren Raum anzusehen, den sie beeinflussen können. Der KoCA Inn
wollte dies in Frage stellen.
Max, du bist in Lateinamerika, in Chile, geboren und aufgewachsen. Du lebst
seit vielen Jahren in Deutschland und kennst somit sowohl die deutsche als auch
die lateinamerikanische Kultur – sofern man da so pauschalisiert von klar definierbaren Kulturen sprechen darf.
Um Räume zu verbessern, müssen sie immer umgebaut werden? Oder reicht
es vielleicht auch einfach aus, die Regularien zu ändern, ein bisschen locker zu
lassen, einfach die Menschen machen zu lassen, ihnen Raum zu geben?
MWG Ich teile die Annahme, die deiner Frage zu Grunde liegt, nicht. Diese
Grundannahme ist, in Deutschland gibt es eine Bürokratie, die streng regelt, was
erlaubt ist und was nicht, und in Brasilien ist alles viel freier. Das stelle ich in Frage.
Das Erste ist, dass wir, was die Regeln angeht, in der Tat schon recht viel definiert
haben. Aber ich erinnere daran, dass das politische System und auch die gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse es erlauben, dass du in der Öffentlichkeit Bier trinken
kannst, dass Jugendliche sich auf den Boden setzen und Bier trinken können, die
ganze Nacht lang, wenn sie wollen. Und das ist nicht verboten. Das ist in vielen
Ländern überhaupt nicht so. Das Zweite ist, dass es tendenziell repressionsfreie
Räume gibt, zum Beispiel für Frauen, zum Beispiel für alte Leute. Nicht nur im
Hinblick auf die Kriminalität kann man sagen, hier gibt es ungefährliche, zugängliche öffentliche Räume. Natürlich ist in Brasilien viel mehr auf der Straße los und
das macht auch den Reiz aus. Ich habe das selbst erlebt, auch in Bahia. Aber
ich erinnere daran, dass man gerade in Bahia im Zentrum zwar eine unglaubliche Fülle an Eindrücken hat. Auf der anderen Seite hat das aber zum Teil mit
unmittelbarer existenzieller Not zu tun. In den Straßenräumen, wenn du draußen
253
exists because of the many things that we can carry out in our homes or offices
in Germany, have to be performed in the streets there. This is not a free decision.
There are conflicts over usage. It is possible to be robbed in Germany, but the
probability of being robbed is of course much larger over there.
TD During the project we experienced something similar within our group.
For those of us living in Weimar, it was maybe even easier to run the project than
it was for the Brazilians, who came here with a different feeling about the public
space, also with fear. And we actually don’t know this feeling of fear in relation to
the public space.
MWG That is exactly what I mean. I think this contrast needs to be looked
at with more differentiation. In Germany – now I am suddenly defending Germany
quite strongly – we have fought strenuously and for years in order to develop a
certain culture in the use of the public space. Looking back at the last decades
we can distinctly experience a quite obvious mediterraneazation of public life.
Many more Germans than previously – Germans themselves have become much
more colorful – many more Germans than previously drink coffee in public, make
use of the city, so to speak. What can also be observed in other countries, that
there is a continuously rising appropriation of streets and squares, caused by
the rising quantity of free time and the proliferation of extroverted lifestyles, is
also very visible in Germany. Furthermore, the civic planning of Weimar as
well as of other German cities, and equally in Salvador da Bahia and Rio, has
systematically enhanced the value of public spaces in important places of the
city. This is democratic, as it is principally open for everyone. So there is a very
positive development that should not be underestimated. This is not the Prussia
of the 19th century, nor is it Nazi-Germany. Instead, there is much more life than
in the past. Of course, not in this barren place, in this intersection. Germany can
be very bureaucratic, but so can Latin American countries. I don’t think that this
is a specifically German trait. That is why, for me, this experiment is not about the
strong contrast Germany—Brazil, but about cultural life - a festive appropriation
of an inhospitable public space, affected by celebration. It is particularly beautiful
that this initiative came from such a group, that Brazilians formed the core of this
appropriation of the public space. But they might as well have been, lets say,
Portuguese or Icelanders, not specifically people from the tropics. I think what
is particular is this specific place that was altered in its function, an intersection
which initially would impede such a usage.
254
essen willst, sind Kinder um dich herum, die offensichtlich Hunger haben. Also,
ich möchte auf keinen Fall die brasilianischen Freiräume idealisieren. Das können
wir den Touristen überlassen oder denjenigen, die solche Reisen verkaufen. Nein,
wir haben in Lateinamerika, und das gilt nicht nur für Brasilien, zwar wunderschönes Leben auf den Straßen, aber dieses Leben hat damit zu tun, dass vieles, was
wir in Deutschland zu Hause erledigen können, oder im Büro, dort auf der Straße
ausgeübt werden muss. Das ist keine freie Wahl. Es gibt Nutzungskonflikte. Man
kann auch in Deutschland überfallen werden, aber die Möglichkeit, dass man dort
überfallen wird, ist selbstverständlich viel größer.
TD Während des Projektes haben wir innerhalb der Gruppe Ähnliches erfahren. Für uns, die wir in Weimar leben, war es vielleicht sogar einfacher, dieses Projekt durchzuführen als für die Brasilianer, weil sie mit einem anderen Gefühl von
öffentlichem Raum hierher kamen, auch mit Angst. Und wir kennen dieses Gefühl
von Angst im öffentlichen Raum eigentlich gar nicht.
MWG Genau das meine ich. Ich denke, diesen Kontrast muss man differenzierter sehen und wir haben uns in Deutschland – jetzt verteidige ich Deutschland plötzlich so stark – im Laufe der Jahre eine gewisse Kultur in der Nutzung
öffentlicher Räume mühsam erkämpft. Blicken wir zurück, dann erleben wir in
Deutschland in den letzten Jahrzehnten eindeutig eine offensichtliche Mediterranisierung des öffentlichen Lebens. Viel mehr Deutsche als früher – die Deutschen selber sind auch viel bunter geworden –, viel mehr Deutsche als früher
gehen raus, trinken Kaffee in der Öffentlichkeit, nehmen die Stadt in Gebrauch,
sozusagen. Was man auch in anderen Ländern beobachten kann, eine kontinuierlich steigende Inbesitznahme von Straßen und Plätzen, die getragen wird durch
gestiegene Freizeitquanta und durch eine Proliferation extrovertierter Lebensstile,
ist in Deutschland sehr gut sichtbar. Außerdem hat die Stadtplanung in Weimar
ebenso wie in vielen anderen deutschen Städten, aber ebenso in Salvador da
Bahia und Rio öffentliche Räume an wichtigen Punkten der Stadt systematisch
aufgewertet. Das ist demokratisch, weil es prinzipiell allen offen steht. Also, da
gibt es eine sehr positive Entwicklung, die man nicht unterschätzen darf. Das ist
hier nicht das Preußen des 19. Jahrhunderts und das ist auch nicht Nazideutschland. Sondern hier ist viel mehr Leben als früher. Natürlich nicht an diesem unwirtlichen Ort, an dieser Straßenkreuzung. Deutschland kann sehr bürokratisch sein,
aber lateinamerikanische Länder auch. Ich denke, das ist keine spezifische Eigenschaft Deutschlands. Für mich geht es deshalb bei diesem Experiment nicht um
255
TD What exactly is special about the space that the KoCA Inn took into
play?
MWG Of course it is not a normal public space. The Sophienstiftsplatz is
one of the few centrally located corners of downtown Weimar that are said to be
abandoned, to be inhospitable, and overall claimed only by traffic. So, it is not an
average public space. In Weimar we have an abundance of wonderfully cared for,
pleasant, and aesthetically ambitiously designed public spaces, making it even
more relevant that this experiment took place in the location it did. I have been
advocating a remodeling of the location Sophienstiftsplatz for a long time. But
the KoCA Inn has shown that this place in its current condition can perform much
more than it usually does. Of course, we shouldn’t forget that this intervention of
Daniela Brasil and others was conceptualized specifically for this space. There is
a certain familiarity, a knowledge of the space that has been won systematically,
through on-going scientific engagement with the question how in Brazil and
Germany public spaces are shaped, used, and portrayed
TD Would a project like the KoCA Inn work in Brazil or other Latin American
countries?
MWG Differently, but I think it would work. For example, in many Latin
America countries there is a strong tradition of street performance and street
music where, in a way, situations similar to happenings arise on a daily basis.
Only that then a hat is passed around for collecting money, since this is how
people make a living. I do think it would work. I would like to know, if in Latin
America interventions like that of KoCA Inn in Weimar, would be conducted by
experts at universities. Here in Weimar, in Germany, it is primarily about an urban
experiment. Surely, in Brazil and in the most Latin American countries, it is more
common that artistic actors, like say - theatre groups, are active in the streets
because they need the money or want to be politically provocative.
TD Could such an experiment actually be applied as a method in urban
planning?
MWG Yes. Yes, of course. An experiment, but not in the sense that we say
now let’s mass-produce this. That doesn’t work, naturally. In the first place, I see
this from an educational perspective. I train urban planners. It is really important
to me that we can witness how flexible spaces are, and to what extent we and
our social doings, especially as a group, can affect spaces, changing them,
playing within them, changing their character. Secondly, within city planning the
256
den starken Kontrast Brasilien – Deutschland, sondern um kulturelles Leben, eine
festliche und von Feiern geprägte Inbesitznahme eines unwirtlichen öffentlichen
Raumes. Das besonders Schöne ist, dass es eine Initiative ist aus einer solchen
Gruppe, dass ausgerechnet Brasilianer den Kern dieser Eroberung des öffentlichen Raumes bildeten. Aber es hätten möglicherweise auch - sagen wir mal Portugiesen sein können, oder Isländer, nicht unbedingt Menschen aus den Tropen. Ich denke, das Besondere ist dieser Raum, der umfunktioniert wurde, eine
Straßenkreuzung, die eine solche Nutzung zunächst einmal verhindert.
TD Was genau ist denn das Besondere an dem Raum, der durch den KoCA
Inn bespielt wurde?
MWG Das ist natürlich kein normaler öffentlicher Raum. Der Sophienstiftsplatz gehört zu den wenigen innerstädtischen zentralen Ecken Weimars, von
denen man sagen kann, dass sie verlassen sind, dass sie unwirtlich sind, dass sie
ganz und gar dem Verkehr preisgegeben sind. Das ist also nicht ein durchschnittlicher öffentlicher Raum. In Weimar haben wir eine Fülle an wunderbar gepflegten,
angenehmen, auch ästhetisch anspruchsvoll gestalteten öffentlichen Räumen.
Umso wichtiger, dass dieses Experiment an diesem Ort stattfand. Ich setze mich
schon länger dafür ein, dass der Ort am Sophienstiftsplatz umgebaut wird. Aber
der KoCA Inn hat gezeigt, dass dieser Ort auch unter diesen Bedingungen mehr
leisten kann, als er normalerweise leistet. Allerdings dürfen wir nicht vergessen,
dass diese Aktion von Daniela Brasil und anderen eigens für diesen Ort konzipiert wurde. Dahinter steckt eine genaue Vertrautheit, eine systematisch gewonnene Kenntnis des Ortes und eine längere kulturwissenschaftliche Beschäftigung
mit der Frage, wie in Brasilien und in Deutschland öffentliche Räume gestaltet,
genutzt, gedeutet werden.
TD Würde ein Projekt wie der KoCA Inn auch in Brasilien oder in anderen
lateinamerikanischen Ländern funktionieren?
MWG Anders, aber ich glaube, es würde auch funktionieren. Es gibt in
Lateinamerika zum Beispiel in vielen Ländern eine größere Tradition des Straßentheaters oder der Straßenmusik, wo in gewisser Weise happeningähnliche Situationen jeden Tag entstehen. Nur dass dann ein paar Leute Geld dafür einsammeln, weil sie davon leben. Ich glaube schon, dass es funktionieren würde. Ich
wüsste gern, ob in Lateinamerika solche Aktionen wie die von KoCaInn in Weimar
stattfinden, ob Fachleute an Universitäten solche Experimente durchführen. Hier
in Weimar, in Deutschland geht es grundsätzlich, allerdings als urbanistisches
257
possibility to realize experiments, as natural scientists would, rarely exists. For us,
conditions are constantly changing. It is not possible to have fixed parameters.
If at all experiments, then experiments of this sort. And, in my opinion, it is no
coincidence that this urbanistic experiment is shaped by artists and not by
solid architects and serious city planners. It is an urbanistic action of artistically
oriented people.
TD Thank you, Max, for the interview.
258
Experiment. Sicherlich ist in Brasilien und in den meisten lateinamerikanischen
Ländern die Nutzung der Straßen durch künstlerische Aktionen häufiger, etwa
durch Theatergruppen, die die Straße erobern, weil sie Geld brauchen oder weil
sie politisch wirken wollen.
TD Ein solches Experiment, kann das tatsächlich auch als Methode in der
Stadtplanung Verwendung finden?
MWG Ja. Ja, natürlich. Ein Experiment, aber nicht in dem Sinne, dass man
sagt, so, jetzt fabrizieren wir das in Serie. Das geht natürlich nicht. Zunächst einmal sehe ich das aus der Sicht der Lehre. Ich bilde Stadtplaner aus. Für mich
ist es ganz wichtig, dass wir sehen, wie flexibel Räume sind, wie sehr auch wir
durch unsere gesellschaftliche Tat – vor allem auch als Gruppe – in der Lage sind,
Räume zu bespielen, zu verändern, ihren Charakter zu verändern. Das Zweite
ist, dass wir in der Stadtplanung kaum die Möglichkeit haben, Experimente zu
machen wie die Naturwissenschaftler. Für uns verändern sich ständig die Bedingungen. Wir können also nicht feste Rahmenbedingungen haben. Wenn überhaupt Experimente, dann solche Experimente. Und meiner Meinung nach ist es
kein Zufall, dass dieses urbanistische Experiment geprägt ist von Künstlern und
nicht von soliden Architekten und seriösen Stadtplanern. Es ist eine urbanistische
Tat von künstlerisch ausgerichteten Leuten.
TD Danke, Max, für das Interview.
259
260
Tension Zones
Spannungen
I would like to deal with two different but complementary tensions. The first
tension lies between the criticisms of the current spectacularization of cities 1,
often dealt with in scenography. Included here is also the praise of bodigraphy
– the bodily experience in cities (an idea already discussed here with Fabiana
Britto in Urban Bodigraphies). Bodigraphy can be considered a form of microresistance to the spectacularization of cities, cultures and bodies. The second
tension is between the theoretical reflection on the artistic actions in cities, and
the practical experiment documented by this book. Specifically, the consideration
of the sensible experience as an active and critical form of micro-resistance in
public space is discussed.
I will begin with three complementary aspects. Firstly, the relationship
between the body and city; secondly, the issue of conflicts in public space; and
finally, the vitality and intensity of public life in popular and informal spaces, or
according to Milton Santos, opaque spaces (1996), all will be addressed through
denial. These spaces inevitably undergo a spectacularization process, which is
primarily responsible for the decay of body experiences in contemporary public
space; for the denial/rejection of conflict and critique of and in those spaces; and
above all, for the denial/rejection, concealment or elimination of vitality of these
opaque spaces – spaces which seek to become more luminous, mediatic and
spectacular.
In contemporary cities the spectacularization process is directly related to
increased security measures, homogenization and the uncontested pacification of
Ich möchte mich hier mit zwei verschiedenen und doch komplementären
Spannungsverhältnissen auseinandersetzen: Ein erstes liegt zwischen der Kritik
der gegenwärtigen Spektakularisierung der Städte1, zusammengefasst in der Idee
der Szenografie und dem Anpreisen von Körpererfahrungen in den Städten, den
Körpergrafien (wie hier bereits mit Fabiana Britto debattiert in Urban Bodigraphies).
Körpergrafien können als Mikro-Widerstand gegen den Prozess der Spektakularisierung von Städten, Kulturen und Körpern gesehen werden. Ein zweites Spannungsverhältnis liegt zwischen der theoretischen Reflexion zu Kunst-Aktionen in
den Städten, im Besonderen zur Möglichkeit, die sensitive Erfahrung als eine aktive
und kritische Form des Mikro-Widerstands in der Öffentlichkeit zu betrachten und
dem praktischen Experiment, das durch dieses Buch dokumentiert wird als ein Versuch dieses Mikro-Widerstands im öffentlichen Raum.
Ich werde mit drei Aspekten beginnen: der Beziehung zwischen Körper und
Stadt, den Konflikten im öffentlichen Raum und der Vitalität und Intensität des
öffentlichen Lebens in populären und informelleren Räumen – oder, nach Milton
Santos, in den opaken Räumen (1996). Diese Aspekte werden durch Leugnen angegangen. Der Raum ist unabwindbar einem Spektakularisierungs-Prozess unterworfen, der besonders für die Verarmung von Körpererfahrungen im gegenwärtigen
öffentlichen Raum verantwortlich ist, wie auch für die Leugnung von Konflikten und
Meinungsverschiedenheiten und, allem voran, die Verleugnung, Verschleierung und
Verhinderung von Vitalität in diesen opaken Stadt-Räumen, die gleichfalls versuchen, lichter, mediatischer und spektakulärer zu werden.
1Idea developed in other texts, see Espetacularização Urbana Contemporânea, in: Territórios
1 Die Idee wurde in anderen Texten entwickelt, siehe Espetacularização Urbana Contemporânea, in:
Urbanos e Políticas Culturais, (Salvador, 2004), available in portuguese at: http://www.portalseer.ufba.br/
Territórios Urbanos e Políticas Culturais, (Salvador, 2004), erhältlich in Portugiesisch unter: http://www.
index.php/ppgau/article/view/1684
portalseer.ufba.br/index.php/ppgau/article/view/1684
261
public spaces. These measures have led to a decline of the bodily experience in
cities as an ordinary daily practice. This causes us to reconsider the body in the
urban space, or as Milton Santos said, “the corporeality of the slow men” (1996),
people Michel de Certeau once described as “ordinary practitioners of the city”
(1990). The study of these generally informal and conflicting uses of the urban space
can guide us to alternative paths, leading us to an embodied form of urbanism.
TENSION 1: Urban scenography (cities’ spectacularization) x urban
bodigraphy (cities’ corporeal experience)
The urban spectacularization process is growing increasingly more explicit.
In the academic world, its critique has already become a recurrent theme, though
under a variety of different names: scenario-city, museum-city, theme park-city,
shoppingmall-city, and also briefly as spectacle-city. “The spectacle is capital
accumulated to the point that it becomes an image.” (Debord, 1967:34) Schools
of urban thought have apparently reached the same conclusion: the spectacularization of cities’ commodification is identified as a hegemonic, unique, uncontested
form of thinking. Distinct urban processes such as aestheticization, culturalization,
patrimonialization, museumification, musealization, touristification, gentrification,
privatization, disneylandization, shoppingification, cenographilization etc., are part
of the same process of the contemporary city’s spectacularization. These processes are also intimately bound up with new marketing or branding strategies that
seek to build new urban images, ensuring that cities, too, have a place in the geopolitics of globalized networks of touristic, historical and cultural cities.
Within this logic of the spectacular, public spaces, culture and public art are
also identified as strategic elements for the construction and promotion of urban
brand images. In other words, cities are being re-designed as publicity material for
immediate consumption. If the concept of publicity (Öffentlichkeit) was once thought
of as belonging, being accessible to the public, that is, in the past, this concept was
conceived with the public’s interest in mind; today, the term publicity is inextricably
linked to urban advertising, marketing, merchandising. The market’s voice and its
private interests have now become a priority. What was once thought as public
opinion, public debate, has been reduced to mere market research, whose main
objective is to act as an efficient consensus factory. Such consensus construction
also seeks the homogenization of individual sensitivities; the homogenization of the
different ways of, in the words of Jacques Rancière, distributing the sensible.
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In heutigen Städten steht der Spektakularisierungs-Prozess in einem direkten
Zusammenhang mit der sekuritären, gleichmacherischen und einvernehmlichen
Beschwichtigungspolitik für den öffentlichen Raum, wie auch mit dem Nachlassen
von Körpererfahrungen als reguläre, tägliche Gewohnheit. Was uns den Aspekt des
Körpers in der Stadt überdenken lässt, oder, wie Milton Santos es ausdrückte, die
„Korporealität der langsamen Menschen“ (1996), jener, die Michel de Certeau die
„gewöhnlichen Praktiker der Städte“ (1990) nannte. Das Beobachten dieser Praktiken und Nutzungen des urbanen Raumes, meist informell, in Konflikt und Dissens, kann uns zu alternativen Wegen führen, die in die Richtung eines verkörperten
Urbanismus weisen.
SPANNUNG 1: Urbane Szenografie (Spektakularisierung der Städte) x urbane
Körpergrafie (Körpererfahrung in den Städten)
Der urbane Spektakularisierungs-Prozess wird immer expliziter. Seine Kritik
wird in der akademischen Welt bereits häufig formuliert, jedoch zu oft unter verschiedenen Namen: Szenario-Stadt, Museums-Stadt, Freilicht-Stadt, Einkaufscenter-Stadt oder auch Spektakel-Stadt. „Das Spektakel ist das Kapital in einem
solchen Grad der Akkumulation, dass es zum Bild wird.“ (Debord 34:1967) Urbanisten-Schulen gelangen offenbar zum selben Ergebnis: Die Spektakularisierung
der kommodifizerten Stadt wird als hegemoniales, konsensuelles Einheitsdenken
betrachtet. Einzelne urbane Prozesse wie: Ästhetisierung, Kulturisierung, Patrimonialisierung, Museumifizierung, Musealisierung, Touristifizierung, Gentrifizierung,
Privatisierung, Disneyfizierung, Shoppingisierung, Szenographisierung etc... sind
jedoch Teil desselben Prozesses der Spektakularisierung heutiger Städte. Diese
Prozese sind umgekehrt eng mit neuen Marketing- und Brandingstrategien verbunden, die darauf aus sind, den Städten neue Bilder zu errichten, um ihnen einen Platz
in der Geopolitik globaler Netzwerke von touristischen, geschichtsträchtigen und
kulturellen Orten zu sichern.
Innerhalb dieser Spektakel-Logik werden öffentliche Räume, Kultur und
öffentliche Kunst als strategisch für die Errichtung und Vermarktung dieser Marken-Bilder betrachtet. Mit anderen Worten: sie werden als Werbematerial für den
sofortigen Verbrauch gestaltet. Wenn das Konzept der publicity (Werbung, eigentl.
Öffentlichkeit) ehemals als etwas im öffentlichen Sinne gedacht wurde – damit
es der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich werde – in einer haupsächlich dem öffentlichen
Interesse verschriebenen Welt, so ist der Ausdruck heute untrennbar verflochten
263
264
Worldwide, urban projects are carried out with the same homogenization
strategy, seeking to transform public spaces into scenarios, facades without
body, into pure marketing images. Scenographic cities are increasingly becoming
standardized and uniform, as already is the case with international hotel chains,
airports, fast-food chains, shopping centers, theme parks, gated-communities
and other private spaces. Contemporary interventions in historical and cultural
territories also follow this same pace of production, which creates a plethora
of replicated world sceneries and simulacrum for tourists 2. They are pacified
and aseptic areas in which conflicts are eliminated. Richard Sennett (1995) has
shown how these spaces are directly related to the pacification of our bodies
and how they are also part of our bodies. In the field of urbanism, the study of
the relationship between body and city, between flesh and stone, between the
human body and urban space, has largely been ignored. Sennett, extending from
Foucault’s studies about the relationship between body and space, sought to
show that through history different representations of body and bodily experiences
have formed distinct urban spaces. However, not only body studies influenced
urban studies, but the body and the city configure each other, as bodies become
inscribed in the cities; cities are also inscribed and configured in our bodies. This
type of cartography, when the body is inscribed with different urban memories,
is called urban bodigraphy. The register of the city’s body experience, a kind of
city-graphy, remains embodied and, at the same time, configures the body that
experiences the city. The ordinary body, lived, daily, can be understood as an
important tool of micro-resistance to the spectacularization of the city.
The city’s ordinary practitioners, its ordinary people, experience space as
they practice their simple activities in daily life. Their actions lend public spaces
a sense of bodiness. Accepted brand images cannot erase the city’s corporeal
experience, which remains latent and pulsating in the opaque, flat and contested
spaces. Perhaps we should consider resistance as a form of disagreement,
dissent and misunderstanding, as suggested by Rancière (2000). While the
construction of consensus that tries to hide conflicts is a form of de-politicization;
the act of disagreement and exposure dissensus can be understood as an active
form of resistance and political action.
mit Werbung, Marketing und Merchandising. Es ist die Stimme des Marktes,
mit Privatinteressen als höchster Priorität. Was einst als öffentliche Meinung, als
öffentliche Debatte gedacht war, ist zu einer simplen Marktbeeinflussung reduziert
worden. Ihr höchstes Ziel: eine effiziente Konsensfabrik. Die Erschaffung des Konsenses baut auf eine Homogenisierung der Empfindsamkeiten, der verschiedenen
Wege der „Aufteilung des Sinnlichen“, gemäß Jacques Rancière.
Urbane Projekte werden weltweit mit derselben homogenisierenden Strategie
durchgeführt, die darauf aus ist, öffentliche Räume in Szenarien, in Fassaden ohne
Körper zu verwandeln: ein pures Marketing-Bild. Die szenografischen Städte werden immer standardisierter und gleichförmiger. Wie dies bereits geschieht mit internationalen Hotel-Ketten, Flughäfen, Fast-Food-Ketten, Shopping-Centern, Freizeitparks, Gated-Communities und anderen Privaträumen. Eingriffe in historische und
kulturelle Gefilde folgen mittlerweile diesem Tempo und produzieren eine Vielzahl
an mehr oder weinger echten Welt-Kulissen und -Simulakren für Touristen2. Diese
sind befriedete und aseptische Gegenden, in denen Konflikte ordnungsgemäß eliminiert werden. Richard Sennett hat uns gezeigt, wie diese Räume direkt in Beziehung stehen zur Pazifizierung unserer Körper und wie sie Teil unserer Körper sind.
Die Erforschung der Beziehung zwischen Körper und Stadt, zwischen Fleisch und
Stein, menschlichem Körper und Stadtraum ist im Gebiet der Urbanistik weitestgehend ignoriert worden. Sennet, sich stützend auf Foucaults Studien über die Beziehung von Körper und Raum, versuchte zu zeigen, wie verschiedene Repräsentationen des Körpers und Körpererfahrungen verschiedene urbane Gebiete über die
Geschichte der Städte hindurch bildeten. Aber nicht nur Körperstudien beeinflussen die urbanistische Forschung, denn Körper und Stadt formen sich gegenseitig und Körper schreiben sich in die Städte ein, wie auch Städte sich in unsere
Körper eingeschreiben. Wir nennen diese Art der Kartografie, bei der unterschiedliche urbane Erfahrungen des Körpers nachgezeichnet werden, urbane Körpergrafie.
Sie beschreibt das Register der Körpererfahrung einer Stadt, eine Art Stadt-Grafie,
die verkörpert bleibt und zur gleichen Zeit auch den Köper dessen, der sie erfährt,
gestaltet. Wir versuchen, den täglich gelebten, normalen Körper zu analysieren, als
eine Möglichkeit des Mikro-Widerstandes gegen die Spektakularisierung.
Die gewöhnlichen Praktiker der Städte erfahren Räume während sie diese nutzen und geben ihnen dadurch Körper. Die konsensuellen Marken-Bilder können die
2See Henri Pierre Jeudy et Paola Berenstein Jacques (org), Corps et décors urbains, Paris,
2Siehe Henri Pierre Jeudy et Paola Berenstein Jacques (org), Corps et décors urbains, Paris,
l’Harmattan, 2006.
l’Harmattan, 2006.
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TENSION 2 – artistic interventions (in public space) x KoCA Inn (experiment
in Weimar)
Even if a great amount of symbolic power has already been captured by the
financial capital in this current factory of consensual images, it is still possible
for sensitive human micro-powers to engage in critical action, like microwar machines. A guerrilla of the sensitive; in other words: a resistance, not as
a common binary opposition, but as a non-pacified coexistence of differences,
particularly those of the sensitive world. A resistance of the distribution of the
sensible revealing a consensual configuration that requests, in different ways,
artistic interventions (Rancière 2005). Could art be seen as a form of contested
action, enabling the exposure of hidden conflicts behind the forces of the
spectacular image-city? Could we think of the artistic experience as a microresistance, as a sensitive experience that questions the established consensus?
Chantal Mouffe (2007) suggests that art is a promoter of dissents or even
better, a builder of dissention. In dialogue with Rancière, Mouffe describes
dissent as, in a strict sense, the differences created through the distribution of
the sensible. In other words, for Mouffe, the dissent would be aesthetic, a conflict
between distinct sensible schemes, or a relationship between heterogeneous
schemes of the sensible. Critical artistic actions in the city, a form of urban
micro-resistances, try to occupy, to appropriate public space in order to build
and propose other sensible experiences and, therefore, disturb the reassuring
and pacified image of the public space which the consensus spectacle tries to
forge. In these actions the body is a priority. The urban corporeal experience is
particularly important; it plays a decisive role in highlighting and creating tensions
in public space. At stake are the sensitive, corporeal and contested experiences,
which opposes the consensual image without attempting hegemony and instead
maintaining a stable tension in the public space, what I call a tension zone.
Not only do urban conflicts need to be considered as legitimate and
necessary; the building of a less scenographic city depends on the tensions
established by the conflicts themselves. The mixing, shuffling and stressing of
the borders between opaque spaces and bright spaces contain these tension
zones. It was exactly through the attempt of creating tension zones between
public and private uses, informality and formality, improvisation (jeitinho) and
regulation, transgression and institutionalization, opacity and transparency,
smoothness and roughness, the ordinary and the spectacular, the nomad and
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Körpererfahrungen der Stadt nicht wegradieren, die immer noch so latent und pulsierend in deren eher opaken, flauen und dissensuellen Räumen existieren. Vielleicht sollten wir die Idee des Widerstandes gerade als eine Uneinigkeit, ein Widersprechen und ein Missverständnis betrachten, als den Begriff des Politischen, wie
Rancière es vorschlägt (2000). Während die Erschaffung des Konsenses, der auf
das Verstecken von Konflikten zielt, eine Form der Entpolitisierung ist, wäre die Ausdrücklichkeit des Missverständnisses und des Widersprechens eine aktive Form
des Widerstands, der politischen Aktion.
SPANNUNG 2 – künstlerische Interventionen (im öffentlichen Raum)
x KoCA Inn (Weimarer Experiment)
Selbst wenn ein Großteil symbolischer Macht bereits vom Finanzkapital in der
laufenden Fabrikation konsensueller Bilder erfasst war, können wir immer noch in
feinfühligen Mikro-Mächten denken, mit der Möglichkeit zur kritischen Aktion, als
Mikro-Kriegsmaschinen. Eine Guerilla des Feinfühlenden, mit anderen Worten; ein
Widerstand jedoch nicht als gewöhnliche Opposition zweier Gegensätze, sondern
als nicht befriedete Koexistenz von Unterschieden, besonders den sinnlichen. Ein
Widerstand der Aufteilung des Sinnlichen, der eine einvernehmliche Konfiguration
aufdeckt, die auf unterschiedliche Weise nach künstlerischen Interventionen verlangt (Rancière 2005). Könnte Kunst als eine Form der dissentierenden Aktion gesehen werden? Eine, die es ermöglicht, verborgene Konflikte hinter der SpektakelBild-Stadt zu problematisieren oder gar zu erklären? Könnten wir die künstlerische
Erfahrung als einen Mikro-Widerstand ansehen, als eine sensitive Erfahrung, die
den vorherrschenden Konsens hinterfragt?
Chantal Mouffe legt nahe, Kunst zu denken als einen Förderer des Widersprechens, oder besser noch, als Konstrukteur des Dissens. Im Dialog mit Rancière
schreibt sie, dass Widersprechen, eng genommen, eine Differenz in der Aufteilung
des Sinnlichen ist. In anderen Worten wäre das Widersprechen ästhetisch, ein Konflikt zwischen bestimmten sinnlichen Systemen, oder die Beziehungen zwischen
heterogenen Formen des Sinnlichen. Die kritischen Kunst-Aktionen in der Stadt,
die als urbaner Mikro-Widerstand gedacht sind, versuchen, den öffentlichen Raum
zu besetzen und ihn sich anzueignen, um andere sinnliche Erfahrungen zu schaffen und vorzuschlagen, und um damit das versichernde und befriedete Bild des
öffentlichen Raumes, das das Konsens-Spektakel zu modellieren sucht, zu stören. In diesen Aktionen hat der Körper Priorität. Die urbane körperliche Erfahrung
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the sedentary, participation and exclusion, cultural and stereotyped, experimental
and touristy, everyday and repetitive simulacrum, body and scenario, precarious
and technologic, East and West, Salvador and Weimar, Brazil and Germany - that
the KoCA Inn experiment played upon. KoCA Inn problematized these tensions,
though at many times without a necessary critical distance due to its experiential
character.
During the KoCA Inn experiment the pacified image of its urban space was
perturbed, without being changed. To create tension zones, similar strategies
used by informal Brazilian builders (see Learning from favelas in this publication).
In other words, participants and bystanders themselves created and modified
new uses and spaces on a daily basis. It was attempted to produce adjacent to
Weimar’s classic old town, what I term a space in movement. Space in movement
not only concerns the physical space itself; it is also connected to the experience
of passing through space, the action of moving within it and, at the same time,
the space being transformed as a result of the movement that occurs within it.
Space in movement is directly connected to its actors, those who traverse these
spaces every day, but also those who build and transform space continuously.
The very idea of a space in movement requires the notion of action, or even
better, participation. Unlike the formal spaces, which are almost static and fixed
(planned, designed and finished), spaces in movement require the passive user
(the spectator) to almost always become actor (and/or co-actor) and participant.
The most informal areas of peripheral cities and suburbs of large cities are
spaces in constant movement. Their users and inhabitants are responsible for the
collective construction of these peripheral spaces, unlike users of a formal city
who rarely feel involved in the construction of their public spaces. The tension
between Salvador’s public spaces, which are mostly informally inhabited, and of
Weimar’s public spaces, which are mostly formally inhabited, was explicit.
Without doubt, during this 14-day experiment, the Sophienstiftsplatz – which
constantly mixed-up and re-shuffled notions of the public, collective, private, and
the institutional, – was lived, experienced, and engaged in. A number of tension
zones and conflicts emerged in the space. While the most real and externally
visible conflict was the night-time water balloon attack, there were many other less
explicit instances of conflict, particularly between participants of the experiment.
Some conflicts might have been eased or mitigated, perhaps, by the artistic and
cultural character of the proposal. On one hand, this very character legitimized it
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ist entscheidend, um Spannungen im öffentlichen Raum aufzudecken oder zu
schaffen. Was hier auf dem Spiel steht, ist die sinnliche Körper- und Dissenserfahrung, die dem Konsens-Bild entgegnet ohne hegemonial werden zu wollen, einzig
bedacht auf eine stabile Spannung im öffentlichen Raum, was ich als Tension Zone
(Spannungsfeld/ Kraftzone) bezeichne.
Nicht nur dass urbane Konflikte als legitim und notwendig erkannt werden
müssenm, auch die Entstehung einer weniger szenographischen Stadt hängt von
den Konflikten und Spannungen ab. Das Verschieben, Hervoheben und Vermischen von opaken Räumen und hellen Räumen und ihren Grenzen erhält Tension
Zones aufrecht. Das KoCA Inn-Experiment versuchte spielerisch einige solcher
Spannungsfelder zu schaffen – zwischen öffentlicher und privater Nutzung, informeller und formeller, Improvisation und Regulierung, Transgression und Institutionalisierung, opak und hell, glatt und rau, gewöhnlich und spektakulär, nomadisch
und sesshaft, Partizipation und Entfremdung, experimentell und touristisch, täglich
und scheinbildlich, Körper und Szenario, prekär und technologisch, Ost und West,
Salvador und Weimar, Brasilien und Deutschland. KoCA Inn problematisierte diese
Spannungen, wenn auch im Moment des Erfahrens oft die notwendige kritische
Distanz fehlte.
Während des KoCA Inn-Experiments wurde das befriedete Bild seines urbanen Raumes gestört, ohne aber geändert zu werden. Um Tension Zones zu schaffen, benutzten wir dieselben Strategien wie die informellen Erbauer brasilianischer
Städte (siehe Learning from favelas, in diesem Buch), anders ausgedrückt: Praktiker und Zuschauer schufen und veränderten und transformierten jeden Tag neue
Nutzungen und Räume. Wir versuchten dort, gleich neben Weimars klassischer
Altstadt, das zu produzieren, was ich bereits Raum in Bewegung genannt habe.
Der Raum in Bewegung ist nicht nur mit dem physischen Raum selbst verbunden. Vor allem ist er mit der Bewegung verbunden, mit der Erfahrung, den Raum zu
durchschreiten, und gleichzeitig die Änderungen zu erkennen, die dem Raum selber widerfahren während er durchschritten wird. Der Raum in Bewegung ist direkt
mit seinen Akteuren verbunden, mit jenen, die ihn jeden Tag durchqueren, aber
auch jenen, die sie kontinuierlich erschaffen und umgestalten. Die Idee des Raumes in Bewegung verlangt nach der Dimension des Handelns, oder besser noch:
nach Partizipation. Im Gegensatz zu den formellen, fast statischen, unveränderlichen (geplanten, gestalteten und fertig gestellten) Räumen, wird der passive Nutzer
(Zuschauer) im Raum in Bewegung fast immer zum Akteur (und/oder Ko-Akteur)
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as an artistic-urban experiment; but on the other hand, it limited and diluted the
experience. Perhaps, more important than the experiment itself was the life and
activity generated within that space and period of time, and the many debates
that fomented before, during and after the project, both in Salvador and in Weimar.
Dialogues emerged that dealt, in particular, with the project’s ambiguous artistic
and academic character, but also with the ambivalent public-institutional nature of
Sophienstiftsplatz, and the cultural differences between the participants and their
respective living experiences in different cities. Such debates allowed the creation
of new tension zones in other spaces, spheres and fields. In other words, different
theoretical-critical reflections about the public space this practical experiment
engaged in were critically and vivaciously incorporated – into the public space.
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oder zumindest zum Teilnehmer. Die informellsten Gebiete periphärer Städte und
Vorstädte großer Agglomerationen sind Räume in Bewegung. Ihre Nutzer/ Bewohner sind jene, die für deren kollektive Erschaffung die Verantwortung tragen, anders
als Nutzer einer formalen Stadt, die sich nur selten in die Erschaffung ihres urbanen
Raumes, des öffentlichen Raumes ihrer Stadt eingebunden fühlen. Die Spannung
zwischen Salvadors öffentlichem Raum, der weitgehend informell bewohnt/ affiziert wird, und dem öffentlichen Raum in Weimar, der weitgehend formell blieb, war
explizit.
Zweifellos wurde während des 14-tägigen Experiments der Sophienstiftsplatz
gelebt, erfahren und praktiziert – durch Vermischen und Verschieben von Öffentlichem, Kollektivem, Privatem und Institutionalisiertem. Einige Spannungsfelder
kamen dabei wirkungsvoll hervor und es wurden auch Konflikte geschaffen. Der
buchstäblichste und sichtbarste war der nächtliche Angriff durch Wasserbomben,
aber auch andere, weniger explizite entstanden, im Besonderen zwischen den Teilnehmern des Experiments. Einerseits erlaubte dies das Experiment selbst, andererseits limitierte und minderte es die Erfahrungen.
Vielleicht noch wichtiger als das Experiment selbst und sein tatsächliches
Leben innerhalb dieses Raumes und der Zeitspanne waren die vielen Debatten, die
vorher, währenddessen und danach in Salvador und in Weimar losgetreten wurden.
Seien es die doppelbödige künstlerisch-akademische Eigenschaft oder die nicht
eindeutige Eigenschaft des Öffentlichen-Institutionellen dieses öffentlichen Raumes
oder auch die kulturellen Differenzen zwischen den Teilnehmenden und ihrer jeweiligen Lebenserfahrungen in unterschiedlichen Städten. Solche Debatten erlaubten
die Schaffung anderer Tension Zones in anderen Räumen. Anders gesagt, verschiedene Übungen theoretisch-kritischer Reflexion über den öffentlichen Raum dieses
Experiments wurden in den öffentlichen Raum eingefügt.
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272
About the Public Condition of the
KoCA Inn Corner
Über die öffentlichen Gegebenheiten an der
KoCA Inn-Ecke
Aline Porto Lira, Cacá Fonseca, Clara Pignaton, EduARDO Rocha,
Diego Mauro, Ícaro Vilaça, Pedro Britto
Aline Porto Lira, Cacá Fonseca, Clara Pignaton, EduARDO Rocha,
Diego Mauro, Ícaro Vilaça, Pedro Britto
The Kiosk of Contemporary Art is situated at one of the most prominent
corners of the city of Weimar, in a small square with a large tree and two
flowerbeds. It is administered by a private group of “art enthusiasts” who bought
it from the city. This kiosk was used for an artistic installation called KoCA Inn
incorporating a part of the public space around it to realize private and collective
actions. During the two weeks of the project, these actions became an invitation
to / provocation of conviviality. They fostered an atmosphere of availability and
interactivity between participants, regular visitors and passers-by of the corner.
One day after the occupation of the kiosk came to an end, UrbanDE departed
from Weimar, allowing our group to reflect on the project with a critical distance.
The sharing of this experience with the Urban Lab research group, which is part
of the post-graduate programme in Urbanism at Universidade Federal da Bahia,
opened up new horizons for these reflections. One of the main criticisms referred
to the public condition of the KoCA Inn corner.
In a first reading, the project was considered to be an “occupation of the public
space”, as it was located at the corner of the main intersection of the city and
appropriated the kiosk’s surroundings, including the sidewalk. Another indicator
reinforcing this framing was the systematic inspection of the project by local
authorities. Their regulatory system has specific rules for the use of this space,
thus formalizing its configurations. To give some examples, it was forbidden to
touch or to interfere with the tree or the flowerbeds in any way. The kitchen had to
be moved to a covered place also not allowing passers-by direct access to it. The
placement of chemical toilets had to be modified after the hairdresser neighbor’s
official complaints. Traffic signs, posts and the circulation space had always to be
free of any obstruction; and the music had to be turned off punctually at 10 p.m.
Der Kiosk of Contemporary Art befindet sich an einer der wichtigsten Ecken
der Stadt Weimar, auf einem kleinen Platz mit einem großen Baum und zwei Blumenbeeten. Er wird von einer Gruppe „Kunst-Enthusiaste“ gemanagt, die ihn von
der Stadt gekauft hat. Der Kiosk wurde für die künstlerische Installation KoCA Inn
genutzt. Teile des umliegenden Platzes wurden mit in das Projekt einbezogen,
um Einzelaktionen und kollektive Aktivitäten zu realisieren. Während der zweiwöchigen Dauer des Projektes durchdrang die Verschiebung dieser Aktionen hin zu
zu einer Art öffentlicher Ausstellung, einer Art Einladung zur und Erschaffung von
Geselligkeit, eine Grundhaltung von Präsenz und Interaktion zwischen Teilnehmern, regelmäßigen Besuchen und Passanten.
Einen Tag nach Ende des Projektes verließ die brasilianische Gruppe Weimar.
Die Distanz erlaubte eine kritische Reflexion des Projektes. Es wurde der Forschungsgruppe Laboratório Urbano (Urbanes Labor), die Teil des postgradualen
Urbanistikstudiums an der Universidade Federal da Bahia ist, vorgestellt. Dabei
wurden neue Horizonte für die Reflexion eröffnet. Eine der Hauptfragen, die aufgeworfen wurde, bezog sich auf die öffentlichen Gegebenheiten der KoCA InnEcke.
Eine erste Lesart versteht die Installation als eine „Inbesitznahme des öffentlichen Raumes”, da sie sich an einer Ecke der Hauptkreuzung der Stadt befand
und sich den Platz, auf dem der Kiosk steht, und die angrenzenden Straßen
aneignete. Ein anderer Indikator für diese Lesart war die systematische Inspektion
des Projektes durch die lokale Behörde. Durch ein System von Regularien waren
spezielle Regeln festgelegt, die die Ausgestaltung des Ortes festlegten. Es war
zum Beispiel nicht erlaubt, in irgendeiner Weise mit dem Baum oder den Blumenbeeten in Berührung zu kommen oder sie zu stören. Die Küche musste an einen
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However, these rules were softened during the two weeks of the project.
Episodes like the fixing of clothes-lines in proximity to the kiosk, the placing of
bandeirolas de São João1 and of a pin board announcing the daily activities,
were tolerated. Especially when parties took place, regulations of interrupting
the music were not always obeyed, and the space between the two traffic lanes
was, at certain moments, occupied by extending the kiosk to the traffic islands by
placing an armchair, some benches, hammocks, sports equipment, and even a
banana tree and a plastic swimming pool.
These examples show tensions between uses and rules or, in other words,
between daily life and the laws that regulate public spaces. This extends the
discussion about the public and the private: these coexistences and interactions
shown by the privatization of public spaces and even more by the privatization of
the mechanisms of legislation and deliberation on public spaces. These tensions
refer to the relationships between powers and micro-powers that overstep
State actions and embrace the social and historical densities articulated in the
production of cities. Density is understood in the sense of an accumulation of
instances, legislations, of knowledge and power, modes of operation and
occupation, cultural and collective meaning that are mobilized in this production.
The kiosk’s density is constructed by its historical, social and cultural
peculiarities. In the GDR, the kiosk served as a newsstand. After the end of the
GDR, all stands of this kind in the city were removed, except for this kiosk which
was turned in 2002 into a cultural equipment where art exhibitions took place,
under a curatorship and the functionalization of its usage. This continuous usage
had already informed the population about the kiosk’s artistic character. The sociohistorical density of this space represents a peculiarity which makes it part of the
institutional and international circuits of the city. That’s why the corner of the kiosk
converts itself into an exceptional public space in Weimar. However, the setting
up of the KoCA Inn at the kiosk promoted an amplification and modification of the
space and its practices. It modified the profile of its regular visitors. It also created
a symbolic demarcation of new frontiers and territories, which again entered into
a dialogue with the historical density mentioned previously. The limits defined by
the type of use and presence, highlighted tensions between public and private
through an artistic and cultural action.
1
Small colorful flags used for the public festivities for Saint John, very popular in Brazil and Portugal
in the month of June.
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überdachten Ort verrückt werden, der keinen freien Zugang für Passanten zuließ.
Die Chemietoiletten mussten in Richtung des KoCA Inn-Platzes verlegt werden,
nachdem sich der Friseur darüber beschwert hatte, dass sie vor seinem Eingang
standen. Verkehrsschilder, Pfosten und Durchgangsorte hatten stets von jeglicher
Behinderung frei zu bleiben. Und die Musik musste pünktlich um 22 Uhr abgestellt werden.
Dennoch, während der zwei Wochen des Projektes weichten diese Regeln
langsam auf. Wäscheleinen wurden in der Nähe des Kiosks aufgehangen, bandeirolas de São João1 und eine Pinnwand, die die täglich stattfindenden Aktionen
bekannt gab, wurden angebracht. Besonders dann, wenn Partys stattfanden,
wurde die Vorgabe zur Beendigung der Musik nicht immer eingehalten. Auch der
Raum zwischen den zwei Fahrspuren der Straße wurde manchmal in Beschlag
genommen. Weitere Inseln entstanden durch das Aufstellen eines Sessels, von
Bänken, Hängematten, Fitnessgeräten und sogar eines Bananenbaumes und
eines aufblasbaren Plantschbeckens.
Diese Beispiele zeigen die enstandene Spannung zwischen der tatsächlichen
Nutzung und den Regeln, oder in anderen Worten: zwischen dem Alltagsleben
und den Gesetzen, die die Beziehungen im öffentlichen Raum prägen. Damit weitet sich die Diskussion über das Öffentliche und das Private aus. Die Koexistenzen
und Interaktionen, die durch die Privatisierung des öffentlichen Raumes und noch
mehr durch die Privatisierung der Gesetzgebungsmechanismen und der Reflexion über den öffentlichen Raum gezeigt werden, werden mit in Betracht gezogen. Diese Spannungen geben Machtverhältnisse und Mikro-Machtverhältnisse
wieder, die staatliche Aktionen überschreiten und welche die soziale und historische Dichte umfassen, die sich in der Produktion von Städten artikuliert. Dichte
wird dabei verstanden als Akkumulation von Instanzen, Gesetzgebungen, Wissen
und Macht, Handlungsweisen und Inbesitznahme, von kulturellen und kollektiven
Bedeutungen, die zu dieser Produktion mobilisiert werden.
Auf den Kiosk übertragen verstehen wir unter Dichte die historischen, sozialen und kulturellen Eigenheiten, die diesem Raum innewohnen. Während der
DDR-Zeit wurde er als Zeitungskiosk genutzt. Nach dem Ende der DDR wurden
alle anderen Kiosks dieser Art in der Stadt zerstört, nur dieser eine wurde in eine
1
Kleine bunte Fahnen die beim öffentlichen Fest des Hl. Johannes im Juni in Brazilien und Portugal
weit verbreitet sind.
275
Another relevant aspect in the discussion about the public space in Weimar
is that the city lives with exhibitions and interventions promoted by the Bauhaus’s
students, such as the Summary / Rundgang2 in which the KoCA Inn and the Hotel
Miranda participated in 2009. Such practices reinforce an open attitude in the
city about artistic events in urban space. This openness certainly influenced
the softening of rules and norms related to the use of this space, as it could be
observed in the experience of KoCA Inn. Yet, the questions around the public
condition of this experiment are still open: is it possible to use fixed categories
and an institutional discourse when articulating daily life and artistic intentions?
276
kulturelle Einrichtung umgewandelt, wo kuratierte Kunstausstellungen durch die
Funktionalisierung der Nutzung stattfanden. Der Kiosk war also schon ein regularisierter Ort mit einer entsprechenden Veranlagung und auch die Bevölkerung
kannte derartige Veranstaltungen bereits. Die sozial-historische Dichte dieses
Ortes stellt eine Besonderheit dar, sodass er sich in die institutionalisierten künstlerischen Kreise der Stadt einfügt. Aus diesem Grund verwandelt sich die Ecke
am Kiosk selbst in einen außergewöhnlichen öffentlichen Raum Weimars.
Die Installation des KoCA Inn am Kiosk förderte eine radikale Ausdehnung
und Veränderung des Ortes und seiner Gewohnheiten. Sie veränderte das Profil seiner regelmäßigen Besucher, bedeutete eine symbolische Demarkation von
neuen Grenzen und Territorien und trat wiederum in Dialog mit der historischen
Dichte, von der zuvor die Sprache war. Diese Einschränkungen wurden auch
durch die Art der Nutzung und der Präsenz bestimmt. Durch die künstlerische und
kulturelle Aktion wurden die Spannungen zwischen Öffentlich und Privat hervorgehoben.
Ein anderer Aspekt der Diskussion zum öffentlichen Raum in Weimar ist die
Tatsache, dass die Stadt mit Ausstellungen und Interventionen der Bauhaus-Studenten lebt, so zum Beispiel dem Summary / Rundgang2, an dem KoCA Inn und
Hotel Miranda 2009 teilnahmen. Solche Gepflogenheiten bestärken die offene
Haltung in der Stadt gegenüber künstlerischen Events im öffentlichen Raum, die
sicherlich das Aufweichen von Regeln und Normen im öffentlichen Raum, wie wir
es beim KoCA Inn beobachten konnten, beeinflussten. Die Fragen zum Thema
Öffentlich und Privat, die sich aus dieser Erfahrung ergeben, sind noch immer
offen: Ist es möglich, eine Aktion zu starten, die alltägliche Konfigurationen und
eine künstlerische Mobilisierung im institutionellen Feld bedeutet und die in festgelegte Kategorien passt?
2Yearly public exhibition of academic and artistic productions of the Faculties of Art, Media and
2
Architecture from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Medien und Architektur der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Jahresausstellung von akademischen und künstlerischen Produkten der Fakultäten Gestaltung,
277
278
Contested Time/Space at the Kiosk:
Notes on Border Situations in the
Public Realm
Umstrittene(r) Zeit/Raum am Kiosk :
Bemerkungen zu Grenzsituationen in der
Öffentlichkeit
Carlos LeÓn-XjimÉnez
Carlos LeÓn-XjimÉnez
Public art practices generate unexpected situations that require a city to
negotiate its own existence and identity. I want to analyze some topics dealing
with intervention strategies and attacks as a public reaction. Reflecting on past
experiences helps to understand the possible impact which underlines important
aspects of everyday living inside the city’s public realm.
The particular character of Weimar being a host city of a University with a
large number of international students1 runs parallel to the condition of it being
the World Heritage tourist destination “Classical Weimar” and consequently
European Cultural Capital 1999. These features portray two of the main economic
industries of the city and show how the related services provide employment for
residents of the city and the region. It is important not to forget the post-socialist
condition of Weimar and the urgency to create work opportunities in the heart of
the State of Thuringia.
The remodeling of Weimar according to the Classical revival historicism
describes a city where the center strives to remain congruent with its “original”
architectonic values, while the surrounding city blocks deal with the contemporary
life and traffic on the crossroads of important roadways (connecting the city center
to the main train station and roads to neighboring Jena and Erfurt).
KoCA Inn was positioned at one of these crossroads, the Sophienstiftsplatz.
This square is located 200 meters off Theaterplatz, the destination of the tourist
pilgrimage and the official city center. In this respect, it was important to propose
an alternative, more contemporary and symbolically “other” center at this location.
In a so called “period of crisis”, non-monetary economic strategies can provide
Eine Kunstpraxis im öffentlichen Raum generiert unerwartete Situationen, die
von einer Stadt erfordern, ihre eigene Existenz und Identität zu hinterfragen. Ich
will einige Themen analysieren, die sich mit Interventionsstrategien und Angriffen
als öffentliche Reaktion beschäftigen. Über vergangene Erfahrungen zu reflektieren hilft uns, zu erkennen, dass es einen eventuellen Einfluss gibt, der wichtige
Aspekte des Alltagslebens im öffentlichen Raum einer Stadt unterstreicht.
Eine von internationalen Studierenden1 besuchte Universitätsstadt zu sein,
gibt Weimar einen bestimmten Charakter, der parallel zu den Bedingungen der
Welterbe-Touristenstadt „Klassisches Weimar“ und der Kulturhauptstadt Europas
1999 verläuft. Diese Merkmale bestimmen zwei der wichtigsten Wirtschaftssektoren der Stadt und zeigen, wie die nachgefragten Dienstleistungen Arbeitsplätze
für die Einwohner der Stadt und der Region schaffen. Es ist wichtig, die postsozialistischen Bedingungen in Weimar und den Druck, Arbeitsplätze im Herzen
Thüringens zu schaffen, nicht zu vergessen. Die Umgestaltung Weimars im Geiste
eines die Klassik aufleben lassenden Historismus beschreibt eine Stadt, in der
das Zentrum danach strebt, seine „ursprünglichen“ architektonischen Werte zu
bewahren. Gleichzeitig nehmen die umliegenden Blöcke der Stadt das zeitgenössische Leben und den Verkehr an den Kreuzungspunkten wichtiger Straßen
auf, die die Innenstadt mit dem Bahnhof und den Nachbarstädten Jena und Erfurt
verbinden.
An einer dieser Kreuzungen, dem Sophienstiftsplatz, war KoCA Inn positioniert. Dieser Platz befindet sich 200 Meter vom Theaterplatz entfernt, dem Zielort der touristischen Pilgerreisen und dem offiziellen Stadtzentrum. Deshalb war
1
1
Fifteen percent of the students are foreigners (Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik: 2008)
Fünfzehn Prozent der Studierenden sind Ausländer (Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik: 2008).
279
resources and guarantee a kind of livelihood by changing consumer and social
interaction patterns. Also, such alternatives could be seen as a revisitation of the
values of solidarity during the socialist times.
Services and Public Offer
The KoCA Inn used the marketing strategies of services and offerings (flea
market, thrift store, open workshops, exchange service markets, free coffee-shop
and public meals) as public interfaces to rethink small-scale tools for economic
alternatives in creative ways, while also encouraging public participation and a
citizens’ dialogue exchange.
The whole project located itself in a kind of border condition – considering the
architectonic solutions used, its ephemeral character, the non-place environment
and the marginal people it attracted (not as a rule, but a testimony of isolation and
social invisibility, especially amongst the older generation); an intercultural project
with particular emphasis on alternatives. This almost “open-source” experience
confronted its identity during the process, redefining the way to organize and
resolve logistics ... not just “learning by doing” or “growing by testing”, but
showing an uncommon platform for public encounter in a kind of sheltered way.
It became a free stage to rehearse small-scale Do-It-Yourself possibilities, while
recovering the idea of the exchange and dialogue in broad and unexpected
ways.
Finally, regarding intercultural issues, it is important to keep in mind that
the migrant population in Weimar is an absolute minority with only 3.8 percent
(Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik, 2009) of foreigners living, in cultural terms and
in the public space, in a state near to invisibility. The KoCA Inn opened a window
for intercultural dialogue far away from what the conventional market has to offer.
On Public Reactions: An Attack
There are many details to analyze. Looking beyond the enthusiasm of the
majority of participants, families and young people taking part in the KoCA Inn
infrastructure and its activities, I want to highlight the condition of contested time/
space in which the project took place. Existing in the middle of nowhere, the Kiosk
gained the attention of many passers-by, most of them in buses and private cars.
In particular, there was one hostile encounter we experienced: a water balloon
attack by teenagers (using a car registered in Erfurt). Even though in the beginning
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es wichtig, an diesem Ort ein alternatives, zeitgenössischeres und symbolisch
„anderes“ Zentrum vorzuschlagen. In dieser sogenannten „Krisenzeit“ können
nicht-monetäre Wirtschaftsstrategien Ressourcen anbieten und eine Art Existenzgrundlage garantieren, indem Konsum und gesellschaftliche Interaktionsmuster
verändert werden. Des Weiteren könnten solche Alternativen auch als ein Wiederaufleben von Werten der Solidarität zu Zeiten des Sozialismus verstanden werden.
Dienstleistungen und öffentliche Angebote
Der KoCA Inn benutzte Dienstleistungen und Angebote (Flohmarkt, Sozialkaufhaus, offene Workshops, Tauschmärkte für Dienstleistungen, ein Gratis-Café
und öffentliche Mahlzeiten) als Marketingstrategien. Diese wurden zu öffentlichen
Schnittstellen zum kreativen Neudenken von Werkzeugen als ökonomische Alternativen. Gleichzeitig förderten sie die Partizipation und den Dialog zwischen den
Einwohnern der Stadt.
Das gesamte Projekt befand sich an einer Art Grenze, betrachtet man die
gewählten architektonischen Lösungen, den flüchtigen Charakter, die Umgebung
eines Nicht-Ortes und die marginalisierten Menschen, die das Projekt anzog (nicht
als eine Regel zu verstehen, sondern als Zeugnis für die Isolation und soziale
Unsichtbarkeit besonders innerhalb der älteren Generation). Es war ein interkulturelles Projekt, das Alternativen betonte. Die Identität dieses, so könnte man fast
sagen, „open-source“-Experiments definierte sich während des Prozesses neu, in
der Art und Weise, logistische Probleme zu organisieren und zu lösen … Nicht nur
„learning by doing“ oder „wachsen durchs ausprobieren“, sondern das Anbieten
einer Plattform für öffentliches Zusammentreffen, auf geschützte Art. Der Kiosk
wurde zu einer freien Bühne zur Probe von kleinen Do-It-Yourself-Möglichkeiten,
während die Idee vom Austausch und Dialog in weiten und unerwarteten Weisen
immer wieder neu entdeckt wurde.
Betrachtet man letztendlich die interkulturelle Thematik weiter, so ist es wichtig, im Auge zu behalten, dass Migranten in Weimar eine absolute Minderheit
mit gerade einmal 3,8% (Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik, 2009) sind. Kulturell
betrachtet, und im Straßenraum der Stadt, sind sie fast unsichtbar. Der KoCA Inn
hat ein Fenster für den interkulturellen Dialog geöffnet, fernab von den Angeboten
auf dem konventionellen Markt.
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it was perceived as a joke, the persistence and repetition of the attacks during the
four hour periods (from 10pm to 2am, for two consecutive nights, July 13 th and
14th) showed us a systematic strategy to scare the people who stayed overnight
on the scaffolding mezzanine.
Many questions arose from this attack: 1. Even though the Kiosk
was an art project, did some people feel it was an intrusion? And if so, what
kind of intrusion? 2. Were the architecturual solutions used perceived as
a staged “precarious design” in the cultural center - a kind of homelessly
intervention? 3. Were the attackers reacting to the freedom and liberty
exemplified at the Kiosk despite the conventional behavior expected in the public
space? As the Kiosk blurred the boundaries between private and public, did it
provide a possible framework for hate and intolerance against the project? (Could
this also be a contrasting remembrance of Ostalgie 2?) 4. Were the attacks
about the project’s open intercultural character ... a reaction against the amount
of foreign languages and people present?
Or was it perhaps because of the persisting presence of the project,
perceived as a symptom or symbol of what it means to experience poverty in the
middle of the city? Something that everyone wants to avoid: suddenly slums seen
in Third World countries appearing in “Classical Weimar”?
Maybe it is a matter of experiencing “otherness”. And this stage of alternative
“otherness” pointed out alternatives to local weaknesses, touching the wound that
normally no one wants to see (or be reminded of). It was an experiment on parallel
economies, also pointing out strategies far away from the support of possible
social welfare. Rather than merely discussing survival issues, it was attempting
to recover the feeling and sense of community and exchange - more and more
dissolved by the current, powerful, neo-liberal financial policies all over the world.
The German case is particular because its inhabitants did not experience this
until more recently3 and those who did experience it where from the East (like in
Weimar) because of the reunification process after the fall of the Wall. For many
people the disappearance of the GDR meant forced unemployment and the
experience of a radical other reality, as the State economy of the socialist era was
2
Ostalgie: Nostalgic feelings for the times of East (Ost) Germany
Über öffentliche Reaktionen: Ein Angriff
Es gibt viele Details zu analysieren. Ich möchte kurz über die Begeisterung
vom Großteil der Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer, Familien und jungen Leute, die
an der KoCA Inn-Infrastruktur und deren Aktivitäten beteiligt waren, hinwegsehen und die Kondition des angefochtenen Zeit/Raums des Projekts beleuchten. In
der Mitte von Nirgendwo existierend, gewann der Kiosk viel Aufmerksamkeit von
Passanten, die meistens in Bussen und Privatautos vorbeifuhren. Eine feindliche
Begegnung hatten wir: einen Wasserbombenangriff von Jugendlichen (aus einem
Auto mit einem Erfurter Kennzeichen heraus). Obwohl wir es am Anfang als Witz
verstanden, hat das Beharren und die Wiederholung der Angriffe in einem Zeitraum von vier Stunden (von 22 bis 2 Uhr morgens, für zwei aufeinander folgende
Nächte, den 13. und 14. Juli) gezeigt, dass es sich um eine systematische Strategie handelte, um die Leute, die auf dem oberen Gerüst übernachteten, einzuschüchtern.
Viele Fragen haben wir uns auf Grund dieser Attacke gestellt: 1. Auch
wenn es ein Kunstprojekt war, empfanden es manche Menschen als ein gewaltsames Eindringen? Und wenn dies der Fall war, welche Art von Eindringen war
es dann? 2. Wurden die genutzten architektonischen Lösungen als szenische
Darstellung angesehen, als „prekäres Design“ in einem kulturellen Zentrum – eine
Art Obdachlosen-Intervention? 3. Reagierten die Angreifer auf die Freiheit und
Ungezwungenheit, die der Kiosk ausstrahlte, und die dem konventionellen Verhalten im öffentlichen Raum gegenüber stehen? Der Kiosk verwischte die Grenzen
zwischen privat und öffentlich. Wurde dadurch ein Rahmen für Hass und Intoleranz gegen das Projekt geschaffen? (Könnte dies auch eine kontrastierende Erinnerung zur Ostalgie2 sein?) 4. Richteten sich die Angriffe gegen den offenen,
interkulturellen Charakter des Projektes … eine Reaktion auf die Anzahl an Sprachen und Menschen, die am Kiosk anzutreffen waren? Oder richteten sie sich
vielleicht gegen die beharrende Präsenz des Projektes, die als Symptom oder
Symbol für das Erleben von Armut inmitten der Stadt betrachtet wurde? Etwas,
das jeder und jede vermeiden will: plötzlich tauchen Slums, die man aus Entwicklungsländern kennt, im „klassischen Weimar“ auf?
Vielleicht hängt es mit dem Erleben von „Andersartigkeit“ zusammen. Und
dieser Zustand alternativer „Andersartigkeit“ zeigte Alternativen zu lokalen
3In comparison with other European countries like the radical United Kingdom experience with
Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in the 80´s, or Latin America in the 90´s.
282
2 Ostalgie: Nostalgisches Gefühl der ostdeutschen Vergangenheit gegenüber
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changed to typical Western capitalism.
In this sense we need to keep in mind that the public space is a dimension
of permanent negotiation. While it is important to receive friendly responses, the
hostility is also a possible feedback and it became apparent that KoCA Inn was
also understood as an annoyance for some people.
The morning after the attack I installed a poster with “Widerstand“ (resistance)
written in big letters... using some humor in the poster as to not provoke more
unwanted violence, but still highlighting self-irony (after the water balloon attacks).
The attackers returned the following night, but something was different and the
feeling of relative peace was destabilized for almost two more days. After this
unrest the project continued regularly with its own agenda.
Paying attention to the changing dynamic of the public space in terms of
social behavior, the perception of the city as calm, academic and cultural, was
blurred. The same street corner of Sophienstiftsplatz was used one year earlier
for a demonstration by neo-Nazis4, congregating radical right-wing people of
the entire region, as well as a counter-manifestation crowd of antifascist people
and hundreds of policemen. Changing times, changing spaces … a matter of
performance and staging (socio-political positions) inside the public dimension
of the city.
Schwächen auf, berührte Wunden, die normalerweise niemand sehen will (oder
an die niemand erinnert werden will). Es war ein Experiment zu Parallelwirtschaften, die Strategien jenseits möglicher sozialstaatlicher Unterstützung aufzeigten.
Anstatt Überlebensstrategien nur zu diskutieren, war das Projekt ein Versuch, das
Gefühl und den Sinn für Gemeinschaft und Austausch wiederzufinden, Dinge,
die mehr und mehr durch die gegenwärtige, mächtige und weltweite neoliberale
Finanzpolitik aufgelöst werden. In Deutschland ist dies insoweit besonders, als
dass die Einwohner dies bis vor Kurzem3 nicht erlebt hatten und diejenigen, welche dies durch den Fall der Mauer bedingt erlebten, kamen aus dem Osten (z.B.
Weimar). Für Viele bedeutete das Verschwinden der DDR Arbeitslosigkeit und das
Erleben einer völlig anderen radikalen Realität, da sich die staatliche Ökonomie
des Sozialismus zu einem typischen Westkapitalismus wandelte. In diesem Sinne
müssen wir im Kopf behalten, dass der öffentliche Raum ein Raum ist, der einem
ständigen Aushandlungsprozess unterliegt. Während es wichtig ist, nette Antworten zu erhalten, können auch Anfeindungen eine mögliche Reaktion sein. KoCA
Inn wurde von manchen Menschen auch als Belästigung empfunden.
Am Morgen nach dem Angriff hängte ich ein Poster auf, auf dem mit großen Buchstaben „Widerstand“ stand … ein bisschen Humor war dabei, um nicht
noch mehr ungewollte Gewalt zu provozieren, aber auch Selbstironie nach dem
Wasserbombenangriff. Die Angriffe wiederholten sich in der folgenden Nacht,
aber etwas war anders, und das Gefühl von relativem Frieden war für fast zwei
weitere Tage gestört. Nach dieser Unruhe ging das Projekt normal weiter, mit seiner eigenen Agenda.
Die Aufmerksamkeit auf veränderte Dynamiken des sozialen Verhaltens im
öffentlichen Raum gerichtet, wurde die Wahrnehmung der Stadt als ruhig, akademisch und kulturell gestört. Ein Jahr zuvor wurde dieselbe Straßenkreuzung am
Sophienstiftsplatz von Neonazis4 für eine Demonstration verwendet, bei der sich
rechtsradikale Leute aus der ganzen Region, eine Gegendemonstration aus Antifaschisten und Hunderten von Polizisten versammelten. Andere Zeiten, andere Orte
… eine Angelegenheit von Performance und in Szene setzen (sozialpolitischer
Positionen) in der öffentlichen Sphäre einer Stadt.
3Dies steht im Gegensatz zu Erfahrungen in anderen europäischen Staaten, wie etwa den radikalen
Erlebnissen unter der Premierministerin Margaret Thatcher in den 80er Jahren in Großbritannien, oder in
4
Further text and photos availabe on: http://www.mut-gegen-rechte-gewalt.de/news/reportagen/
weimar-2008/.
284
Lateinamerika in den 90er Jahren.
4Details unter http://www.mut-gegen-rechte-gewalt.de/news/reportagen/weimar-2008/
285
286
Exile on Main Street: On the Beauty of
a Random Street Community
Exile on Main Street: Über die Schönheit
einer zufälligen Straßengemeinschaft
Naomi Tereza Salmon
Naomi Tereza Salmon
(…) You would talk for hours and hours on the verbs ‘seeing’, ‘feeling’
etc., verbs describing personal experience. We get a peculiar kind
of confusion or confusions which comes up with all these words.
(Wittgenstein, cited in Barret 1966: 1)
(…)You would talk for hours and hours on the verbs ‘seeing’, ‘feeling’
etc., verbs describing personal experience. We get a peculiar kind of
confusion or confusions which comes up with all these words. (Wittgenstein: in Barret 1966: 1)
The KIOSK09 group chose the notion of appropriation as the main thematic
alignment for the exhibition series in 2009. With this nexus as a departure point
– the artists’ interacting with other artists - the series intended to show and get
involved with the contemporary phenomena of mutual reference, of re-utilizing
and adoption in art. In our digital age, appropriation art projects occur in large
quantity and quality. They are fast to develop, wide-spread and characterized by
this phenomena in which artists annex the intellectual property of other artists
and local art institutions. For example: the Weimar National Theatre with Benedikt
Brown’s Deutscher National Kiosk, Eigenheim Gallery with Anke Hanneman’s
Eigenkiosk, Stadtwerke Weimar with Anna Giersters StadtwerksKiosk, and
with Felix Ruffert’s KoMA internationally referencing the MoMA. This includes
appropriating and subversively transforming the institutions’ logos, invitation
cards and websites. This concept has challenged us, and this challenge was then
projected onto the kiosk and its audience.
The kiosk in Weimar is well established and serves as a reference point
for both art and university communities since 2001. Weimar’s art mile now
incorporates the New Museum, the galleries Marke.6 and Eigenheim, the
Fotothek, Harry Graf Kessler Exhibition Hall and the kiosk. Starting in April 2009,
the kiosk, which was previously known as KoCA (Kiosk of Contemporary Art),
applied this new concept requiring each exhibition to create a new sign, new
Als Leitmotiv für die anstehende Ausstellungsserie wurde von der Gruppe
KISOK09 das Thema Aneignung gewählt. Mit diesem Zusammenhang als Ausgangspunkt – Künstler interagieren mit anderen Künstlern – war es Anliegen der
Ausstellungsserie, sich mit dem gegenwärtigen Phänomen der mutual reference,
der Wiederverwendung und Anpassung von Kunst zu beschäftigen. In unserem digitalen Zeitalter sind wir mit einer quantitativen und qualitativen Fülle und
der schnellen Entstehung und Verbreitung von Appropriation Art-Projekten konfrontiert. Besonders prägend ist das Phänomen, dass Künstler an das geistige
Eigentum anderer Künstler und lokaler Kunstinstitutionen anknüpfen. Zum Beispiel: Weimarer Nationaltheater mit Benedikt Brauns Deutscher National Kiosk,
Galerie Eigenheim mit Anke Hannemans Eigenkiosk, Stadtwerke Weimar mit Anna
Giersters StadtwerksKiosk und eine internationale Institutionen wie dem MoMA
mit Felix Rufferts KoMA. Die Aneignung beinhaltet das subversive Verändern der
Logos der Institutionen, der Einladungskarten und Webseiten. Dieses Konzept hat
uns herausgefordert und diese Herausforderung wurde dann auf den Kiosk und
seine Besucher übertragen.
Der Kiosk hat sich in Weimar einen Namen gemacht und ist seit 2001 Bezugspunkt für Künstler und für die Universität. Weimars Kunstmeile besteht nun aus
dem Neuen Museum, den Galerien Marke.6 und Eigenheim, der Fotothek, der
Kunsthalle Harry Graf Kessler und dem Kiosk. Seit April 2009 wird der Kiosk, der
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website and new Corporate Identity for each occupation. This relies greatly on the
ideas of the artists invited and chosen to exhibit by the KIOSK09 jury. This jury is
made up of participants of the practical course When Artists Curate Art which had
sent a call for proposals to selected Alumni earlier in that year.
From the beginning, the name KoCA Inn was proposed for this event by the
German-Brazilian artist group UrbanDÆ and project manager Daniela Brasil. It
was clear that people would be sleeping there, as well as at the Hotel Miranda,
and so the appropriation of the Kiosk of Contemporary Art as an institution began.
The kiosk of many names became the KoCA Inn.
As this UrbanDÆ project developed, so too did this idea of turning the
kiosk into a favela. Several questions occurred: Is this kiosk one among many
social-community human plastics, like for example WochenKlausur1, or rather is
this a new experiment in an interdisciplinary merging of architecture, urbanism,
laboratory and art? What would be the effect of so artificially created temporal
poverty? Would it become a spectacle of the poor or for the poor? Would KoCA
Inn reflect a false image of poverty?
In her book TRAining for ART, Ariella Azoulay (1991) writes that although
the public domain is being administrated by both public and private authorities
such as: government, municipality, police, commerce, etc., the monopoly always
stays in the hand of the government. Yet, groups with different attributes like
urban institutions, public NGOs and private businesses representing different
interests such as economy, ecology, culture and politics, must negotiate between
themselves as well as with the State in order to synchronize their objectives with
the state of things in the realm of the public sphere (Azoulay, 1991). Initially, the
structure of KoCA Inn was based on illegality and non-permissiveness, yet we
chose the permissive way of cooperating with the city administrative infrastructure
(the city council, Grünflächenamt2 etc.), in addition to communicating with the
neighbors, all of which seemed to be well disposed towards us.
1
WochenKlausur: Since 1993 and on invitation from different art institutions, the artist group
WochenKlausur develops concrete proposals aimed at small but nevertheless effective improvements
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zuvor KoCA (Kiosk of Contemporary Art) hieß, unter diesem Konzept geführt. So
verlangte jede Ausstellung nach einem neuen Schild, einer neuen Website und
einer neuen Corporate Identity, die sich an den Ideen der ausstellenden Künstler
orientierte. Die Jury des KIOSK09 bestand aus den Teilnehmern des Fachkurses When Artists Curate Art der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Die Ausschreibung
wurde an ausgewählte Alumni geschickt, aus denen schließlich das KIOSK09Kuratorium eine Auswahl traf.
Der Name KoCA Inn wurde von Anfang an von der deutsch-brasilianischen
Gruppe UrbanDÆ und der Künstlerin und Projektkoordinatorin Daniela Brasil vorgeschlagen. Der Name macht deutlich, dass dort, ebenso wie im Hotel Miranda,
Menschen übernachten würden; und so begann die Aneignung der Institution
Kiosk of Contemporary Art. Der Kiosk der vielen Namen wurde zum KoCA Inn.
Als sich die Kooperation mit UrbanDÆ weiter entwickelte und sich mit ihr
das Konzept zu einer Favela wandelte, traten mehrere Fragen auf: Ist dieser Kiosk
einer von vielen social-community human plastics, wie etwa WochenKlausur1 als
leitendes Beispiel, oder ist er ein neues Experiment einer interdisziplinären Vereinigung von Architektur, Urbanistik, Labor und Kunst? Und was würde der Effekt
einer solch künstlich kreierten, temporären Armut sein? Ist es ein Spektakel der
Armen oder für die Armen? Könnte der Kiosk ein falsches Bild von Armut reflektieren?
Ariella Azoulay (1991) schreibt in ihrem Buch TRAining for ART, dass, auch
wenn der öffentliche Raum von öffentlichen und privaten Stellen verwaltet wird,
beispielsweise von der Regierung, der Stadt, der Polizei oder dem Kommerz, das
Monopol doch immer in der Hand der Regierung bleibt. Verschiedene Gruppen,
wie städtische Institutionen, NGOs oder Unternehmen, die unterschiedliche Interessen, zum Beispiel wirtschaftliche, ökologische, kulturelle und politische vertreten, müssen untereinander und mit dem Staat verhandeln, um ihre eigenen Ziele
mit dem Stand der Dinge im öffentlichen Raum abzugleichen (Ebd: 77). Ursprünglich war die Struktur des Kiosks auf Illegalität und Unerlaubtem gegründet, doch
1
WochenKlausur: seit 1993 von verschiedenen Kunstinstitutionen eingeladen, entwickelt die Künst-
lergruppe WochenKlausur konkrete Projektvorschläge für kleine, aber deswegen nicht minder effektive
to socio-political deficiencies. Proceeding even further and invariably translating these proposals into
Verbesserungen sozio-politischer Mängel. Sie gehen sogar noch weiter und übertragen diese Vorschläge
action, artistic creativity is no longer seen as a formal act, but as an intervention into society. Source:
immer in konkrete Aktionen, so dass die künstlerische Kreativität nicht länger als formaler Akt, sondern
http://www.wochenklausur.at/index1.php?lang=en 28Sept09 12:21
als eine Intervention in die Gesellschaft gesehen werden muss. Quelle: http://www.wochenklausur.at/
2
index1.php?lang=en 28Sept09 12:21
German translation for “Office for Green and Open Space.”
289
290
The rights to express, talk, gather, convey ideas, demonstrate, etc. are
not a frame of the democratic game, but provide the circumstances that
allow the existence of this game (Azoulay, 1991: 77).
dann entschieden wir uns für den nachgiebigen Weg der Kooperation mit der
Stadt (Stadtrat, Grünflächenamt, usw.). Außerdem kommunizierten wir mit den
Nachbarn, die uns alle gut gestimmt schienen.
When compared internationally, from my experience, the German government
and public funds are very generous and encouraging with their immense support
for such public projects. The KoCA Inn was supported and co-financed by Fonds
Soziokultur which allowed a utopian idea to be realized, if only for a little time.
Thanks to their support, funding was not a major obstacle for this project. The
funds were used to build a beautiful, safe, tree-friendly favela. The basic structure
was located around the kiosk and completed with a kitchen, toilets and all the
other necessary facilities. The base structure was in place, enabling the contents
of this space to grow. In the actual duration of this project the KoCa Inn expanded
its own boundaries via permissiveness, thus allowing it to burst those same
boundaries from within. Once the planning was over, it was time to witness the
unpredictable outcome brought about from the “street factor” and the public
sphere, and how the public would embrace this project.
Many different activities and events ranging from cooking, holding lectures
and meetings to live music and parties took place on a daily basis. These events
were announced on a blackboard visible to anyone passing by. Some events
moved beyond conventional boundaries, among them the workshop Searching
for Freedom, in which three juvenile prisoners aged 16 and 17 from the JAAWeimar youth prison were accompanied by Gilda Bartel, an employee of Boje
e.V. and Lucian Patermann, a member of Color Violence e.V. The three youths
came to the Kiosk daily where they were welcome guests. Moreover, the kiosk
gave them the opportunity to experience and be in a different space. Another
event which took place on a Saturday afternoon was the Data Picnic (kopfschrott.
wordpress.com, Sept. 27, 2009) organized by KIOSK09 and the free initiative
Maschinenraum, with Bernd Naumann and Max Albrecht as facilitators. It offered
the possibility to exchange music and films in a cosy atmosphere, along some
cooking. A group of interested participants brought their computers, cables and
memory storage devices and sat together in an “open air private salon”. This may
be perceived like any Internet café where people mostly sit alone; at the kiosk,
however, there was active communication; impressions and points of view were
shared. Thus, in this activity, the kiosk showed that there is a certain urge to get
… The rights to express, talk, gather, convey ideas, demonstrate, etc.
are not a frame of the democratic game, but provide the circumstances
that allow the existence of this game. (Azoulay, 1991:71)
Wenn ich meine Erfahrungen hier mit der internationalen Situation vergleiche, muss ich feststellen, dass die deutsche Regierung und öffentliche Finanzierung solchen öffentlichen Projekten gegenüber sehr großzügig und ermutigend sind. Der KoCA Inn wurde vom Fonds Soziokultur kofinanziert, was die
Umsetzung einer utopischen Idee für einen kurzen Zeitraum erlaubte. Dank dieser Unterstützung war die Finanzierung dieses Projekts kein großes Problem. Sie
wurde genutzt, um eine schöne, sichere und baumfreundliche Favela zu bauen.
Die Hauptstruktur wurde um den Kiosk herum gebaut und um eine Küche, Toiletten und alle anderen notwendigen Vorrichtungen ergänzt. Die grundlegende
Struktur war installiert und erlaubte es, dass die Inhalte dieses Raumes wachsen
konnten. Über die Projektdauer hinweg weitete der KoCA Inn seine Grenzen in
Freizügigkeit aus und erlaubte so das Durchbrechen der Grenzen von innen. Nach
dem Ende der Planung war es an der Zeit, zu beobachten, welches Ergebnis sich
durch die Einflüsse des „street factor“ und des öffentlichen Raums ergeben und
wie die Bürger es annehmen würden.
Viele verschiedene Aktionen, von Kochen über Vortäge und Treffen bis zu
Live-Musik und Partys, fanden täglich statt. Diese Ereignisse wurden für alle Vorbeikommenden gut sichtbar an einem Schwarzen Brett bekannt gegeben. Einige
Veranstaltungen waren außerhalb konventioneller Grenzen, so etwa der Workshop Auf der Suche nach Freiheit, bei dem drei jugendliche Strafgefangene der
JAA Weimar zwischen 16 und 17 Jahren von Gilda Bartel, einer Mitarbeiterin von
Boje e.V. und Lucian Patermann von Color Violence e.V. begleitet wurden. Die
drei kamen täglich zum Kiosk, wo sie willkommene Gäste waren und ihnen die
Möglichkeit gegeben wurde, an einem anderen Ort zu sein und diesen zu erfahren. Ein anderes Ereignis war das Daten Picknick, das an einem Samstag Nachmittag von KIOSK09 und der freien Initiative Maschinenraum unter der Leitung
von Bernd Naumann und Max Albrecht durchgeführt wurde. Dort konnten Musik
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out of the box and be connected. Yet, this did not change the natural tendency of
the members of this digital community, they continued to document and upload
impressions immediately onto the Internet, but not in the same intensity which
would otherwise be considered as normal. Some made an effort to write, send
iPhone pictures and publish twits while hanging around, for example:
EINS78 @skinnermike im sitting in the streets, outside a kiosk. From
inside there is the projection of a fun brazilian trash movie on the window.
(TweetDeck, July 16, 2009)
Or blog comments:
So, we spend most of our time at the moment preferably at the kiosk.
Each time a little different, every time again, beautiful. At times more
exciting, at times just simply chilled out. And above all, for many so
“around the clock”, that no one finds the time to put it online. Therefore
at this point a few impressions compiled from the previous days. Long
live the snapshot. (Colorviolence.net, Sept 28, 2009)
As Azoulay comments:
The public domain cannot be captured in the camera lens, neither can
it be summoned to a point of view. The public domain will exceed the
camera lens since it is made out of countless points view, imposing on it
boundaries and signs, each creating a new point of view at the same time,
which is then a blind spot in another point of view. (Azoulay, 1991: 77)
und Filme in einer gemütlichen Atmosphäre, inklusive Kochen, getauscht werden.
Eine Gruppe Interessierter brachte ihre Computer, Kabel und Speichermedien mit
und saß in einem „open air private salon“ zusammen. Anders als in einem Internetcafé, in dem die Menschen fast ausschließlich alleine herumsitzen, gab es am
Kiosk, der wohl ähnlich aussah, aktive Kommunikation; es wurden Eindrücke und
Meinungen ausgetauscht. Diese Aktion am Kiosk zeigte, dass ein gewisser Drang
besteht, Boxen zu verlassen und sich zu verbinden. Das veränderte die natürliche
Tendenz der Mitglieder dieser digital community allerdings nicht, sie dokumentierten und uploadeten weiterhin permanent Eindrücke ins Internet, aber nicht in der
gleichen Intensität, die sonst als normal angesehen worden wäre. Einige unternahmen die Anstrengung zu schreiben, iPhone Bilder zu versenden und twits zu
veröffentlichen, während sie dort herumhingen, so zum Beispiel:
EINS78 @skinnermike ich sitze auf der Straße, vor einem Kiosk. Von
Innen ist eine Projektion eines lustigen brasilianischen trash Films im
Fenster. (Tweet Deck, July 16th 2009)
oder Blog Kommentare:
… also wir halten uns momentan ja am liebsten am Kiosk auf. Immer
wieder ein bißchen anders, immer wieder schön. Mal aufregend und mal
einfach nur entspannt. Und vor allem für viele so „rund-um-die-uhr“ das
keiner dazu kommt es mal online zu bringen. Deshalb an dieser Stelle
einige wenige Eindrücke, zusammengetragen aus den letzten Tagen. Es
lebe der Schnappschuss. (Colorviolence.net: 28 September 2009)
Azoulay schreibt:
The event itself was not difficult to document. This was partly because the
nature of this action was very compatible to documentation and also because we,
as an art community, have become so familiar with this process of documentation.
And so documentation easily became part of the activities at the KoCA Inn, but
not its main goal. Maybe the needlessness to describe the event while it was
occurring caused the total participation and exchange of input/output positions
played during the action. Things were personally transmitted and the KoCA Inn
became as addictive as its name would suggest. Becoming too genuine of an
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The public domain cannot be captured in the camera lens, neither can
it be summoned to a point of view. The public domain will exceed the
camera lens since it is made out of countless points of view, imposing
on it boundaries and signs, each creating a new point of view at the
same time, which is then a blind spot in another point of view. (Azoulay,
1991: 77)
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experience to just be tagged on Facebook.
“Favelize yourself and the rest will follow”, seemed to become the motto
of the project. The weather was cold and yet a hammock-culture evolved.
Participants from both groups slept on site throughout the two week duration
of the project. Travellers from outside Weimar heard about the project and also
came to stay as overnight guests. The interaction became all about tolerating,
communicating, giving space, taking place, and it seemed like each has found
their role while at the same time keeping their individual mark visible. We gained
richness and a sense of responsibility among ourselves. This junction had a place
for all those who desired it: a mix of artists, art lovers, homeless people, social
drop-outs, geeks, nerds and people living alternative lifestyles were permanent
fixtures at the kiosk. Thus allowing UrbanDÆ to easily “brazilianize” our hearts.
This entire happening took place in the kiosk and outside it; on the pavement,
under the tree, behind, and above the kitchen, at one of Weimar’s busiest traffic
intersections, and even with a traffic island annexed to the main structure.
One could easily see the signs of serious deregulation not only in the favelakiosk structure, but also in the lives of the surrounding community. The KoCA Inn
turned out to be a place open to everyone. It was an inviting, accepting and nonintimidating environment. A strong sense of belonging was easily noticeable, and
when not actively participating you would be contributing as an active observer.
If the Internet gives free access to all participants then, in that respect, the KoCA
Inn has become a well-connected offline community behaving like an online one.
Azoulay talks about a “gate-out” from the private sphere that creates a border to
the public one. In this respect we went outside one box in order to find ourselves
back inside a new one. We were continuing to have the same behaviours: chatting,
sharing links, documenting, as if we were in the privacy of our own home, except
in this action we were doing so in the public sphere. A digital neighborhood come
to life.
The beginning of the public sphere is characterized by the appearance
of places in which these rights are implemented in a public manner in
both senses of the concept – public as opposed to private, and public as
in the open – something everyone can observe. (Azoulay, 1991: 71)
It seems to me that there is the possibility to create an Internet and real-
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Es war nicht schwer, das Ereignis selbst zu dokumentieren. Dies lag teilweise
in der Natur der Veranstaltung, die sehr dokumentationsfreundlich war, und teilweise daran, dass wir in der Kunstszene mitlerweile sehr vertraut mit Dokumentationsprozessen sind. Und so wurde Dokumentation ein Teil der Aktivitäten am
KoCA Inn, aber nicht sein Hauptziel. Vielleicht war es das Fehlen der Notwendigkeit, das Ereignis während seiner Existenz zu beschreiben, was die totale Teilnahme und den Austausch von Input und Output, der während der Aktion stattfand, ermöglichte. Dinge wurden persönlich weitergegeben und der KoCA Inn
wurde so, wie sein Name vorschlägt, zur Sucht. Er war zu besonders, um auf
Facebook getaggt zu werden.
„Faveliziere dich selbst und der Rest wird folgen”, schien zum Motto des Projekts zu werden. Es war kalt, und dennoch entwickelte sich eine Hängemattenkultur. Mitglieder beider Teams schliefen während der zwei Wochen am KoCA
Inn. Auswärtige Reisende hörten von dem Projekt und blieben ebenfalls als Übernachtungsgäste. Die Interaktion hatte vor allem mit Toleranz, Kommunikation,
Raum geben und Platz nehmen zu tun. Es scheint, als hätte jeder seine Rolle
gefunden und dabei dennoch seine Individualität behalten. Wir gewannen an
Erfahrung und an Verantwortungsgefühl für einander. Diese Kreuzung bot einen
Raum für alle, die nach einem solchen suchten: ständig war eine Mischung aus
Künstlern, Kunstliebhabern, Wohnungslosen, sozialen Aussteigern, Geeks, Nerds
und alternativ lebenden Menschen am Kiosk anzutreffen. So hat es UrbanDÆ
geschafft, unsere Herzen zu „brasilianisieren“. Dieses Happening fand im und um
den Kiosk herum statt, auf dem Bürgersteig, unter dem Baum, vor und über der
Küche, an einer von Weimars meistbefahrenen Straßenkreuzungen und sogar auf
einer gegenüberliegenden Verkehrsinsel.
Es war nicht schwer, die Zeichen einer bedeutenden Deregulierung zu sehen,
nicht nur an der Struktur des Favela-Kiosks, sondern auch im Leben der umliegenden Bevölkerung. Der Kiosk wurde zu einem Ort, der für alle offen war, einladend,
tolerant und nicht einschüchternd. Ein Dazugehörigkeitsgefühl stellte sich schnell
ein, und wenn man nicht aktiv teilnehmen wollte, so wurde man doch wenigstens zu einem aktiven Beobachter. Wenn das Internet einen freien Zugang für alle
ermöglicht, dann wurde der KoCA Inn in diesem Sinne zu einer gut vernetzten offline community, die sich wie eine online community verhielt. Azoulay spricht von
einem Tor aus der Privatsphäre heraus, das die Grenze zur öffentlichen Sphäre
markiert. In dieser Hinsicht sind wir aus der einen Box herausgetreten, um uns in
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life intertwined relationship where art could serve as a mediator. The question
remains: What had enabled such active participation? Was it simplicity? Could
“assumed poverty” free and connect? Was it the favela itself, or the artistic input?
In my eyes it was the artist in a favela situation that made the difference. Artistic
freedom and the desire to act privately outside were the goals and the favela
became the enabling tool. Artists should be working more in groups than as
individuals, and maybe even more social tasks should be handed over to them.
Projects like this do have the qualities attributed to them by Émile Durkheim via
Theodor Adorno: such projects are social facts and art is not merely something
contemplating, but something to actively influence the social sphere.
einer neuen Box wiederzufinden. Wir unterbrachen unser altes Verhalten nicht: wir
quatschten, tauschten Links und dokumentierten weiter so, als wären wir noch in
der Privatheit unserer Häuser, nur waren wir im öffentlichen Raum. Eine digitale
Nachbarschaft wurde lebendig:
The beginning of the public sphere is characterized by the appearance
of places in which these rights are implemented in a public manner in
both senses of the concept – public as opposed to private, and public as
in the open – something everyone can observe (Azoulay, 1991: 71).
Mir scheint, als sei es möglich, eine Beziehung zwischen Internet und realem Leben herzustellen, bei der die Kunst eine Vermittlerrolle einnehmen kann.
Die Frage bleibt: Was hat eine solche aktive Teilnahme ermöglicht? War es Einfachheit? Konnte die „angenommene Armut“ befreien und verbinden? War es die
Favela selbst, oder der künstlerische Input? In meinen Augen war es der Künstler in einer Favela-Situation, der den Unterschied ausmachte. Künstlerische Freiheit und der Wunsch, in der Öffentlichkeit privat zu handeln, waren die Ziele, und
die Favela wurde zum Werkzeug, mit dem dies ermöglicht wurde. Künstler sollten viel mehr als Gruppen anstatt als Einzelkünstler arbeiten und vielleicht sollten
auch noch mehr soziale Aufgaben an sie abgegeben werden. Projekte wie dieses
haben die Qualitäten, die ihnen durch Émile Durckheim via Theodor Adorno zugeschrieben wurden: solche Projekte sind soziale Fakten und Kunst ist nicht allein
etwas, das betrachtend bleibt, sondern aktiv die soziale Sphäre beeinflusst.
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Theoretical
Musings
Learning from Favelas*
1. The Culture of the Jeitinho or the Jeitinho as a Condition for Survival
When looking up the colloquial term jeitinho (way – in the diminutive form)
in the Portuguese Language Dictionary, we find it listed as Brazilian jeitinho. This
shows that the word is considered a characteristic Brazilian trait, defined as an
“able, clever and astute way to achieve something; especially something that
seems particularly difficult for most people” (Houaiss, 2001).
The anthropologist Roberto da Matta extends further this definition of the
term: “In Brazil, in between the ‘possible’ and the ‘impossible’, we find a way
(jeito). In its classical form, the jeitinho demands precisely this: a way that manages
to conciliate all the different interests (…) the jeitinho is such a way and a style of
acting (…) therefore the wheeler-dealer (malandro) would be a professional of the
jeitinho and of the art of surviving in the most difficult situations”1 (da Matta, 1994:
100).
The principle of the jeitinho would then be a typically Brazilian way of doing
things that comes across as a shortcut, if compared to the usual norms, or even
to the law; be it for good – leading to creativity; or for evil – leading to corruption.
This fine line between creativity and corruption is rather flexible and unstable. The
word itself has a direct relationship with the “waist flexibility” (NT: jogo de cintura,
which means “elbow room”) and with the swinging of the wheeler-dealer’s walk,
which we call ginga2 (swing). The ginga (swing) is the body expression of the
jeitinho, its physical representation. It can be observed in the dancers-fighters of
capoeira, in the musicians-dancers of samba, in the players-dribblers of football
and in the dwellers-builders from the slums (favelas).
In its origins, the jeitinho referred to the shortcuts that were created in order
to bypass the bureaucratic difficulties inherited from Portuguese colonial times.
This practice gained a more comprehensive meaning and nowadays is a synonym
for improvisation and informality. The jeitinho can be seen as a typically Brazilian
talent: the art of overcoming difficult situations. When there seems to be no
solution to a problem or situation we usually say, “there is no way (jeito)”; by the
same token, when it is believed that one can solve a problem, we usually say “we
will find a way (jeito)”. The jeitinho, small way (jeito), appears as an alternative
possibility, a small shortcut or breach to a problem for which, at first, there was no
way to solution.
The culture of jeitinho is directly linked on one hand to historical legal-political
issues – when it leads to corruption; and on another to serious national socialeconomical problems – when it leads to creativity. The creative jeitinho, in the
large majority of cases, would be a necessary condition for survival, generating
diverse inventive processes. Survival both in its basic meaning and as cultural
survival. Creativity appears whenever one is faced with difficulties and with the
need to survive in adversity. When one cannot do something, or something is
forbidden, one invents a way of circumventing the laws, in a manner unforeseen
by ethical codes. The favelas, which grow in the big Brazilian cities, are a clear
example of the first type of survival, and the development of samba in the favelas
exemplifies the second type of survival, the cultural survival.
The origins of this creative jeitinho can be traced back to the colonization
process of the country, resulting from the meeting of the Europeans with both
the indigenous populations and to a much larger degree with the slaves the
* This text is part of The role of the jeitinho in the Brazilian Culture, originally written in 2003 for the book
2
the oar used at the stern of a boat in order to move it from portside to starboard and “the pole which by
that makes an apologia to vernacular-commercial northern American architecture, dated from1972.
pushing it against the bottom moves a boat in shallow waters”. By implication one started calling ginga
Also, see the classic by the same author: Carnavais, malandros e heróis. Para uma sociologia do
a certain swing of a body in movement. Consequently, ginga also started to be related to samba, to the
dilema brasileiro, (Carnivals, wheeler-dealers and heroes – Towards a Sociology of the Brazilian Dilemma)
movement of the hips, to the swinging, to the swaggering; to be related to the capoeira, when the fighter
Rio de Janeiro, Guanabara, 1990.
feints a movement to deceive the opponent; and in football, especially in the dribbling movements.
1
300
Refer to our book Estética da Ginga, 2001. Ginga (the swing) is a word originally used to name both
“Charm and Density” (edited by Wim Nijenhuis, not published), and its title aludes to Robert Venturi,
Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour’s well-known text Learning from Las Vegas, an ironic provocation
Theoretical Musings
Theoretical Musings
301
Portuguese brought from Africa. The jeitinho as a cultural trait would therefore
have African origins, in the ways the slaves managed to preserve their original
cultural traits, which were also an issue of survival. This cultural survival is directly
related to the cultural mixture, typically found in mixed-race peoples. This was
the way, for instance, by which capoeira – originally a fight – became a dance,
or the way by which religious syncretism was born, uniting African Candomblé
to Portuguese Catholicism. Several of these cultural traits were forbidden and
people had to fight for them. However, once a way was found for them to survive
culturally, these traits became national symbols, as it happens with samba, which
mingles African rhythms with local adaptations.
The cultural result of the creative jeitinho is the survival of different cultures
that live peacefully side by side, and as such it is directly linked to the so called
brasilidade (essential nature of Brazilians, from now on called Brazilianship), i.e.,
the Brazilian cultural specificity. This Brazilianship has a close link with Brazilian
popular culture, and above all with the typically Brazilian mixture of races and
their diverse cultural manifestations. The search for this essential nature has been
a recurrent theme in Brazilian art history, and this search is based on the principle
of the jeitinho, especially if we consider jeitinho to be a tool of cultural survival and
a popular way of mixing different cultures.
The Anthropophagic Movement in the 1920s and the Tropicália in the 1960s
were the two artistic moments-movements considered as the most remarkable
in regards of both this search for the Brazilianship and for the use of the principle
of jeitinho (even if indirectly, non-explicitly). Both movements were decisive in
Brazilian art history since they tried to unite the erudite art to the popular culture.
And both movements had repercussions, which influenced almost all the artistic
forms: literature, music, dance, theatre, fine arts, painting, sculpture, architecture
and landscape gardening.
2. The Art of Jeitinho or the Jeitinho as a Way of Mixing Cultures
Pau-Brasil and the anthropophagic movement
The first incursion of modernism in the Brazilian arts had two characteristics,
which were in principle contradictory and opposed to one another: the modern
internationalism and a profound nationalism (or nativism). The paradox resulted
from the artists’ desire to update the arts confronting them with the new modern
reality of industrialization, while at the same time providing Brazilian art with a
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national character, which compared to the European character, was inevitably
primitive.
The movement’s initial aim was to break free from academicism and its old
artistic rules. This meant breaking up with French academicism – ever since the
French artistic mission came to Brazil in 1816, Brazilian art had been a copy of
French art. However, the Brazilian modern artists also imported the European,
above all the Parisian, avant-garde ideas. Simultaneously, nationalist feelings were
increased after the First World War and just before the first centennial anniversary
of the Brazilian independence (1922). Moreover, primitivism was fashionable in
Europe and the Brazilian artists aspired, roughly speaking, to exploit the modern
techniques imported from Europe and to link them to national themes, mainly
those relating to mixture of races and popular culture. This strategy managed to
shock the conservative academics at the same time that it differentiated Brazilian
art from the European by creating specifically Brazilian pieces of art.
The event that marked the beginning of the Modern Movement in Brazil3 was
the famous Modern Art Week (Semana de Arte Moderna) that happened in São
Paulo in 1922, and it was to be the seed of a profound change in Brazilian Art.
Despite the sometimes inconsistent and immature ideas that were launched, the
Week of 1922 managed to achieve its objective as it marked the country’s cultural
and artistic independence as a nation. Artistic circles feel its influence up to now,
and an aesthetic and artistic freedom was obtained.
However, it was only well after the Week, in 1924, that the modernists artists
made national identity an objective of their movement. This was prompted by the
visit the poet Blaise Cendrars – accompanied by a large entourage – made to the
colonial cities of Minas Gerais and the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, a visit that took
place exactly at the time of Brazil’s most popular street celebrations (Carnival in
Rio and the Corpus Christi Holidays in Minas). It is at this juncture that Oswald de
Andrade launched the Pau-Brasil (Brazil-wood /Caesalpinia Echinata) Manifesto,
3
This movement started in 1917 with an exhibition in São Paulo by Anita Malfatti, a young painter who
had just returned from Europe. Her vigorous fauve painting with expressionist traits started a controversy
in the artistic circles in São Paulo. Her work was attacked by the press, mainly by the writer Monteiro
Lobato, who had so far been supportive of future modernist artists and who had studied Brazilian regional
culture. However, a group of artists and intellectuals, the majority of which were educated in Europe,
gathered around the painter to defend her. This group included the writers Oswald de Andrade, Mario de
Andrade and Menoti del Picchia, the painter Di Cavalcanti and the sculptor Brecheret.
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which had as its symbol the national flag with its central inscription changed
to “Brazilwood” replacing of the original positivist logo: Order and Progress.
The manifesto clearly proclaimed a return to the roots in order to search for the
Brazilianship believed to be indispensable to a national art. It starts like this:
Poetry exists in the facts. The saffron and ochre huts in the greens of the
slums under the clear-sky blue are aesthetic facts. The Carnival in Rio is
the religious event of the race. Pau-Brasil (Brazilwood). (Correio da Manhã,
March 18th 1924)
As the favelas started to be appreciated, so its inhabitants, mainly black people
(former slaves), and their culture also started to be appreciated. Their music, samba
was coming from the favelas and spreading all over the city through the songs,
the dance and the carnival parades. Samba, previously persecuted and forbidden,
rapidly became the national popular musical style (with the endorsement of Getúlio
Vargas’ nationalist government). The modernist artists were strongly influenced by
this new rhythm and even participated actively in its development. The exchange
between modernists and samba musicians was frequent, especially through the
mediation of the modernist composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. For the first time in
national history black culture was inspiring the artists. The favelas became a major
theme amongst painters, poets and modern musicians, which came as a shock
to the Brazilian conservative society of the time. And here we have a paradox: the
favelas which up to then had been considered an antithesis of everything modern,
started to be considered an expression of a brazilianship sought and glorified by
modern artists such as Tarsila do Amaral, Di Cavalcanti, Lasar Segall or Portinari4.
4
Slum in Brazilian Portuguese is favela. The word favela comes from a slum called “Morro da Favella”
and it was extended to name similar conglomerates in the city (and later on in the country). The word
favela only goes from being a place’s name to a noun (with small ‘f’ and just one ‘l’) in the papers after
1920. The original meaning comes from a plant typical from the Backlands of Brazil. The favela started to
be celebrated and transformed into a cult place by artists like the Italian futurist Marinetti, the modernist
Indian artist Tagore, French and French-Swiss artists, Paul Morand, Alfred Agache, Le Corbusier and
especially Blaise Cendrars who visited Brazil frequently between 1924 and 1929). Alfred Agache was
responsible for an urban planning project for Rio de Janeiro and was one of the first city planners to talk
openly about the favelas, which had been so far ignored by the public government (more concerned in
eliminating them). In 1926 in his third conference at the city he compared the favelas in Rio to the European
garden cities. However, later on in his 1930 plan, he proposed to eliminate them. Corbusier was also
impressed and made comments about his visit to “Morro da Favella” in his conference in Rio in 1929.
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In 1928, the Brazilian modernist contradiction – between internationalism
and nationalism – finds its most ingenious plea: the cultural anthropophagy.
The Anthropophagous Manifesto, also written by Oswald de Andrade, this time
inspired by the Brazilian Indians, proposed a new battle cry “Tupi or not Tupi,
that is the question” (in English, in the original). A great part of the Brazilian Indian
tribes (Tupis, Guaranis) were anthropophagous and cultivated cannibalistic rituals
that consisted in killing and eating foreigners not because of hunger, greediness
or cruelty, but to appropriate themselves of the foreigners’ physical virtues and
spiritual qualities. The Anthropophagous Manifesto was signed in Piratininga
(indigenous name of São Paulo) in the 374th year of the deglutition of Father
Sardinha (the Portuguese priest was devoured by the indians on the Brazilian
coast).
The idea was clear: to react against the colonizers’ foreign and artistic
domination, and against foreigners in general in the same way the indigenous
people did. Instead of denying them (as the regionalists did) or copying them
(as the academics did), the modernists preached: devour their ideas, appropriate
them and transform them via the local culture into a new and Brazilian idea. The
main idea was to eat the European art, ruminate it with a national and popular
sauce and finally to regurgitate the typically Brazilian art. With all its subversive
and critical irony, anthropophagy can be considered as one of the most radical
artistic movements in Brazil.
Neo-concretism and Tropicália
The search for Brazilianship first pursued by the modernist artists in the 1920s
is found again in the Brazilian art of the 1960s, during the military dictatorship, in a
movement that became known as Tropicalism.
Although the name became popular in 1968 on account of a song titled
Tropicália by Caetano Veloso from Bahia, the name actually comes from a
homonym installation that the artist Helio Oiticica made at the MAM (Modern
Art Museum) in Rio in 1967 – a labyrinth which is an aesthetic re-reading of the
artist’s experiences of the urban space of the favelas and the lanes in Mangueira.
Oiticica was a great samba dancer from Estação Primeira da Mangueira samba
school, and it was after his discovery of the favela – from the architecture of the
huts, the rhythm of samba and from the notion of community – that his work was
completely transformed. Oiticica considered Tropicália the image of Brazilianship
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itself and in this work he searched for an exaggerated tropical aspect, which
forged a link with the anthropophagic tradition of the modernists, or as he used
to put it, a super-anthropophagy. This consisted in exaggerating to extremes this
tropical image in order to go beyond it, as an answer to the American Pop Art.
In place of “Star and Stripes”, Marilyn Monroe or the Campbell’s soup, Oiticica
proposed banana trees, macaw birds, and favelas.
Tropicália is the very first conscious, objective attempt to impose an
obviously Brazilian image upon the current context of avantgarde and
to the national art manifestations in general. everything began with the
formulation of Parangolé in 1964, with all my experience with the samba,
with the discovery of the Morros, of the organic architecture of Rio’s
favelas (...) (Oiticica, 04/03/68 in Dercon, Figueiredo, Sentis, 1996)
At a politically difficult moment with rigorous censorship, the so-called
tropicalist artists found, like the anthropophagic modernists, their own path
to take action between the alienating internationalism and the xenophobic
nationalism. This time they also “imported” North-American art and mixed them
anthropophagically with the Brazilian popular culture. The most evident example
of this mixture could be found in the music: the tropicalists mixed traditional
instruments and rhythms – mainly the emblematic samba from the favelas –
with the electric guitar and international rock. Besides, they wrote aesthetically
“concretist” and subtly subversive lyrics to their songs5.
The relationship between Tropicalism and the Anthropophagic Modernism is
clear: both movements sought the Brazilianship in the arts and worked collectively
to achieve this; however, the political and economical situation in the country in
both periods could not have been more different. In the 1960s people were far
from the 1920s utopic vision and started to doubt the Brazilian dream and, most
of all, the “economic miracle”. The social reality in the country was harder. In spite
of the search for cultural national values (some groups – such as Anta and Green
5It was exactly via the music that Tropicalism became best known; the tropicalist musicians positioned
and Yellow – embraced an extreme nationalism – almost a Brazilian fascism),
the modernists were still far from the reality of the country; they observed what
happened as tourists and painted distant landscapes without showing their reality
from inside. This is the essential difference between them and the new generation
of anthropophagics; the tropicalists not only dived into this reality but also
participated and lived it. It is as if the artists from the 1960s were finishing what
the modernists had left unfinished because they did not experience the reality,
they had not lived this experience as the tropicalists did. The mixture of artistic
avant-garde and popular culture had to be made viscerally. This is what the notion
of vivência (life experience) meant.
To understand this return of the first modernist ideas in the arts exactly forty
years afterwards (the Anthropophagous Manifesto in 1928), it is necessary to
go back twenty years in time. The changes started to occur after World War II
(which worked as a great halt to the international avant-garde movements), when
the new museums of modern art were inaugurated in Rio and in São Paulo (in
1948), and started to display the new ideas of an abstract language6. Two groups
of artists sensitive to concrete ideas were formed in the 50s: one group in São
Paulo, Ruptura (Rupture) and the other one in Rio, Grupo Frente (Front Group).
The group from São Paulo was very orthodox, rationalist and mechanical, as
the concrete Swiss and German artists who inspired them. The group from Rio,
quite the opposite, was more intuitive, emotional and subjective. Even so they
exhibited their work together in 1956 in São Paulo and in the following year in Rio
to mark the beginning of the Brazilian concrete movement. However, the group of
artists and intellectuals from Rio was starting to differ more and more from their
counterpart in São Paulo and in 1959 they made the separation official through
the Neo-Concrete Manifesto, denouncing amongst other things, the danger of a
“rationalist exacerbation” by the group from São Paulo. The new Neo-Concrete
movement criticised the lack of personality in concrete art and sought for more
specificity, spontaneity and above all for more artistic freedom.
The Neo-Concrete artists not only ruptured with the Concretists from São
Paulo but also with an international concrete tradition (very much based on the
modern movement in architecture and on the International Style); they freed
themselves between the two main groups at the time: the followers of the MPB (Brazilian Popular Music)
and the followers of “iê-iê-iê”, convinced internationalists. The tropicalists proposed a mixture of both
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groups, i.e., to make Brazilian music but using electric guitars. They were the rebel sons of the Brazilian
6
music for export in the fifties: the bossa nova.
particular Max Bill. The show influenced enormously young Brazilian artists at the time..
Theoretical Musings
The first bi-annual art exhibition in São Paulo happened in 1951 with a strong Swiss participation, in
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themselves from the strict rules of concrete art and started to develop their own
experiences. It is precisely at this moment in national art history that a certain
Brazilianship started to reappear. The Neo-concrete works were now open to
the environment, they came off the painting’s frame, and they freed themselves
from the sculpture’s basis to act in space. They demystified the object of art and
transformed the relationship between artistic subject and object through tactile
and visual, chromatic and sensorial experiences, and most of all by encouraging
the audience to participate by manipulating the work. Although one cannot
yet speak of explicit Brazilian characteristics in Neo-Concrete art, it is already
possible to notice the use of warmer and tropical colours plus the importance
given to body contact and personal experiences.
It is from these experiences that Tropicalism appeared, mainly from the
experiences the artists called vivências, i.e., from the life experience of each one
of them. For them, life and art was mixed. And since their experiences came
from a tropical environment, their art reflected almost naturally their environment.
Tropicalism was not planned as a movement 7, quite the opposite. They were
against the “isms” in general, and tropicalism was meant to be nothing more than
an artistic posture8. The tropicalist music proposed a new language with diverse
references, mixing rhythms and traditional samba instruments with the rock and
electric guitars. The songs were events built with lyrics that composed images,
almost cinematographic ones. The collage of different images was always about
representations of the country mixed with the artists’ personal experiences,
both giving rise to a different, non-linear temporality. The experimental and
revolutionary character was very close conceptually and practically to what
happened in other artistic fields. Oiticica, for instance, actually went to Mangueira
and lived the reality of a favela showing this vivências in his works9.
3. The Architecture of Jeitinho or the Jeitinho as the Popular Art of Building
Modern Brazilian architecture
Architecture, contrary to other art forms, finds it more difficult to react rapidly
to the radical changes proposed by the avant-garde movements. This is mostly
due to its materiality and functionality, which imply greater costs and also greater
social implications. Modern Brazilian architecture, even though more timidly than
the other arts, also received decisive influences from these artistic movementsmoments, which as we saw, pursued the concept of Brazilianship by using the
principle of the jeitinho as a mixture of various cultures. Starting with the exhibition
of the modernist house in São Paulo in 1930 and proceeding to the construction
of Brasília, inaugurated in 1960, modern Brazilian architecture also acquired some
individual characteristics linked to this search for the Brazilianship, the tropicality
and the mixing of cultures.
The use of ceramic tiles, which were originally Portuguese, are now inspired
by tropical themes and re-appear as murals; perforated bricks and other rustic
materials such as wood start to be prominently used. A number of traditional
building methods are seen as a solution to the country’s precarious economical
situation, a country where work done by hand was more common than industrial
production. Two modern architects – more than any others – pursued this mixture of
cultures, materials and construction techniques: Lúcio Costa10, the master of them
all, mainly in his first texts and studies about the popular and colonial culture; and
still untitled song. Luís Carlos Barreto was right: both works are aesthetically similar and both form part
of a common purpose. Later, Caetano Veloso and Oiticica became great friends (mainly in the period
when they were both exiled in London). The song indicates this general constructivist purpose evoked by
Oiticica, mainly because of its frequent references to the building of Brasilia, inaugurated in 1960.
9
He re-created the environment of Mangueira in Tropicália but without representing it formally. He
offered to his participative audience the possibility of experiencing something similar and which would
1967 is regarded as the start of the movement with the exhibition New Brazilian Objectivity at the
lead to several discoveries (as it had happened with the artist): the discovery of samba, which is also
Modern Art Museum in Rio where Oiticica exhibited Tropicália for the first time. In the same year, Caetano
the discovery of rhythm, the discovery of a new temporality and, above of all, the discovery of the body;
Veloso premiered Alegria, Alegria (Joy, Joy) his first tropicalist song. At the same time the movie Terra
the discovery of another type of society, non-bourgeois, much freer and at the same time marginal but
em Transe (Entranced Land) by Glauber Rocha, was being shown in the cinemas and being hailed as a
based on an anonymous collective, on the idea of community and lastly the discovery of a new type of
Cinema Novo (New Cinema) masterpiece. It was also the year in which the play O Rei da Vela, written by
architecture, a new way of building, made of precarious, unstable and ephemeral materials.
the modernist guru Oswald de Andrade and staged by the polemic José Celso Martinez Corrêa was first
10
performed at Teatro Oficina.
architecture. Initially, he was linked to the Neo-Colonial group, and was the great theoretician of modern
8
7
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Lúcio Costa is best known as the designer of Brasília’s City-plan. He was a great scholar of Brazilian
A good example is the song Tropicália, by Caetano Veloso. Actually, at the time he composed the
Brazilian architecture. He had enormous influence as the director of the Fine Arts School and as co-
song, Caetano had not yet met Oiticica in person. Luís Carlos Barreto (photographer of Terra em Transe),
creator of the Service of Historic and Artistic National Heritage, in the late 1930s. It is noticeable here a
a mutual friend of both artists, was the one who suggested to Caetano that he used Oiticica’s title for his
clear concern with the interaction between modernity and Brasilianship.
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Lina Bo Bardi, particularly in her work in Salvador, Bahia, where the popular and the
erudite are mixed and bewildered. The work of landscape gardening by Roberto
Burle-Marx is present in several modern projects. He also put the tropicality and
exuberance of the Brazilian flora as a reference in parks and gardens.
Le Corbusier, in his project for Rio carried out during his first visit to the city,
already gets inspiration from the tropical landscape and the natural beauty of the
place when proposing his curvilinear buildings, which follow the rhythm found in
the hills at Rio seaside, the gratte-mer. Le Corbusier also designed in his cahiers
(sketchbooks), the favelas, the samba dancers and many Brazilian mulatto women.
Brazilian architects will then exploit in exemplary manner these same curves, in
particular Oscar Niemeyer, who gets inspiration from the tropical landscape
and the Brazilian women, when proposing the curvilinear forms found in several
of his works, starting with the famous Complexo da Pampulha in Minas Gerais.
This curvilinearity will re-appear later in many other of his modern buildings as
the Edifício Copan, which has become a symbol of São Paulo. The curves can
represent not only a kind of formal freedom inherited from Baroque times, but also
the search for Brazilianship, an attempt to break the dominance of the straight
line. This greater freedom of form in Brazilian architecture can also be regarded
as a matter of cultural survival when faced with the rationalist hegemony of the
world modern architecture. In other words, as a kind of creative jeitinho from a poor
country that is just starting its industrial development, as it faces the rationalism
of the rich and strongly industrialised countries, tries to make of its architecture a
source of assertiveness for its national culture.
There are different kinds of creative jeitinho. We can number at least two in
architecture: one related to form and referring to cultural survival; and the other
linked to process and related to survival itself. It is undeniable that the curvilinear
façades of Niemeyer’s buildings, for instance, symbolise movement, alluding to
the samba-dancers and the wheeler-dealers’ swing and can represent a Brazilian
cultural specificity. However, the swinging space that forces us to swing in order
to go through it – where the movement is in the construction process and not in
the form (which fixes the process) and where the creative jeitinho is the norm, the
primeval instinct of survival – can only be found in the popular, informal architecture,
mainly in the favelas.
However, in contrast with the modernist and tropicalist artists, the architects
did not have the favelas as a source of inspiration or as a symbol of Brazilianship11.
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They were still convinced that modern housing estates – such as the famous (and
curvillineous) Conjunto do Pedregulho in Rio de Janeiro projected by Affonso
Eduardo Reidy – were the best option as far as popular housing was concerned.
The question of the maintenance and planning of the favelas only started to be
discussed by the end of the 1960s, with the pioneer experience carried out by
Carlos Nelson Ferreira dos Santos, in Brás de Pina, during the military dictatorship.
So far, the slums had been practically ignored by the government, and during
the dictatorship they were removed – mainly when they were in visible and highpriced areas – and their population was reallocated in big housing estates (with a
late and poor modernist style) built massively in the outskirts of the cities.
Favelas
As we have seen, the jeitinho is an attitude or a way of living typically Brazilian.
It is a manner of doing, of solving problems, of surviving. This attitude, in the arts,
has sought for Brazilianship, through a mixture of cultures that had unique (formal
or not) results. This creative process, or the principle of jeitinho could be used
today as a design tool in architecture and city-planning. However it is important
to distinguish between an architecture of the jeitinho and an architecture inspired
by the jeitinho. If there is in fact an architecture of the jeitinho this can only be a
popular form of building within a mixed culture: a true architecture of survival.
In order to think about an architecture inspired by the jeitinho – developing the
path which modern Brazilian architects themselves have opened – it would be
necessary to fully understand the architecture of the jeitinho par excellence: the
favelas.
Besides being already a part of the Brazilian cultural and artistic heritage,
the favelas are a vernacular process of architecture and urban development,
a unique solution that not only differs, but which is the opposite of the project
rules in traditional architecture and erudite urbanism. This process is made of an
individual aesthetic, the favelas’ aesthetic, which is completely different from the
so-called formal city’s aesthetic, and which possesses peculiar characteristics.
The favelas possess an own special individual identity (even being different
amongst themselves) and at the same time they are parts of the city as a whole,
11
As mentioned before, Le Corbusier visited the favelas in Rio, spoke about them in conferences and
made several sketches of those buildings, some very similar to the ones modernist artists at the time were
doing, in particular, to Tarsila do Amaral’s paintings (Morro da Favella, 1924).
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311
part of the urban landscape. Three conceptual images (they are not simply
formal spacial metaphors) in three different levels exemplify some of the basic
characteristics of the favelas’ spatio-temporal mechanism – more than the space,
it is the temporality that causes the difference, and they are: Fragment, Labyrinth
and Rhizome.
One can say schematically that the favelas’ huts compose fragments; these
form labyrinths; and these develop into rhizomes. The huts are initially built
from fragments of irregular materials found incidentally by the builder. Thus the
huts are formally fragmented. The first aim of the builder – usually the dweller
with the help of friends and neighbors – is to find shelter for himself and his
family. This first shelter is mostly precarious but it is already the basis for future
development. From the moment the dweller finds or buys adequate materials,
he starts to substitute the old ones and starts to enlarge the hut. There is no
pre-determined project for the construction. The hut evolves constantly until it
becomes a cement and brick house. However, even then the construction is not
finished. Works in the house are constantly being undertaken. Even though the
new brick-built houses are less fragmented than the wooden huts, they are still
fragmentary as they are transformed day by day, continuously unfinished. The
architecture done by architects has a conventional project and the project comes
before the construction. It is the project that determines the end, the final stop.
When a previous project does not exist, there is no pre-determined form for the
construction; therefore, it does not end, remaining in a constant constructive
movement.
When one leaves the level of shelters and moves to the level of groups of
shelters, and finally to the free space in between the huts, which form the favela’s
lanes and alleys, the image of a labyrinth appears almost naturally as one penetrates
the favela’s meanders for the first time. Besides being a formal labyrinth, the internal
pathways cause a labyrinthine sensation in the visitor mainly because of the lack
of usual urban spatial references, but also because of the always fragmentary
perspectives, which cause on the visitor a sense of unfamiliarity. The big difference
between the favela and the mythic labyrinth projected by Daedalus is that the
favela does not have a plan, it was not designed. The labyrinth-favela is much more
complex because it is not fixed nor finished, it is in constant transformation. To go
up a favela on a hill is a unique experience in spatial perception. From the very first
curves one discovers a different rhythm of walking, a swing that the circuit itself
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imposes. The best representation of this labyrinthine experience of walking through
a favela can be to dance the samba; and this is the exact opposite of the modern
urban experience, most of all to the straight lines of the rationally built cities. The
main difference between the improvised and spontaneous labyrinth – the favela,
and the cities planned by architects and city planners, especially those planned ex
nihilo, is an inversion of the project practice and urban planning. While in the cities
or in the completely planned urban spaces, the plans exist in projects even before
the real cities, in the labyrinthine spaces like the favelas the opposite happens: the
plans are only produced afterwards.
As the botanical etymology of the term favela (Jatropha phyllacantha) suggests,
the favelas are organic structures that are formed by disorganised land occupation.
The invasion of empty spaces is followed by an act of establishing boundaries
and consequently by a process of demarcation of territory. The huts appear in the
middle of the cities, exactly like the rhizome-like herb that grows in between the
curbs or in the street asphalt, creating enclaves and micro-territories inside larger
territories. The invasion of an area by shelters forms a new urban territory under
its own laws. The favelas develop as the herb that grows naturally in the cities’
wastelands. Besides the favelas’ spatial complexities one should always take
into account the temporal complexity. There is a basic difference in rooting. The
planned city, the city-tree is strongly rooted in a root-like system, an image of order
and rationalism; the non-planned city (at least partially), the city-bush functions
according to a not so simple and organized rootlet-system; and the favela, which
would be the city-weed follows the rhizome-system (Deleuze/Guattari) that is much
more complex. The weed-rhizome system is the opposite of the tree-root (and also
differs from the bush-radicle as this still keeps its arboreal structure) on account of
its multiplicity, decentralization and instability (constant movement). The greatest
difference between the urban planning and the wild occupation of the favelas refers
to the type of root. One is fixed and the other open, having an enormous potential
of transformation. Urban planning is based on setting fixed boundaries that end up
interrupting the movements, which were already there.
The three conceptual images here represented synthetically and rather
schematically are inter-related through the idea of the favelas’ movement. The
aesthetic that results from these fragmented, labyrinthine and rhizomorphous
spaces is consequently the spatial aesthetic of movement. The favelas are spaces
in movement. The idea of space in movement is not only connected to physical
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space but above all to movement imposed by the circuit, to the experience of going
through it and, at the same time, to the movement of the space itself in permanent
transformation. The space in movement is directly linked to its actors (subjects of
the action), who are not only those who pass through it day by day but also to those
who build it and transform it endlessly. In the case of the favelas two roles are joined
in just one actor: the dweller is in most cases also the builder of his own space.
The idea of space in movement imposes the notion of action, or in other words, the
participation of dwellers and users. Contrary to the almost static and fixed spaces
(planned and finished), in the space-movement the passive user (observer) always
becomes actor (and/or co-author) and participant12.
The technicians, architects, urban-designers and city-planners in charge of
projects and interventions in the favelas, most of the time, instead of trying to
follow the movements already initiated by the inhabitants, try to impose on the
favela their own constructive logic, directly linked to the formal city’s culture and
aesthetics. These professionals fight against exactly such a movement of space
in the favelas, by attempting to establish a new rational order. However, in order
to transform the jeitinho into an architectonic tool it would be necessary to act in
the opposite manner; i.e., by the creation of a new methodology of action, without
a conventional project, inspired by the way of building in the favelas. The favelas,
which are entirely built according to the principle of jeitinho, could inspire young
architects to develop a unique way of building and intervening in the cities. The
principle of jeitinho as an architectonic tool, inspired by the construction process
of the favelas, can become a new instrumental basis for an urban architecture that
would substitute traditional planning, allowing a different way of thinking and of
constructing the architecture of tomorrow’s cities.
12
The favela is a space in constant movement because its dwellers are truly responsible for its
construction, as opposed to the formal city’s inhabitant who only rarely gets involved in the construction
of his own space, and in particular of the public spaces in his city. Community participation occurs in a
much more representative way in the slum areas than in the formal cities.
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Trajectories and the Time of Everyday Life
Malcolm Miles
This book concerns the work of professional artists in everyday settings.
Culture, that is, in the sense of art, is introduced to the sites of cultures, in the
anthropological sense of an everyday articulation of shared values and meanings.
Neither culture nor cultures are fixed in their forms; both mutate continuously, like
verbal language. Language, indeed, was Charles Darwin’s model in his theory of
natural selection. As Elizabeth Grosz has observed of Darwin, he realised that all
categories, such as the definition of a species in biology, are retrospective (Grosz,
2004). In the histories of modern art there has been a tendency to group various
individual artists into movements (when there were only vague agreements of
intention, friendships and use of the same café). This arrangement has its uses:
it is convenient, and enables discussion of tendencies and social contexts rather
than the isolated work of individuals (or work of isolated individuals). Yet the
categorisation of modern art became a succession of movements, as if each
reacted against the one before in a chain of development, an evolution which takes
the form of a trajectory. This art history reaches an extreme point in the influence
of critic Clement Greenberg, on 1960s Formalism and Minimalism: art moves
towards the end of an art consisting only in what art alone has. So, painting is
colour on surface, not narrative, biography, social comment, or mythology. Earlier,
in his essay on avant-gardism as the antidote to kitsch, Greenberg argued merely
that artists should keep art moving (Greenberg, 1988). But this, too, expresses
an end in sight or to be achieved: a teleology. And the trajectory in which each
tendency replaces the previous becomes, almost without notice, a means of
validation for art, always moving but in a direction defined by an imperative to
go forward, to become ultimate. In early ethnography a trajectory was used to
validate the superiority of white races, as more advanced in development than
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non-white, especially black, races. Ethnography no longer has any use for this;
nor does art history1. Yet there is a residual problem, which I want to examine. I want, then, as an academic working in cultural theory, to approach the
contradiction between histories of modern art using the model of a trajectory,
and an idea of culture as taking place (like everyday cultures) in a contingent time
of constant mutability. I think this is how most artists work, in the middle of many
competing contexts and influences, so that a work is a temporary reconciliation
of the forces acting on its production. Such a conception of time is presented
by Leo Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace, as a current of history which shapes
individual action. My source, however, is Henri Lefebvre, who is better known for
a theory of space (Lefebvre, 1991). But Lefebvre also proposed that moments of
transformation occur in everyday lives, as a lived time equivalent to lived space.
Rural festivals, for example, articulate everyday life – in a more intense way but
not separate from everyday life [original italics] (Lefebvre, 1991: 207). Lefebvre
later regrets the effect of capitalism in standardising an everyday mass culture
distinct from an elite high art. Perhaps some contemporary art projects subvert
that, refusing global media culture as well as the claim to individual autonomy and
special status of modernist art.
The Trajectory
The trajectory of modernism, like a Hegelian idealism stating the end of
history (as freedom in absolute rationality), posits a one-way movement. Art
moves towards pure form. The result is a reductive history in which past art
movements are brought into service of the most recent movement, which is
presented as a logical culmination of the trajectory. In the early modern avantgarde, as in Futurism in the 1910s, to follow such a trajectory was to proclaim
a brave new century, to modernise art. The Futurists recognised that they, too,
would be swept away by new movements; but in the 1960s the trajectory became
institutionalized, each movement building its perpetuation. There were a number
of contributing factors: a growth of popular writing on art which tended to put past
cases in convenient parcels; a general adoption of the model of the Museum of
Modern Art in New York (MoMA) as the model for modern art museums elsewhere,
with its value-free space denoted by white walks and its arrangement of works
1
Coombes, A. Re-inventing Africa: Museums, material culture and popular imagination, New Haven, Yale, 1994.
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(no longer by national schools as in nineteenth-century curating), but according
to their place in the specific narrative of modernism which MoMA sought to
universalise. It was also a period of art market expansion, and the market needs
change – to have new products to sell, new artists for dealers, critics, curators and
collectors to discover. The market could also discard artists from the previous set
of discoveries whose work had not sold well, and promote the more successful
to a privileged status (with higher prices), but the market also requires stability in
how it operates. The expertise for which dealers, curators and critics are valued,
and by which collectors profit, is that of predicting what will happen next – what
is in and what is excluded. This draws the production of art, regardless of artists’
intentions, into market operations.
Now, in a period when the borders between art, architecture, design, fashion,
news, and the global entertainment industry are no longer policed, the concept
of an avant-garde is no longer an attempt to change the world, but a marketing
device.
At the same time, various directions in art criticism and theory continue to
address the possibility for a critical art practice. This is my concern, in context of
the failure of a succession of avant-gardes since the 1840s indicating flaws in the
concept of an avant-garde, not in the tactics used. The main flaws are reliance
on instrumental rationality, or the idea that a specific intervention will produce a
required outcome (which leads to functionalism in modernist architecture); and
reliance on the temporal trajectory I have sketched above. That is, the avantgarde’s presumption that the future unfolds in a given way contradicts the
capacity of art to give form to moments of revelation, or glimpses, not of a future
dawn (which never dawns), but of clarity within the present.
My response is not to call for a new concept of the avant-garde. The new
is revealed in many ways but is not a miracle solution, and art does not produce
answers anyway – it exposes contradictions and collisions of logic, informed by
and questioning but not as such producing concepts. As Elizabeth Grosz argues,
drawing on the work of Gilles Deleuze,
Art… does not produce concepts, though it does address problems and
provocations. It produces sensations, affects, intensities as its mode of
addressing problems, which sometimes align with… concepts… (Grosz,
2008: 1)
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Liberation and justice are concepts but art does not produce these. The artist
has no privileged insight into a future which is not the outcome of any design
(but is more like evolution in Darwin‘s terms), and at best may enact values such
as equality and openness. Today, in a situation of permanent crisis produced
by the owners of global capital, in the global security state and its wild zone of
power, as Susan Buck-Morss describes it, (2002) it is difficult to retain allegiance
to such values, and to understand that the means used in art as in any other
activity determine the ends, but are not justified by them. In particular, I read the
model of a historical trajectory as part of the problem while art which participates
in ephemerality subverts the dominance of this model.
Happenings
In the 1960s, artists rejected the mainstream defined by MoMA (restricted to
white men). The mainstream, however, had been adept at including departures
from it, so that anti-art showed the mainstream curator‘s liberal sentiment, and
readymades were reproduced in limited editions for collectors. This ensured
durability for modern art in as much as it could contain departures while becoming
increasingly governed not only by museums but also by the art market.
An exit from the gallery was seen in the 1960s as an exit from art’s commodity
status. Assemblage, environmental art and happenings were some of the forms
of the refusal. Happenings were ephemeral events; they were photographed but
not for sale. This was in context of the counter-culture, the use of substances
to heighten consciousness, and dissidence in popular music. In San Francisco
in 1967 – year of the Summer of Love – a new society appeared, refusing
consumerism and the values which produced the war in Vietnam (after those
values were refused in the Civil Rights movement). In place of the marketable artobject, the happening offered a memory of the event for those who were there.
But those present were an art-world audience. Allan Kaprow writes,
the Happenings were presented to small, intimate gatherings of people
in lofts, classrooms, gymnasiums and some of the offbeat galleries…
the watchers sat very close to what took place, with artists and their
friends acting along with assembled environmental constructions.…
Sometimes, too, the event moved in amongst the crowd … (Kaprow,
2006: 102)
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Kaprow proposes the elimination of the audience. He links happenings
to Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of the Absurd, but finds that audiences retain
expectations derived from conventional art and theatre. Hence, happenings are
read as theatre, or they are diversions like night-club acts. Kaprow argues instead
for audience participation in voluntary and informed co-production of the work.
The best participants (like non-professional film actors) are not involved in art but
participate because the action is meaningful to them at the time. This raises a
question as to the terms of participation, yet more recent cultural provocateurs
have used surprise tactics. Adrian Piper, who is of light colour and sometimes
taken as a white woman, carries a card:
I am black. I am sure you did not realize this when you made/laughed at/
agreed with that racist remark. (Piper, 2004: fig.13)
Recipients are ephemerally co-opted into the work once they volunteer
racism, which is not the social equity envisaged by Kaprow but a recognition
of antagonism. Is art’s interruption compatible with processes of co-production
which rely on assumptions of community, voluntarism, and shared intention,
and which tend to an ideal of harmony rather than to making difference and
contestation visible? Kaprow says the audience bring expectations. Happenings
shock them out of such expectations – Kaprow cites throwing apples at the
audience – but Piper offers a viable negotiation between the artists’s socially
contextualised intention (non-racism) and a spontaneity which can be read in the
terms of Lefebvre’s idea of moments of liberation, or lived time.
Catherine Belsey, a scholar of early Western drama, writes that culture is the
setting for any action:
Culture constitutes the vocabulary within which we do what we do; it
specifies the meanings we set out to inhabit or repudiate, the values we
make efforts to live by or protest against, and the protest is also cultural.
Culture resides primarily in the representations of the world exchanged…
(Belsey, 2001: 6)
She adds that these representations are negotiated and contested, either
validating or challenging the practices of living; and that they are not purely
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discursive but take on a life of their own in material form, becoming elements in
cultural history. This, too, alludes to the potential for a moment in which a specific
understanding is articulated, say, in art or theatre, so that it remains personal but
is also shared. There is no purity of perception, only contingency, a momentary
insight amid contested perceptions; but because the perception is produced in
these terms it can be shared, and can mutate.
A Teleology?
The problem can be stated in different ways. In one version, modern art is a
sequence of departures from the mainstream trajectory. Nearly all departures are
subsumed into the mainstream, and if a departure really succeeds in departing, it
ceases to be valid as art. Community arts in the 1970s was excluded as lacking
aesthetic quality, described as art therapy or social work, for example. The extent
to which almost any departure is subsumed is shown by Tate Modern’s summer
show in 2008, Street Art. Graffiti from several countries decorated the building’s
exterior walls; the sponsor advertised tours to “see street art in its natural habitat”2
– like a favela tour. Street art is the most recent collectible, a “dynamic form of
urban visual art… a marriage of several cultures and styles”3. A walking tour adds
authentic value to the exhibition, or so it seems, in what might be an antithesis of
the purity of form to which Greenberg aspired. And street art appeals, presumably,
to any public (unless they see it as anti-social behaviour).
In his 1939 essay, Greenberg saw a difficulty: the elite for whom art is made
no longer supports the avant-garde. He writes, “But the avant-garde, already
sensing the danger, is becoming more and more timid … Academicism and
commercialism are appearing in the strangest places” (Greenberg, 1988: 10). Yet
Greenberg, then a Left critic, still has hope: capitalism is threatened by quality:
“Advances in culture … corrode the very society under whose aegis they are
made possible” (ibid: 22). This, in another form, is an argument for authenticity
through high art, and perhaps the claim which Street Art makes for an authentic
now-culture is superficial; perhaps it is a re-coding, after the demise of style,
which aims to render the post-modern mainstream total. This reflects a culture
of consumption. But when an entity is re-coded, this, too, is on the terms of the
code (as, for Belsey, the protest is cultural). Hence, a search for the raw, so to say,
2
Advert for Street Art, Metro, 14 August, 2008, p. 44
3
ibid, p. 45
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may underpin cultural production and reception but is as illusory as the dreams
of advertising. There is no raw culture. Everything is language, is cooked. If not,
it is pre-linguistic. Art’s meaning is conditional, negotiable, and produced in
specific conditions that are sedimentary within it. It is in this layering of meaning
that criticality is viable. For T. W. Adorno, the more total the dominant system
becomes, the more artworks “become the other of this society… New art is as
abstract as social relations have become” (Adorno, 1997: 31). Art is assimilated.
But, he writes on Waiting for Godot,
At ground zero… a second world of images springs forth, both sad and
rich, the concentrate of historical experiences that otherwise, in their
immediacy, fail to articulate the essential: the evisceration of the subject
and reality. This shabby, damaged world of images is the negative
imprint of the administered world. (ibid)
On Endgame, he argues, “Art emigrates to a standpoint that is no longer
a standpoint at all because there are no longer standpoints from which the
catastrophe [of nuclear war] could be named or formed…” (ibid: 250). The bind
is typical of Adorno’s writing. Critical theory operates along an axis of potentially
creative tension between polarities such as art’s aesthetic and social dimensions.
The tension produces insights.
The underlying difficulty of a trajectory is that it allows no exception or
escape. The free tomorrow will always be tomorrow. We need another concept
of history, another insight into art’s production. Lefebvre’s ideas are liberating
here, drawing attention to the sudden insight of everyday experience: a moment
that transforms as its memory lingers. Unlike points on a trajectory, moments are
non-hierarchic. There is no guarantee the insights gained will become unified
Just as conceived space is the space of plans, so conceived time is the time of
trajectories; and as lived space is the space of occupation, lived time is the time
of insights and interventions which tend to occur among others, the traces of
which, in some cases, provoke a shift of awareness (which is seen afterwards).
Emergence and Emergency
I want now to speculate on a parallel between Lefebvre’s work and Walter
Benjamin’s “Theses on the Philosophy of History”. With resonance for today,
Benjamin says, “the ‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception
but the rule” (Benjamin, 1973: 259). “The writer’s task is to bring about a real state
of emergency in which the normalization of power is seen to be abnormal – to
expose the lie on which totalitarianism rests. The process of normalization uses
historical time to suppress ephemerality” (Hanssen, 1998: 56-57). This is possibly
undone by realisation of what Benjamin calls now-time (Jetztzeit).Christine BuciGlucksmann writes of Benjamin’s reception of Paul Klee’s drawing, Angelus
Novus,
Here the political and epistemological overturning of the victors’ historicism
culminates in a new concept of the present – the Jetztzeit or now time of genuine
actuality. To the empty linear time of the cumulative succession of events,
Benjamin opposes the necessity of a temporal break, an interruption in time
disclosed by the imaginaries of history (Buci-Glucksmann, 1944: 44).
The now-time appears in states of emergency, and for Benjamin now-time
implies and is implicit in a redemption which illuminates the present from the
(imagined) end of history. Glimpses of this latent redemption occur in everyday
life; and illuminate “the oblivion characteristic of the history of the nameless”
(ibid: 46). For Esther Leslie, Benjamin uncovers the lie in historicism: a “continual
progressive course of history as a pile-up of event after event …” which is in
fact a history of “endless brutality committed against the ‘oppressed’” (Leslie,
2000:195). The now-time’s unpredicted flash of clarity is not unlike Lefebvre’s
concept of moments of liberation, which occur within the dulling routines of
everyday life under capitalism4 (Lefebvre, 2002). For Benjamin, then, historicist
time imposes on ephemerality as for Lefebvre, the time and space of plans and
trajectories impose on those of everyday life. But occupation, as Lefebvre argues
in The Production of Space, also overlays designed space. So much is evident in
how buildings are used. In lived time, similarly, spontaneous insights re-cast the
ordering of time as the un-freedom of social ordering. For this reason, taking the
regulation of work as example, Benjamin notes that Communards in Paris in 1871
4
see also Merrifield, A. Henri Lefebvre: A critical introduction, London, Routledge, 2006, pp. 26-40;
Elden, S. Understanding Henri Lefebvre: Theory and the possible, London, Continuum, 2004, pp. 110-126;
Shields, R. Lefebvre, Love and Struggle, London, Routledge, 1999, pp. 58-64
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shot with rifles at public clocks 5. Lefebvre, quite independently but to me in a
similar vein, writes of the excess of festival:
In celebrating, each member of the society went beyond himself, so to
speak, and in one fell swoop drew all that was energetic, pleasurable
and possible from nature, food, social life and his own body and mind.
The festival differed from everyday life only in the explosion of forces
which had been slowly accumulated in and via everyday life itself.
(Lefebvre, 1991: 202)
the Situationist dérive (drift), a purposeful waste of time drifting around the city.
Drifting is not unlike scanning, the perceptual gaze without specific object. Or, as
Soper writes, an insight may emerge ‘when sensation can detach itself and gain
an autonomy … when something of the chaos from which it is drawn can breathe
and have a life of its own’ (ibid).
It is not for me to prescribe what artists do. I can only suggest references
towards a non-teleological, non-hierarchical art. Art cannot predict the form of
a new society or lead a mass public to it; but in addressing the means by which
we live our everyday lives, it contributes to the re-formation of art and perhaps
indirectly of everyday life.
The moment of presence is the immanent revolution: a millenarian moment,
abolition of power, all-pervasive joy. In it, “The tomorrow in today is alive …” as
Ernst Bloch (1986: 1374) writes. Art can offer representations of the moment
but not the experience. But art is not political action. It displaces an imagined
freedom to the configuring of aesthetic form. Yet art is material. It can interrupt.
When political change is unlikely, Herbert Marcuse justifies an enquiry into
aesthetics: abstract art undoes the dominant society’s codes of perception while
intensification of perception can “distort things so that the unspeakable is spoken,
the otherwise invisible becomes visible, and the unbearable explodes” (1978: 45).
And art’s sensuality, its allusion to moments of intimacy in love stories and love
poems, is, “the artistic counterblow against the annexation of all political content
by monopolistic society” (Marcuse, 1998: 205).
Kate Soper observes a state of permanent war today, in face of which she
argues for an “explicit cultural representation of the non-puritanical but at the
same time anti-consumerist political imaginary” from which to understand “what
a counter- or post-consumerist order might look like” (Sorper, 2006: 4, 7). One
way to interpret this in terms of art – not Soper’s aim – is via images of such an
imagined society. But this is teleological: it presumes a destiny into which the artist
has a privileged insight. I refute this. But I think there are possibilities for art which
enacts non- or post-consumerist values in the present. Kayle Blandon has done
work on free food in Bristol, for example. Outside art there is guerrilla gardening
(using public space to plant food and flowers). There is, too, the precedent of
5
see Marcuse, H. Liberation from the Affluent Society, in Cooper, D. ed. “The Dialectics of Liberation”,
Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1968, p. 177
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325
Urban Bodigraphies: Processual Relations
Between Body and City
Fabiana Dultra Britto, Paola Berenstein Jacques
In this text, we suggest that the notion of process is a useful resource to better
understand the complex relationships between the body and the city. We show
that studies of the body and city have significant implications on one another.
Furthermore, we show that body and city configure each other simultaneously, as
bodies are inscribed into cities and as cities are also inscribed into the bodies and
configure them. We call this dynamic cartography made by and in the body an
urban bodigraphy. The term describes urban memories inscribed in the body as
an embodiment of its experiences of cities; a volatile writing of the lived city that
configures the body.
The city is recognized through the body as an ensemble of interactive
conditions and the body expresses the transitory synthesis of this interaction.
Through its corporeality, the body expresses an urban bodigraphy. The bodigraphy
is a dynamic corporal cartography (or body-cartography – therefore: bodigraphy)
in which the mapped object is separated from the graphic representation of its
situation. It is based on the hypothesis that, in different temporalities, the urban
experience is inscribed in the body that lives the experience, both voluntarily and
involuntarily (this can be determined in the choreographies of cartography or
carto-choreographies1).
It is important to distinguish between cartography, choreography and
1
As demonstrated at Corpo de dança da Maré in Ivaldo Bertazzo et al., “Maré, vida na favela” (Rio
de Janeiro, 2002) – the favela’s inhabitants’ particular bodigraphies enabled a certain availability to the
practice of new bodily experiences, which were in this case, the choreographies of Bertazzo. The daily
bodigraphy. We will begin by differentiating the urban project from bodigraphy,
cartography and choreography. Cartography is already an actualized version of an
urban project. An urban cartography describes a map of a built city that has been
appropriated and modified by its users already many times. Choreography can
be understood as a project of body movements to be realized by the body or a
set of bodies. It is, like an urban project, a drawing (or notation), or a composition
(or script). At the moment in which choreography is performed, and in the same
way as the appropriation of the urban space occurs — that differs from how it was
designed, dancer’s bodies also update the (urban) project. Thus, through the act
of dancing, the dancer performs a cartography of a choreography.
Bodigraphy should not be mistaken with cartography or choreography. It is
not a cartography of a choreography (or a carto-choreography that expresses the
realized dance); nor is a bodigraphy a choreography of cartography (or a choreocartography, the idea that a dance is created after a preexisting space). During
its lifetime, each body has the ability to present different bodigraphies, resulting
from very different and individual lived urban experiences. The regularity and
intensity of these experiences is determined by the stability of the synthesis of the
patterns and structures of body actions. As with any other experience, temporality
modulates the qualification of the urban experience, generating more or less
stable and more or less flexible patterns, but always transitory patterns. The
transitions are visible in the continuous process of reorganization of the body’s
sensorial and physical conditions, which are shaped by interactions between the
body and its surrounding environments.
Since a process is a phenomenon that describes the simultaneous occurrence
and continuity of the relationships between many different natures and time scales,
(except in modular conditions), there is no way to identify the beginning and end of a
process, since it is impossible to trace its trajectory (Britto, 2008: 53). The relational
and continuous nature of the process implies mutual modifications between the
related items within which the process occurs. These modifications are irreversible
and uninterrupted, extinguishing our ability to distinguish with any accuracy what
is actually involved in the process. In this way origin, matrix, influences, identity
and genealogy, which are so fashionable in current historiography, culture and art
living in the ambience of a favela was inscribed into the body of the teenagers he worked with, as a
326
memory of their urban experiences. The experience of living in an uneven, tortuous space, organized their
2
bodily configurations with a singular physical sensor-motor availability.
context of globalization, see Moacir dos Anjos in Local/Global: arte em trânsito (Rio de Janeiro, 2005).
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For a didactical introduction to recent arguments in the interpretative discurse of culture in the
Theoretical Musings
327
criticism2 discourses, must be discarded. Similarly, the understanding of complex
and non-linear systems, such as life, the construction of history and the production
of ideas is also incompatible. Under these conditions it is most appropriate to
refer to factors instead of terms of relation and treat their participatory potential as
a question of emphasis – a circumstance.
The interactive relationships lived by the body throughout its life are
guided by logical principles of association and are driven by competing factors
of desire and needs. Depending on the nature of a situation, factors change
reciprocally producing stable, but nevertheless, transient syntheses. Only when
we acknowledge the genuine character of the creative processes that configures
structures, are we able to understand the importance of continuity. This
understanding of continuity stands in contrast to more conservative preservation
of the so-called identity of things in themselves. An object cannot conserve itself;
rather it is ruled by the dynamic and continuous reorganization of existing settings
and its responsive relationships and actions3.
From an urbanist point of view, this urban experience inhabits the body
as a molecular form (micro) of resistance to the molar process (macro)4 of
contemporary urban spectacularization5. The city experiences resistance through
the body of those who live it. The study of these inevitable relationships between
body and city highlight alternatives to the logic of the spectacular city, where the
contemporary cities are becoming brands or logos.
In dance theory, the relationships between body and city/environment are
of special interest, as focusing on these aspects helps us to understand the
corporeality variations found in the different forms of human existence, be they
urban or not. Consequently, the very distinction between the dances created
by different bodies presents a further more accurate understanding of the
relationships between body and city. We can read corporeality as the result of
relational processes one body has with other bodies, environments and situations
and, at the same time, as something that limits the available corporal conditions
for the formations of a dance. Continuous and involuntary, such processes
correspond with the perpetual reorganization of the body’s exterior environment.
Although in different time frames, this reorganization also simultaneously shapes
both the body and its environment.
A co-adapted relationship is set up between the body and the environment in
which it lives. The creative character of the relationship, however, does not permit
us to think solely in terms of an adjustment of adequacy, as it is suggested by
co-evolution within contemporary biology6. It is rather a process of co-definition
between the body and its environment, caused by the interactions between them
over time. The environment is understood as a set of conditions in which possible
relations can occur, while corporeality is understood as the transient synthesis of
continuous and involuntary relationships the body occupies within its space-time
existence.
We can, therefore, think of dance as an artistic configuration made in and
by the body. The body expresses a particular organizational form of technicalcorporal instructions, composed by adopted principles and ambient conditions
that allow the stabilization of organizational forms as a regime or a corporal
cognitive standard. Each dance expresses a particular body mode, each leading
to the fabrication of a network of informative references from which the body’s
relationship with the environment may open new synthesis of meaning or
coherences7.
In order to recognize the city as an environment in which the body exists,
and also in which the body creates meaning by participating interactively in
its processes, one should consider, as a stable factor, the corporeality of its
inhabitants. Dance is a method through which the body can establish coherence
between its corporeality and its environment, producing other different conditions
of interaction that challenge new synthesis – new bodigraphies.
3
6
Among the most prominent biologists in the field of neo-evolutive studies today (such as Richard
Dawkins, Stephen J. Gould, Ernst Mayr and others) Richard Lewontin is especially recognized for his
Dança: parâmetros para uma história contemporânea (Belo Horizonte, 2008).
construtivist hypothesis in The Triple Helix: Gene, Organism and Environment, 2000.
4
328
Permanence is understood in the General System’s Theory not as what is unchangeable and
immutable, but as what does not cease its continuity of action. See Dultra Britto in Temporalidades em
See the differentiation between molar and molecular by Félix Guattari and Suely Rolnik in The
7
We refer to the definition of coherence as suggested by Philosopher Paul Thagard in Coherence in
molecular revolution in Brazil (Los Angeles, 2008).
Thought and Action (Massachusetts, 2000): maximum satisfaction of multiple restrictions. Coherence is a
5See Berenstein Jacques, Espetacularização Urbana Contemporânea in “Territórios Urbanos e
result of the systems’ reorganization: when systems are involved in a co-evolutional process, they need to
Políticas Culturais - Cadernos do PPG-AU/FAUFBA” (Salvador, 2004), available at: http://www.portalseer.
satisfy the multiple restrictions imposed by the system’s and sub-system’s environments with which they
ufba.br/index.php/ppgau/article/view/168
interact.
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The city, seen as a continuum of the bodigraphies it formulates, can be
understood as an extended phenotype of the body. The term stems from
British biologist Richard Dawkins (1982) and refers to the understanding of
culture as a result of the co-evolutionary relationship between the body and
the environment. The phenotypes, being the corporal configuration of the
organisms, are defined throughout lifetime as they result from “agreements”
between genetic and environmental information. These are considered in all their
breadth: from the internal molecular environment to the genitor body, the external
cultural environment where they live in, including all historical and evolutionary
dimensions. Recognition of the city as a phenotypic extension of the body
allows us to see the city as a factor that differentiates the dances formulated
by the bodigraphies of its inhabitants’ bodies. But the city also – and exactly
therefore – is a factor limiting the variable conditions of its composition patterns.
Each different dance configuration, generated in a given context, corresponds
to a certain field of thematic references. They are circumscribed as a repertoire
of bodigraphies derived from the relationships between body and environment,
between body and city.
Through the study of the body’s movements and gestures, (corporal patterns
of action) we are able to recognize the body’s bodigraphies and deduce traces
and patterns of its previous urban experiences. Knowing that bodigraphies
are configured by a spatial-temporal component of the body, the city can
be understood as a place that provides a particular set of conditions in which
the bodily experiences occur. The urban environment is not merely a physical
space but a field of occurrences where situations are established by the corporal
actions of its dwellers. We term this process appropriation. The bodigraphic study
allows us to understand configurations of corporeality as corporal memories
resulting from spatial experience. This, in turn, assists us in our reading of urban
configurations as spatial memories of the bodies that experienced them.
In this sense, an understanding of bodigraphies is relevant for dance, since
it allows the use of pre-existing corporal resources in the dancer’s bodies. Such
experiences are for the dancers the results of their own urban experiences. For
urbanists, this could act as a starting point of reflection in order to develop new
and alternative ways of understanding urban space, enabling new forms of urban
interventions. As with dancing, the bodigraphic study enables us to understand
the corporal pre-existences that result from the experience of space. Bodigraphy
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Theoretical Musings
can also be useful in urbanism to comprehend the spatial pre-existences recorded
in the body through urban experiences. For both disciplines, the interest would be
placed upon the corporal experience of the city.
Through their everyday experiences of the urban space, city’s ordinary
practitioners, as Micheal de Certeau (2002) describes, or city’s slow men as
Milton Santos (1996) suggests, constantly actualize urban projects and therefore
urbanism itself. While urban planners suggest possible uses for the urban spaces
they design, those who truly actualize and reconfigure those same spaces are
the ordinary practitioners that experience the spaces on a daily basis. While the
appropriations and improvisations of urban space made by everyday users may
legitimate what has been professionally planned for the space, their occupations
may run counter to the urban planners’ intended use of the space. It is these
spatial experiments, conducted by the city’s inhabitants, strollers and passers-by,
that perpetually re-invent space in everyday life.
The prevailing use of spatial organizational principles performed as
instructions for urban actions, illustrates how everyday life in the city is increasingly
disembodied and spectacularized, expliciting a reduction of interaction and
complexity in urban experience8. Corporal investigations into urban space offer an
approach to urbanism in which embodiment plays a stronger role. Within theory
and practice of urbanism, bodigraphy is identified as a possible form of microresistance to mainstream urban thinking that prevails nowadays: spectacularized
and spectacularizing.
Both the lived spaces of the city and the urban memories contained within
the bodies provide forms of resistance. Through the experimentation implicit in
bodigraphies a resistance is generated. The visual relationship a body has with
the city, derived from the sensor-motor experiences of lived spaces in its different
temporalities, forms a contrast to the disincarnated scenarios expressed in the
flat images of billboard cities.
To avoid the slightest determinism, it is important to point out that urban
experiences in scenic or spectacular brighter spaces (to quote Milton Santos’s
idea of opaque and bright spaces, that can be related to the smooth and
striated spaces of Deleuze/Guattari) also configure bodigraphies, because
8
Regarding the incapacity to translate the existence into experience see: Giorgio Agamben, Infancy
and History: The destruction of the experience. (1993, original 1978) and the classic writing of Walter
Benjamin, Experience and Poverty in “Selected Writings” Vol 2 Part 2 (Cambridge 1999, original 1933).
Theoretical Musings
331
every urban experience is incorporated involuntarily by its practitioners, even
the most protected, pacified or spectacular experiences. However, there are
different degrees of complexity and corporal exigency depending on the types of
spaces and, above all, the way in which bodies practice them (one can practice
a spectacular space in a non-spectacular way and practice a non-spectacular
space in a spectacular way).
Of specific interest is the recognition that the different bodigraphies
show different ways in which urban experiences are synthesized. In this way,
bodigraphies allow us to deduce the logic of a city’s apprehension. Such logics
are distinguished from one another by a wide range of modulations spanning the
spectrum between, on the one hand the adherence, and on the other hand, the
resistance to the spectacularization process of cities, cultures and bodies. Forms
of appropriation – as self-organized territorial occupations – demonstrate the
richness of experience in these opaque, lived, hidden, conflicting and dissensual
spaces. They denote a form of resistance to the restrictions imposed upon
unpredictability, chance and creativity by projects that support the luminous,
spectacular, consensual, pacified, disciplined and controlled growth of urban
spaces.
A city experience, molded in an opaque space and thereafter embodied in
the body, may be a molecular (or micro) form of resistance to the molar (or macro)
process of contemporary urban spectacle. The resistance to the spectacularing
process is in the lived city, i.e. in the body of those who experience an opaque
space. These urban bodigraphies of resistance – the cartographies of urban life
– are not spectacularly inscribed on the inhabitant’s body. The inhabitant’s body
discloses what the spectacular project excludes, thus revealing what remains
outside the urban project. Everyday micro practices in lived spaces expose
various processes of appropriation that are seldom included in conventional
urban studies. These seem more preoccupied with projects, projections a priori.
However, bodigraphies should not be left outside their field of action. By giving
value to the process of embodiment – of the city in the body and the body in the
city – and the corporal experience of the city as a possibility of micro-resistance
or alternative to the logic of spectacle, we should learn to read the city through
our bodies. It is from this intensity of corporeality that an embodied urbanism
might emerge.
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333
Embodying Societies, Incorporated City:
Discourses on Urban Bodies
Frank Eckardt
A closer definition of the city’s bodiness can be gained through an analysis of
academic debates and papers, from the previous two decades, that consider the
changed meanings of body (Turner, 1991). The city, in its theoretical approach to
the human body, however, remains a missing component in this literature. Since
Kevin Lynch’s enduring work, and in other similar discourses in which space plays
a central role, the city is regarded solely as a physical entity, while its sociological
meanings are often neglected (Nas & Brakus, 2004). The simple acknowledgment
of something we call “society” is missing from these existing approaches, while
the relationship between space and body is also portrayed as direct and without
mediation.
This missing societal approach to the human body raises fundamental
questions regarding the concept of the body in general. Apparently, the body is
separate from the “mind” and thus relates differently to space. While the mind is
evidently linked to its environment by its ability to communicate with it; the body,
at first sight, does not seem to be linked to its environment. This is why the bodyspace-relationship is frequently incorrectly assumed to be “direct”, “authentic”
and recognizable through expressive actions in everyday life. Sociologically,
the opposite is assumed when the body is understood in its material form as a
socially constructed inter-mediation. The body, therefore, can only be regarded
in its relationship to the available discursive structures of society. The body is not
simply just there; instead, all corporal activities are part of a societal process, not
visible in real space. Only through an analysis of these discourses can we begin to
understand the embodiment of society.
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Theoretical Musings
The Historical Body
If sociology is the medium through which history and biography meet, then
an element of historical amnesia is identifiable in existing discourse on bodiness.
The body itself, as it is a vessel of remembrance and memory, acts as an
important intervention to an ahistorical approach (Tanner, 1999). Conceptualizing
the body as place of memory is necessary, if a double-blind position between the
theoretical adversaries of substantialist and radical constructionist approaches
is to be avoided. The space memory occupies is, without doubt, larger than the
singular body and depends intrinsically on its mediation and specialisation. Areas
outside the body reflect the interaction between extracorporeal remembrance and
individual memory. Society is visible in this relationship. The body as a historical
representation of its own acts and experiences cannot be communicated in
its total content, as it is impossible to integrate these personal memories into
bodiless forms of communication (Wischermann, 2001). Society has defined
symbols of bodiless memory and only certain symbols of the body are accepted,
safeguarded and interpreted by society. Upon closer reflection, we see that
memory is not only a bodily and individual institution; even in its material form,
memory is not embedded in the body. It becomes clear, then, that a space needs
to be generated in which memories can be retraced. Moreover, the variety of
meanings associated with the body within various historical epochs illustrates that
an ahistorical body does not exist, and suggests that any kind of substantialist
approach to the body should be avoided. The assumed neutrality of the body is
relatively easy to deconstruct, as the individual apparently requires the formulation
of a personal identity.
The value of the body’s historic dimension may be overestimated. The
historic dimension of the body may lead us to the conclusion that the individual
body would loose importance since the relationship between the individual body
and society would be historically dominated. Instead, the body needs to be
understood in its historical materialism as opposed to a place in which the traces
of historical positioning are recognizable and individual meaning is still produced
interactively. The different understandings of the body, therefore, are the outcome
of complex historical contexts. History places the observer in an ambiguous
position; a synchronization of asynchronous time is revealed: the plurality of
new and socially embedded embodiment patterns are analytically separate, yet
they must be conceptualized together. Imaginations and concepts of the body
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have been transported through time and find a space within the individual body.
Simultaneously and in contrast, memories through their spatial fixity and individual
interpretations enforce a constant process of embodiment.
The Body of Perception
The connection between individual and social interconnectivity lies in the
history of physicality. Space is not to be thought of as a category, separated
from its past and future. Instead, space should be understood temporally, as a
long string of conflicts, a row of unending points within a historically structured
context, in which the indirect and round-about tracks are also short-cuts allowing
individuals to move forward and accelerate their recovery. Chronobiological
continuity, the observation of life includes the movement through space and
time, insists on the conceptualization of a one-dimensional time line between a
beginning and an end point. The image of such a line allows an autobiographical
self-construction and avoids internal and external critique.
Bodies are trapped between external and self-perceptions and their
development is limited only to this binary dynamic. The body internalizes the view
from the outside, while the view to the outside is formed by expectations from
the outside. These expectations are influenced by previous experiences, but also
the intensity and length of the body’s view and orientation to the outside. The
body’s view-regime is encapsulated within the polarity between the outsider’s
view onto the body and the expressions of one’s own body. Each external regime
makes complex offers, in response to which the body can build up routines and
regularities, norms and values of what, when, how and to whom the body can view
and what the meaning of such a sight may be. In this constant and continuously
intensifying flow of perceptions, the body is socially constructed: “The body, as a
social form, defines the nature and way the body, as a physical entity, is perceived.
On the other hand, the physical perception of the body (through the modification
of social categories) manifests a specific concept of society. Between the body’s
social and physical experiences, a permanent exchange of contextual meaning
takes place.” (Douglas, 1981: 2)
The Body of Experience
Both contingency and innovation characterize, on the one hand, the body as
a historical object, but simultaneously define the body’s capacity to experience
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and not experience. Bodiness cannot be described without recognizing its
fundamental constitution as oriented towards meaning. The body is not only
communicated in the historical context, but is also understood as an object of
performance that must continuously represent itself, and therefore cannot escape
the present and the contemporary. While the ability to escape appears entirerly
possible for the mind and its thoughts, a material and bodily escape appears
rather limited. The body’s communication with its environment requires transferal
from one situation to another. Situations are spatial constellations that are defined
by their local and temporal limitations. It is these limitations, however, that enables
the body to experience and comprehend different types of situations. Through
the body’s exposure to both comprehensible and incomprehensible situations,
the body is able to generate regularities. Situations may grow in complexity
as they are embedded in social processes, but they can be remembered by
practices of marking the particular. Mental structures do not necessarily adopt
bodily experiences, but the mental and the bodily experiences are related by an
empirically traceable method. Agoraphobia is not caused by the design of public
spaces; rather, the relationship is constructed by the mental representation of
spaces and the spatial representation of intra-psychic fear. The link between both
may be inadequate, arbitrary, conflict generating, or inappropriate, and therefore
harmful, as it is the case with phobias. They are, nevertheless, an expression of
the body and its situatedness between feeling, memory and perception. While
the situation occurs often in the form of a repetitive phenomenon, it enables
bodily and mental rules and activities to be created. Bodily experiences may
be understood as a row of sequential situations. However, the biography of
experiences does not require a linear reading: rules can be intuitively created or
steered by changing the rules themselves. Vitality and creativity are embodied, as
the rules are spontaneously altered.
The Body of Expectations
Whether a body moves in a new way, reacts differently or develops at all,
depends on the perceived, anticipated and felt attitude of expectations governing
a particular situation. Referring to the so-called Thomas Paradigm in sociology, a
situation is real if the individual perceives it as such.
However, there is no need for mental decision-making and reflection,
it is rather the bodily mechanism of coping with expectations that will be
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337
communicated with the rational areas of the body, be it in a coherent or otherwise
psychosomatic manner. Expectations are complex constitutions of symbols,
which generate communicative media with both the situative environment and with
the individual’s remembered and constructed aspirations. External acts arranged
expressively in spaces of expectation might be ignored, misunderstood, or
remain open. Physical and communicative environments – universal architectures
of expectation, therefore become an impossibility. The meaning of expectations
as thoughts grows: felt future bodies are of central importance, as they anticipate
the remembered and incorporated history of the body in its possible further
developments of which the physical, social and biological are crucial aspects.
The body of expectations is not only defined by its individual subjectivity; it is
also defined by the communicative substance of societal expectations, to which
are linked potential experiences, even when decoupled from individual situations.
Expectations exist beyond space even if they can partially occupy a shape, form,
or symbol in different situations. These abstract and unbound spatial expectations
are experienced in situations which are incorporated into different bodies.
For the most part, the body does not react alone to situative and place bound
predictable expectations. However, the affirmation of expectations by the body
requires a space in which the existence and relevance of societal expectations
can be received in the form of experience and emotion by the individual body.
Expectations can also free the body from the limitations of the pre-existing
spaces and situations and heterotopically mobilize the body against potential
resistances. Here, the nature of the influence on the expectations emerges as a
crucial question.
The body’s capacity to mentally steer its reactions are frequently
overestimated, since the body is subordinate to the mind. But the body is also
understood through the romantic notion of the feeling body. Here the physical
(body) and the mental (mind) are unified. Both concepts are problematic, as
expectations are regarded as intra-individual and do not respond to the burdens
of external expectations. Moreover, the deficit of these bodily concepts lies in the
neglect of the assumption of autonomy over the mental and physical production of
expectations: those who continue to advocate the dominance of the rational mind
do not see that the body creates and demands its own mental expectations. Those
who defend and revere the body, fail to see the banality of the question of meaning
(Sinnfrage). This question can only be answered consciously and narratively.
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The Other Body
Sociologically interesting is not only the external dimension of the
expectation of bodiness, as Mead describes, but also that the exchange
between individuals does not end with verbal interaction, but continues towards
a process of incorporation (Jäger, 2004). The term incorporation refers to
the interaction process in its non-verbal dimension. Between both phases of
verbal and non-verbal exchange, an obvious Time Lack exists with which the
body continues to work on the inter-subjective process. This second phase
of communication is often misleading. The context in which interaction takes
place may appear as invisible or lost. In this way, the body becomes “different”.
With a differentiated view upon the constitution of bodiness, the body in its
abstract manner materializes through different descriptions as accessible and
empirically understandable. As we cannot simply understand the human being
in an ontological and abstract way, we also cannot grasp the body abstractly
and ontologically. Human beings and bodies have no pre-existing objectives,
which are present without an observer (Frank, 1991). There are no objective
constancies of any kind, which could indeed be broken down into concrete
cases. Paradoxically, bodiness is constituted, on the one hand, by human
anthropology, and on the other hand, by its capacity to communicate with
the external environment. In this sense, bodiness is context dependent and
cannot be de-contextualised. Contexts are situated in specific particularities of
society and culture. This leads to comparative perspectives in which similarities
and dissimilarities emerge, and in which the context is not understood as a
contradiction to a universalist perspective in which comparative differences can
be embedded into a more abstract category. Instead, a contextualized body
enables an understanding of the body as a reciprocal for difference. Within
society, differences in social position, lead to differences in perception of the
body. The perception of difference can be viewed from a structuralist perspective
as a meaning is constituted through symbolic oppositions. Dual conceptions of
the body can be expressed by symbols and also reproduced through symbols.
They, however, leave doubt and aporia behind, since dual conceptualizations
and their oppositions do not suffice to explain all possible meanings. The
inadequacy of the dual positioning of the symbols endangers the complexity
of the body and, thus, aporia and doubt penetrate the holistic structure of the
body. Pain and destruction are the consequence. Pain has no opposite, as
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339
death also has no opposite. Breath, along with all other obvious bodily functions
exists without oppositional meaning. In other words, the body is not fully
understandable within a purely structural discourse; it undergoes a process of
power building, order and discipline in which differences melt into each other
and where “different” becomes a form of expression (Schmincke, 2007). This
differentiation is intended to be materialized again; the thought difference needs
to become real and understood as something that lends structure to the visible
and invisible body. This process requires a point of departure where only power
and destiny – the power of destiny and the destiny of power – move the body.
The structure of difference becomes necessary as enabling movement to the
desired or feared other. This is the main dynamic of its tension. Bodies are
present in their motion only when there is some kind of other. Bodies are not the
place of eroticism, but they can potentially become it in the field of tension that
stems from differences.
The History of the Repressed Body
The conceptualization of the body as the shelter and home of the mind,
perhaps even as the mind’s prison, is a rationalized repression of bodiness.
Though, over time, this repression has appeared in different contexts and forms, it
has continually remained a fundamental and basic societal experience. Foucault
re-directs this focused view of the body, towards a more general assessment of
sexual difference from a feminist perspective. In this view, eroticism is identified
as a product of Western civilization. Sexual expectations and tensions, formed by
the differences between the sexes, are thus identified as programmed procedures
ruled by the conquest of one sex over another. In this way, sexual expectations,
experiences and operations have, over time, been cemented and neutralized
within western civilization, making them appear “natural”. Agape, an asexual form
of brotherly love between mankind – between equal individuals, is an important
concept which has remained foreign in the radicalized Christian culture. In this
Western culture, the body-spirit duality remains in sharp focus, while Agape love
remains relatively unknown. The neglect of Agape, as practiced by the Ancient
Greeks, has resulted in the estrangement of the emotional from the rational part
of the body. Exaggerated phallic symbolisms, gendered development of physical
spaces, and embedded gender differences into social typologies of the male
flâneur make this estrangement visible.
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Theoretical Musings
In the run of postmodernity, binary attractions and their related social
spaces can no longer remain unquestioned. This is not to say that repressed
bodiness has come to an end (rather the contrary is true), nor that heteronomy,
will be exchanged by a new arrangement of the sexes. As postmodern thinkers
have already expressed, a greater awareness for a constructivist approach to
bipolar bodiness and body-history is possible. New meanings of bodily play
might contribute to this. Postmodern criticism on the project of emancipation
offers a new way to understand bodies in the context non-mental anticipation
of experiences, which can be re-considered through play (Nicholson, 1999).
Enlightenment of feelings, emotional rationalism, might be the main idea of an
incorporated project of emancipation.
Bodies of the City
Understanding the bodies of the city requires a more complex perspective
on the urban and the avoidance of pitfalls existing approaches to the bodiness
and the city we have already encountered (Eckardt, 2009). Firstly, urban space
cannot be described alone in two dimensions (as a plan), or in three dimensions
(as a design proposal, art object, or photograph). Instead, a more accurate
understanding of the city requires an essential fourth dimension: time. Frequently,
the simplified two and three dimensional approaches are characterized by
naivety as they take the physical properties of space as given, and further as
a substance in and through which human beings merely move about. Though
this characterization of space might seem trivial, experience shows that this
sub-complex perspective often wins. Here, instead, a concept will be pursued in
which the essence of the urban is not qualified as “essentialist”, but instead the
city is identified as a process with a permanent inter-charge between interaction
and incorporation. The physical and material is not present, ab ovo, as Rome was
not built in one day; while only a few hours are required to totally destroy a city, as
we have so painfully learned in the 20th century. A city’s death and its founding
cannot be separated from its biological and physical nature; while it is the human
beings who inhabit the cities that embody their biological and physical nature.
Nevertheless, cities are not simply enlarged living-rooms or objects that can
be built and planed according to “human scale”. Neither the human scale nor
other abstract and evolutionary concepts suggest any form of universal urban
design paradigm. The myth of an organically grown city is based on a nebulous
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341
retrospective. Cities are processes in which the material and embodiment – the
city and the human body – constitute permanent feedback between each other.
No temple, which has not been destroyed; no body which has not suffered from
constructed architectures. In just three words, Building, Breaking, Rebuilding – the
emblematic title of Chicago poet Charles Sandburg’s poem about his hometown
– hits upon the very essence of this distinctive urban feature.
In many regards, cities are not only physical collections of living spaces
and built structures located in a geographic dimension. Cities are dynamic. The
reproduction of the city in a museum-like style is, in this way, a contradiction.
The so-called “theming” of postmodern urbanism, however, is only one phase in
the continuous interplay between urban society and bodiness. Principally, both
spheres cannot be separated from each other.
A mode of understanding based on social processes is the product of the
friction between the body and the requirements of the urban contingence, the
process of building, inhabiting, governing, and participating over and beyond the
body and the individual.
Urban Bodies
When we discuss the body, as we have until now, as places of perceptions,
experiences and expectations which are pre-determined and not fully formed by
memory, then the question arises: what is the particularly urban in this? Why does
the urban context set particular frames and limits and why does it offer specific
opportunities for the incorporation of the societal and the embodiment of the
space?
A starting point for further debate on this subject is the historical observation
that cities are produced as societal spaces. These spaces develop and grow
as a result of both their internal tensions and their external relationship to the
outside world. In this way, cities can be understood as embodying an empirically
accessible reality. They can be described by their material nucleus that can
be mapped geographically, planned temporarily and whose physical realm is
understood as a comprehendible space. This empirical understanding of the city
highlights the shortcomings of the individual’s perception of the very nature of the
city itself. In this way, the city is often assumed beyond a naturalist phenomenon.
As there is (no longer) opposition to the city, the city cannot be understood through
a binary structural logic. As far as scientific access to the urban is concerned,
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the everyday understanding and the rather narrow subjective view of the city is
in need of adjustment. Operating in the urban environment, the urban dweller
uses a concept of the city, which effectively enables the pursuit of his or her own
objectives. Upon deeper reflection, however, we see that this is only a functional
and opportunistic approach to the problem of the “urban”. The main problem with
this perspective of everyday life is its selectivity; it fails to include other evident
levels of description and experience. Without these additional layers, a real and
pragmatic approach cannot operate in response to changing situations. Instead,
this understanding is captured in the trap of an already made experience. In this
instance, memory becomes a hindrance. In literature an urban narrative emerges
in which subjects either fail in such an urban context; or in which subjects are
able to pursue some form of personal development. The first genre is captured in
many novels of the naturalist period (Strindberg, for example), while the second
genre can be identified, for example, in the German Entwicklungsroman. Contrary
to these approaches to the urban, it seems, at first, that definitions which attempt
to explain the city objectively without taking into account the “voice” added
by subjective and literary approaches. However, both ways of explaining and
expressing the urban experience are not based on the communicative interaction
and interplay between different urban situations, contexts and persons/bodies
that, in essence, make up the complexity of the urban.
Cities exist as a result of their tensions and dynamics which are generated
by the permanent exchange between the present and the absent; the mobile and
the remaining; change and continuity; the global and the local; individuality and
sociability. The bodiness of the urban is located within these polar relationships
and is characterized by its timely positioning at one or the other end of the
poles. The exclusion of the bodiness from the city refers simultaneously to the
sedentary folk and those who never arrive; the integrated locals and the global
elites; attendants of local traditions and protagonists of change. The urban does
not reflect one of these poles, but remains in an in-between position: it is this very
process of constant positioning that defines the urban. This process, however,
is not free-floating and abstract, but depends on intermediate structures to
enable simultaneous stability and change. It creates forms of spatial expression
and mental representations which can be understood only in the context of
urbanization. This process is deeply embodied and in motion. It can sense, hear,
feel, touch and read. It is an emotional landscape.
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Rap City Body
Returning to the subjective reflection on the urban, embodiment can be
traced back and profoundly sensed, in many different ways. Consciously,
however, this is rarely experienced. The medialization of urban bodiness can
be contextualized and expressed through historical rootedness and societal
situatedness. For instance, the relationship between postmodern urban life, rap
music and the specific perceptions of the body can be explained through the local
context from which the rap music originally derived from (Giebesmeier, 2008).
The style of music, its form and rhythm is a representation of the experience
of many, in particular inner city Blacks living in the US. In the context of urban
de-industrialization, many Blacks were confronted with reduced perception of
the value of their character and their bodies (Harlan, 1998). Rap has produced a
global formula, which can be developed further in local context that allows similar
experiences to be medialized (Mitchell, 2001). In this way, bodiness can be read
as a continuation of experiences that stem from deviations of urban society’s
dominating forms. The renaissance of the tattoo, which has been accompanied
by the growth of rap, can thus be understood as a de-contextualized tradition
of urban bodiness (Steward, 1990). This reconfiguration of the urban body has
occurred in times of social exclusion and in the context of the postmodern city,
and these individual experiences have been expressed through the logic of music
and tattoo. These processes have led to film documentations such as Rap City
Berlin in which rappers’ bodiness is presented in an insightful and revealing
manner. The body is represented as a medium of imagined or real experience – it
is the expression of a typical rapper situation which tries to bring the body onto
the same level of the spectator and thus, into close proximity to other bodies. In
terms of gender, the continuity of masculine identity could be further explored,
but for the sociology of the urban it is important to understand the eroticism of the
body is in permanent stability and motion. The tattoo, in this regard, functions in
the same way. A rapper, Marcello, has tattooed the Rap City Berlin on his body.
On Rap.de (Retrieved September 2 2009) we read: “Marcello offers himself and
his body to the internet. ‘I am single; I am sporty; I am sexy. Although I have never
visited a whore, I can sell myself.’ With the money he wants to earn this way, his
goal is to produce a vinyl of his newest CD. Marcello lives for Hip Hop and for this
he wants to do everything.”
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The bodiness of rap tries to make sense of abstract societal processes,
such as de-industrialization and its consequent social exclusion. Furthermore,
through a bodily authenticity of experiences, rap also acts as a counterforce
to particular social transformations (Winkler, 2008). In this process of mediated
bodiness, a new relationship between urban tradition (violence, body painting,
exclusion, masculinity) and a new bodiness of space emerge in which the culture
of rap is capable of reaching the children’s room, the fitness studio, the stately
architecture of the concert hall, the tattoo temple, and other spatial formations of
this particular embodiment of urban society in the 21st century. This, however, is
only one path postmodern urbanism might take, and coexists and competes with
other urban bodies.
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345
Performing Another Society
Catherine Grau
Dear Reader: This text is a composition of fragments of a text that was already fragmented; it is a
reduced version of an open and ongoing mind-map. These are abstracts from the theoretical research
accompanying an artistic exploration of performing spontaneous dance in public space and staging a
public dance workshop that probed collective transformation and physical reactions to social and spatial
hierarchies by accessing embodied knowledge. The combined research was done as the Master Thesis
of the Public Art and New Artistic Strategies Program at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. I invite you to
digest and carry these thoughts into the streets.
A philosophy or perception based on experience may easily stand in contrast
to the highly developed logic or reasoning proposed by Western society. It is in
this that I find excitement and potential. It is my belief that through, and within,
art I can find a space to explore the irrational and the primitive, and open up
discourses that find little expression or value in current Western society. These
two words, irrational and primitive, and my intended use and appropriation of
them, are essential for my work. Irrational is that which cannot yet be explained
in the terms of modern science or common use of language and goes against the
European constructions of logic and reason1. With the word primitive I imply a
“vanishing point of knowledge” (Schneider, 1997: 126) in Western society and, at
the same time, a knowledge within itself which is not explored or does not have a
respected place in Western civilization.
Attempting to be open to primitive forms of knowledge makes me vulnerable.
Yet I want to show my fragility, my questions. I am in a process; there will be no
finished product, only the expression of questions and ongoing experience. I am
1
“I hate the Irrational. However, I believe, that even the most flagrant irrationality must contain
something of rational truth. There is nothing in this human world of ours that is not in some way right,
however distorted it may be.” Wilhelm Reich, from the film Secrets of the Organism.
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Theoretical Musings
intimidated by intellectual discussions. It is so easy to build walls and so easy to
destroy bridges. But I want to create: I want to build connections, zoom in and
out of myself, and move through time and space. How can I be so flexible and
yet manage to be rooted? If I am everywhere; I am nowhere. This is the loss of
a sense of identity I am experiencing, but it is also the playing field that permits
me to go on with the following research and construct new experiences and
meaning.
As my initial point of reference, I am interested in examining elements of ritual
and dance. I look to them as a space and time where art, life, science, politics
and spirituality are all part of each other: a place for metaphysics. I see them also
as a place for negotiation. Myth, reality, dream; past, present, future – they are
weighed and explored through performance: a place where experience is gained
through active involvement. The everyday can be altered, enhanced, inverted or
negated in order to experiment and express and construct other knowledge –
and other realities: a living culture. I will mention rituals several times and want to
clarify here that I am referring to rituals as something inherently collective, based
on active participation.
One of my main motivations in a series of personal and artistic inquiries is
exploring collective experience, particularity as a temporary transformative
experience in participatory performance or action. Although all the participants
have an individual experience within this shared experience, a connection is built
between them. For me it is clear that art and life are part of each other. I want to
extend these connections as far as possible – through the body and through the
imagination, individually and collectively.
This is what I propose with the title Performing Another Society. With the
word performing I don’t intend the production of a spectacle. I am not referring
to performance as a noun; instead I intend it as a verb, as an action. I propose
a new analysis of the daily actions we do consciously and unconsciously: in the
framework of my own explorations, I assert that by consciously staging alternative
actions from our routine behavior, it becomes performing. It also intends to pose
the question of how we are already performing society. Inherent in the title is a call
for participation. No individual can perform society, as much as no individual can
exist without society. Performing Another Society must be a sincere experience.
It requires being open to other forms of knowledge and experience. It cannot be
rehearsed. It requests a true presence and spontaneity.
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347
Crossing Boundaries
All rituals begin by stepping into a defined realm of action, performance,
perception and identity-play, with a defined marking of beginning and end. This
crossing of boundaries can be manifold, first consciously stepping across a
boundary from the everyday into the ritual and then, depending on the type of
rituals, crossing from a conscious to an unconscious or ecstatic state of mind,
or both. This crossing can be temporary or permanent, as with rituals of initiation
for example. It is my claim that in both ritual and performance this crossing of
boundaries is the probing or stepping into other potential realities. They serve to
provide spaces and outlets not inherent in the everyday; they question or enhance
“reality”. Another approach I want to take is the question of what boundaries
I perceive in contemporary Western society. What is acceptable? What is
established and what is outside? There are certain boundaries that to me seem
physical, as laws for example. They are like a wall that I can touch. They are more
clearly defined – written! – but at the same time they are sticky and malleable,
like a membrane, where certain things can pass and others not. And they are
external to myself, a constructed space I move within. Others seem to be mental
or philosophical boundaries, less tangible – unspoken! These are engrained
in culture, continuously woven like a web. They are interior, an invisible thread
connecting us to each other, permitting or denying communication, security, and
integration, but also, as with the spider web, not easy to move in and out of. The
two types of boundaries are connected, propagating and continuously growing
out of each other.
On Space and Time and Spontaneity
§ 42 OBG - Landesrecht Thüringen: Veranstaltung von Vergnügungen
(1) Wer eine öffentliche Vergnügung veranstalten will, hat das der
Gemeinde, Verwaltungsgemeinschaft oder erfüllenden Gemeinde unter
Angabe der Art, des Ortes und der Zeit der Veranstaltung und der Zahl
der zuzulassenden Teilnehmer spätestens eine Woche vorher schriftlich
anzuzeigen.
(2) Abs.1 gilt nicht für Veranstaltungen, die vorwiegend religiösen, künstlerischen, kulturellen, wissenschaftlichen, belehrenden oder erzieherischen
Zwecken oder der Wirtschaftswerbung dienen, sofern sie in Räumen
stattfinden, die für Veranstaltungen der beabsichtigten Art bestimmt sind.
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Theoretical Musings
In Weimar, Thuringia, law outlines the public ordinance and governance of
“public pleasure” (events) in public space, through the Ordungsamt (the municipal
department for public order). The law states that any event of pleasure that is open
to the public and in public space requires a Sondernutzungsgenehmigung (permit
for extraordinary use) from the department, regardless of the number of people
involved. The planned pleasure needs to be presented in written form to the
authorities at least one week prior to the event, including the place, the time, the
type of event, and the number of people that will attend the event. Spontaneous
celebration or collective pleasure in public space without permission, may lead to
police intervention and legal prosecution.
This law stands out to me particularly because of the choice of wording:
“organizing an event of public pleasure”. Is this why spontaneous public collective
pleasure is something out of the ordinary? Celebration is organized and controlled,
which may be true for many cultures throughout history. It is mostly organized and
cordoned to specific dates and locations; spontaneity itself is regulated for the
safety of the citizens and public order, which in the law is the precondition for civic
cohabitation. The question arises whether the absence of collective spontaneous
dancing in public space is only a function of status quo or whether the physical
boundaries of the law influence this social consent.
Furthermore, there is a second part to this law that states that the law
does not apply to events with religious, artistic, cultural, scientific, educational,
or commercial advertising purposes, as long as these events take place in
spaces intended for such purposes. And it is public institutions of the respective
categories that determine whether a public space is intended for certain activities.
This section of the law extends with very few words from the controlling of public
space to the institutionalization of culture, in its broadest definition, creating a
privileged space for institutional activity. Is this because institutions are another
form of control? In any case, the separation between art and life is quite clearly
outlined by this law. Guy Brett in an essay on Brazilian participatory art from the
seventies compares the grass-roots movements of Brazil with industrial massculture, raising the issue of this separation on a broader level. “In its simplest
terms this may perhaps be summed up as the difference between a social model
where everyone is potentially an artist, has access to expressive activity, and
one where creativity and self-expression is professionalized and the audience is
treated as consumers.” He continues by referencing the participatory installation
Theoretical Musings
349
environments of Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica, saying that they are able to
“challenge the hierarchical norms of bourgeois culture, the myth of the artist, and
the institutionalization of creativity” (Bett, 2000: 45 – 46).
Inverting Hierarchies
“The celebration/ritual of inverted worlds also provides an opportunity to
formulate and show the self-confidence of a community. Especially in societies
with limited or even missing central power, it is of central meaning to test out
the basic law of the society by performing its opposite” (Christoph, 2004: 61)
[translated by the author]2. A contemporary example of such a celebration is the
carnival, which in Europe still today carries the traces of political parody and
inverting hierarchies. It is a festival of cross-dressing, where the fool can play the
king, where all social categories can be escaped.
The Dionysian ritual performed by the Maenads – the female followers of
Dionysus in ancient Greece, clearly exemplifies a temporary inversion of violence
(central power) from the dominion of men to women: the ritual was performed
every two years, in which the Maenads gathered in forests and engaged in
ecstatic dances and the abandonment of the conscious self and with it their
place in society, leading up to collectively hunting large prey such as deer, and
reinforcing this violence by eating their catch raw, on the spot. This is a most
literal example of Dionysian rituals holding the potential, not only to perform
temporary egalitarianism in the act of collective ecstasy, but also to lead to an
actual temporary inversion of hierarchies and suppressive power structures.
Mikhail Bakhtin has written extensively on the theme of carnival, a key
influence on his concepts of grotesque realism. In his book Rabelais and His World
he writes: “The essential principle of grotesque realism is degradation, that is, the
lowering of all that is high, spiritual, ideal, abstract; it is a transfer to the material
level, to the sphere of the earth and body in indissoluble unity… Degradation here
means coming down to earth, the contact with earth as an element that swallows
up and gives birth at the same time. To degrade is to bury, to sow, and to kill
simultaneously, in order to bring forth something more and better” (Bakhtin, 1995:
2 “Das Fest der Verkehrten Welt bietet auch die Gelegenheit, das Selbstbewusstsein der Gemeinde zu
formieren und zu zeigen. Gerade in Gesellschaften mit geringer oder überhaupt fehlender Zentralgewalt
ist das Fest von zentraler Bedeutung, um die Grundgesetze der Gesellschaft zu prüfen, indem man ihr
Gegenteil durchspielt.” (Christoph in Macho, 2004: 61)
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Theoretical Musings
19 – 21). And yet the inverted world of carnival – as a product of people’s creativity
and folk culture – is also a world of utopian ideals. Through performing freedom
from social restraint and hierarchy placement, through performing egalitarianism
a new communal language is established. It is a language of familiarity and of
mockery that is usually only permitted between close friends.
The question of whether this is an outlet for social tension, and thus only
neutralizing instead of proposing real change, is difficult to answer. Barbara
Ehrenreich writes throughout her book Dancing in the Streets: A History of
Collective Joy of the repression of communal pleasure. She links the repression of
carnival to the rise of capitalism. The new industrial age left little time for festivities
and the new division of labor lead to the alienation of the worker from the product,
thus denying him/her the creative act. A philosophy of Puritanism accompanied
this labor intensity. The focus of society shifted even more towards the individual
and the realm of the intellectual, of contemplation. Collective spontaneity took
the form of “irrational” masses that demonstrated and destroyed factories. The
festival of the inverted world is only a celebration until it becomes a riot. The
threshold between the two is easily crossed.
The irrational crowd reminds me of the laws on organizing collective pleasure.
The law is written for the safety of the citizens. If the threshold between collective
pleasure and collective violence is so slim, then I begin to consider this law to be
written rather for the safety of those holding the power. It is here that I consider
the potential of ritual and performance: the embodied/intuitive knowledge is the
awareness of social restraints, hierarchies, and the needs that are not satisfied by
society.
Participation and Collectivity
Barbara Ehrenreich argues that humans carry an inherent potential for
collective ecstatic pleasure, just as we do for sexual pleasure. In contemplating
the biological and social functions of this potential, she arrived at humans’ earliest
hunting and predator animal encounter experiences. Through rhythm, chant,
and dance they could synchronize themselves from individuals into a collective
body in order to convincingly fend off or hunt larger animals. The rites and rituals
invoking and reenacting this collective body then served to communicate and
celebrate successful experiences, strengthening social integration, as well as
teaching this synchronization skill to the younger generations. Most of us no
Theoretical Musings
351
longer need this hunting skill today, but she argues for activating this potential
for pleasurable, spiritual, expressive, and artistic release as well as for healing
psychological malaises such as depression. “When we speak of transcendent
experience in terms of ‘feeling part of something larger than ourselves’, it may
be this ancient many-headed pseudocreature that we unconsciously invoke”
(Ehrenreich, 2006: 30).
Merging back and forth between the individual and collective body, being
both simultaneously as an experience to gain through performance, entices me.
But it is naïve to think of this potential for collective pleasure as something that
is easily attained. To achieve this state and be open to such an extreme situation
must be learned – or rather I must first dismantle and unlearn the structures and
meanings of society constructed inside of me. Is this even possible?
Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica have separately and in dialogue with each
other, investigated notions of participation and collectivity. I am inspired by
their work and their positions, as they focus on collective participation rooted
in bodily experience and altering perceptions. Lygia Clark sees collectivity on a
profound and visceral level – not mystifying or romanticizing the notion, and at the
same time digging deep into the psychological and emotional issues that arise
in experiencing collectivity. Lygia Clark’s work Baba Antropofágica explores the
metaphor of collectivity through a symbolic participatory performance: one person
is lying on the ground with closed eyes; a group of people sit closely around him/
her and they begin to pull a thread from a spool out of their mouths, letting it
fall onto the lying person. When all the thread is unwound, they begin to pull up
the wet threads, letting them fall over their own heads and bodies, as an act of
sharing bodily fluid and visualizing their connections through the web of thread. It
is an act of taking into and out of the body – embodying experience through the
senses and thus physically becoming a collective body.
Hélio Oiticica’s work explores notions of participation by engaging the body
directly. His tropical and favela-inspired environments invited the audience into
a direct life experience guided by the senses, as opposed to the mind. The
audience is invited to explore and change the environment according to their
desires. Guy Brett described the work: “Rather than on mastering, the emphasis
was on sensuous receptivity to the world, reverie, communality… centered
around qualitative questions of participation” (Bett, 2000: 53 – 54). I wonder
though, if by focusing on the body and on the collective a practice that invites a
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Theoretical Musings
physical exploration from the participant, a temporary social equality is created,
as everyone is new to the environment?
One of the reasons I started looking to rituals as a source of inspiration for my
work was the role of active, creative participation within them. To me the collective
body is a participatory body. If the purpose in ritual is to embody experience,
the elaboration of meaning and communication of the experience is already
established within the culture. In my artistic inquiries of collective experience,
facilitating communication and elaboration of meaning are the most challenging
aspect. How do we express collectivity in the performance of the everyday?
Kinesics
Kinesics is the study of non-verbal communication mainly studied as facial
expressions, body posture or gestures that enhance verbal language. The
anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell founded the term. He claimed that only a minor
percentage of social communication relies on words and that every physical
movement has potential meaning (Harrison, 1974: 70). Within rituals and within
performance art, kinesics is essential for establishing language within a given
culture: dance, performance, and re-enactments are all forms of communication.
But how do we perceive these forms of communication and what do we read from
them?
I found that Butoh – a Japanese dance form that developed in the late 1950s
and early 1960s – is often described as irrational and anarchic. Inspired by, but
also breaking out of and criticizing the boundaries of modern dance, it refuses
to theorize its practice–a refusal to label and define, much related to Taoist
philosophy. From the many, mostly poetic ways of describing itself, as well as
from seeing some of the work, I find Butoh to be the translation of embodied
experience and emotion into movement – not in the sense of pantomime
movements, but in the intuitive surging and resurging, the living and reliving
of experience. It is a matter of taking what is inside you and externalizing it.
The dance is rooted within the body. The body is the weight and container of
experience. Emulating Japanese rice-farmers, with short legs and the upper body
always pulled down towards the ground – the origin of life, and opposing the
European dance that on pointed toes aims up towards the sky – the supposed
realm of spirit and the mind, the movement of the body is weighed down. Tatsumi
Hijikata, the founder of Butoh-dance, stated: “My dance is born out of the mud”
Theoretical Musings
353
(Hijikata , 1986: 24). The dance described above speaks on a visceral level. The
contortions and expressions appear animalistic and grotesque; the body seems
possessed by its own subconscious. The dancer Baku Ishii explains: “We place
the truth of the expression above the perfection of the form” (Ishii, 1986: 13). The
dance is subjective. Each dancer develops his/her dance from intuition, creating
the movement by resurrecting embodied experience and performing, or rather
restaging and reliving the experience as a way to pull out an inner unresolved
conflict. Michael Haerdter claims that the power of Butoh lies in performing a
radical break from the rational principles of modernity (Haerdter , 1986: 9).
Dance is one of the elements most often used in rituals. It substitutes for
verbal language and lets the body be present in the discussion. The experience
can be relived and re-evaluated. It can be passed on, or even practiced. If
the re-enactment is of a collective memory and re-enacted collectively, the
communication can be participatory.
Adrian Piper mentions a “fundamental sensory ‘knowledge’ that everyone
has and can use” (Piper, 2006: 130), when speaking of her work Funk Lessons.
This participatory project intended to create a dialogue between black and
white culture, around the theme of discrimination and the value-placements on
funk music. The method she chose was to give funk lessons, primarily to white
people and to use dance and the experience of dancing, as a way of gaining
knowledge as well as dismantling pre-constructed notions and perceptions about
black cultures. She describes funk as “a collective and participatory means of
self-transcendence and social union… and much more integrated into daily life”
(ibid), an experience the participants were able to live within the lessons. Staging
the work as a lesson, the participants were already open to the idea of learning
and experimenting. In speaking of various forms of knowledge, this is the one
I want to term as primitive and the one I want to focus on. I find performance,
re-enactments, dance, and movements to be ways of exploring experiential and
intuitive knowledge rooted within the body. This knowledge is promising to me in
its possible accessibility. Western science and Eastern philosophy have arrived at
highly sophisticated knowledge, but its accessibility to the common person and
relation to the everyday are not easily bridged. Maybe corporeal knowledge could
provide this bridge.
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Theoretical Musings
Missing Links – On the Elaboration of Meaning
“This entire experience into which art flows, the issue of liberty itself, of the
expansion of the individual’s consciousness, of the return to myth, the rediscovery
of rhythm, dance, the body, the senses, which finally are what we have as a
weapon of direct, perceptual, participatory knowledge, immediately provokes
a reaction from conformist of all kinds, since it (the experience) represents the
liberation from those prejudices of social conditioning to which the individual is
subjected” (Oiticica, 2000: 268).
I want to return again to the question of how we are performing society. Are
we propagating old dogmas instead of performing renewal? Are we not lagging
behind in expressing the knowledge and experiences offered by contemporary
society? Modern science affirms that matter is a living thing; that everything is
made of the same basic elements; that everything is connected. In an attempt to
express my feelings, intuition, and questions, I found myself having to redefine
and appropriate new meanings in written language. Yet, I desire to probe these
questions not only through contemplation, but also through experience, through
performance. There are many undeveloped links between my body and my mind,
between my self and the collective, and between my existence and my grasp
on identity. To me these are links with a promising potential for social, physical,
political and spiritual regeneration – or degradation, to use Bakhtin’s concept.
In the beginning of this text I mention art as a space for the irrational. For
me art is a space of exploration. There are no hard boundaries and the soft
boundaries are constantly shifting. It is a space of renewal and transgression, a
space where experimentation and transformation are valued and essential. Forms
of communication and expression are perpetually re-invented and adapted. It is
a space of appropriating meanings, subjective interpretations, and creating life
experience. I see here so many parallels to primitive rituals and the key parallel
that I want to adopt in my art practice is active participation and the elaboration of
meaning through corporeal knowledge. This practice needs to be extended, open
to the public; it needs to be collective.
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355
Epilogue
Goethe and the Hammock
Goethe und die Hängematte
SYLK SCHNEIDER
SyLK SCHNEIDER
Painting by Vane de Oliveira
adapted by Isabela Schnei
der (Goethe paiting by
Tischbein) Gemälde von
Vane Oliveira, adaptiert von
Isabela Schneider (Goethe
Gemälde von Tischbein)
358
Epilogue
Is a picture like this possible? “Certainly not!”, one might
say. Goethe has never been to the tropics, coconut trees have
never grown in Weimar and Goethe has never relaxed in a
hammock. However, the truth of the last statement we do not
know for sure, because a hammock was found in Goethe’s
ethnographic collection. He probably received the hammock from
Ist ein Bild wie dieses denn möglich? „Bestimmt Etching of Coroados indians hammock,
nicht!“, mag man sagen. Goethe ist niemals in den as the one found in Goethe’s collection.
As Martius’ Travel Book to Brazil describes:
Tropen gewesen, Kokospalmen wuchsen nie in Wei“Some women pound maize in a hollowedmar und Goethe hat sich auch nie in einer Hänge- out tree trunk, (...) Another group, chiefly
matte ausgeruht. Die Wahrheit der letzten Aussage men, are employed about the fire, where the
jedoch wissen wir nicht sicher, denn es wurde in Goe- repast is prepared. Some Indians are resting
in their hammocks.”
thes ethnografischer Sammlung eine Hängematte
(Martius. 1824: 232)
gefunden. Er erhielt diese Hängematte wahrschein- Kupferstich einer dem Coroados-Stamm
lich von Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, als dieser typischen Hängematte, ähnlich derer in
Goethe in Weimar besuchte. Martius reiste zwischen Goethes Sammlung. Martius beschreibt
in seinem Brasilianischen Reisebuch:
1817 und 1820 durch Brasilien. Das Buch über seine
„Einige Frauen zerstampfen Mais in einem
Reise nach Brasilien wurde übersetzt, unter anderem ausgehöhlten Baumstamm (...) Eine andere
ins Englische. Martius erlangte solche Anerkennung, Gruppe, hauptächlich Männer, sind am
dass er heute noch als der „Vater der brasilianischen Feuer zugange, wo die Mahlzeit zubereitet
wird. Einige Indianer liegen in ihren HängeBotanik“ gilt.
matten.“ (Martius, 1824: 232)
Goethe interessierte sich so sehr für Brasilien,
dass er fast jedes zu seiner Zeit verfügbare Buch darüber las. Er schrieb den führenden Wissenschaftlern, die zu diesem Thema arbeiteten, Dutzende Briefe zu
brasilianischen Wissenschaftsthemen. Er schenkte dem Herzog von Weimar Diamanten aus Brasilien und hielt für den Botanischen Garten Ausschau nach Pflanzen aus Brasilien. Weimar war zum Bespiel einer der wenigen Orte in Europa, an
dem Ananaspalmen in besonderen Gewächshäusern gediehen. Goethe benutzte
sogar ein Portugiesisch-Englisches Wörterbuch.
Während der Lektüre von Martius’ Buch schrieb er 1824 das Folgende:
„(…) und nun zugleich Kenntnis, Einbildungskraft und Gefühl angeregt und
Epilog
359
Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, when he visited Goethe in Weimar. Martius
traveled around Brazil between 1817 and 1820. The book about his voyage to
Brazil was translated, among other languages, into English. Martius became so
well recognised, that even today he is referred to as the “Father of the Brazilian
botany”.
Goethe was so interested in Brazil, that he read almost every book available
at that time. He wrote dozens of letters regarding Brazilian scientific items to the
leading scientist studying that country. He gave diamonds from Brazil to the Duke
of Weimar, and looked for plants from Brazil for the Botanical Garden. Weimar for
example was one of the few places in Europe where pineapples grew in special
greenhouses. Goethe even used a Portuguese-English
dictionary.
In 1824 while reading Martius’ books he wrote the
following: “( …) and at the same time they bring about
feelings and satisfy fantasies; and so we feel, going
through the writings above, really present and at home with
this distant continent, Brazil”. We can now assume that
Goethe’s Brazilian hammock was not accidentally included
in this collection, but rather exists because of Goethe’s
desire and interest. Even today, the hammock is still a
symbol of the tropics, particular to America, and a symbol
for relaxation.
Relaxing in a modern hammock at the art project
KoCA Inn in Weimar, I imagined Goethe himself, sitting in
his hammock dreaming about Brazil. It is possible that his
connection to Brazil was not merely scientific, but also a
kind of dream. When he traveled through Italy he wrote to Martius together with Nees van Esenbeck
his friend von Knebel: “If I only would be younger, I would named a Brazilian plant after Goethe:
Goethea. Martius und Nees van Esenbeck
travel to India”. At that time South America was still seen
benan-nten eine brasilianische Pflanze
in many writings as a part of India. In Italy Goethe saw nach Goethe: Goethea. Flora Brasiliensis
palms and began the research for his botany work Die (1892) Carl F.P. von Martius and Augustus
Guilielmus Eichler. ol. XII, Part III, Fasc. 111
Metamorphose.
Plate 105.
Schneider, S. (2008), Goethes Reise nach Brasilien, Weimar:
Weimarer Taschenbuch Verlag, www.goethebrasil.de
360
Epilogue
befriedigt werden; und so empfinden wir uns, den Kreis obgedachter Druckschriften durchlaufend, in einem weit entlegenen Weltteile Brasilien durchaus als anwesend und einheimisch“. Wir können nun davon ausgehen, dass Goethes Hängematte nicht zufällig ihren Platz in dieser Sammlung fand, sondern eher wegen
Goethes Verlangen und Interesse existiert. Noch heute ist die Hängematte ein
Symbol der Tropen, spezifisch für Amerika, und ein Sinnbild für Entspannung.
Als ich während des Kunstprojektes KoCA Inn in Weimar selbst in einer
modernen Hängematte ruhte, stellte ich mir Goethe vor, wie er in seiner eigenen Hängematte lag und von Brasilien träumte. Es ist denkbar, dass sein Bezug
zu Brasilien nicht ausschließlich wissenschaftlich war, sondern auch eine Art
Traum. Als er durch Italien reiste, schrieb er seinem Freund
von Knebel: „Wäre ich nur jünger, ich reiste nach Indien“.
Zu dieser Zeit wurde in vielen Schriften Südamerika noch
als ein Teil Indiens betrachtet. In Italien sah Goethe Palmen
und begann die Studien zu seinem botanischen Werk Die
Metamorphose.
Indigenous people and their everyday
objects, such as a hammock, a bow, an
arrow and a pineapple are symbols that
have become representative of the “New
World”. Eingeborene und ihre Gegenstände
des täglichen Lebens, wie die Hängematte,
Ananas, Pfeil und Bogen, sind starke Sinn
bilder, die repräsentativ für die „Neue Welt“
geworden sind. L‘Amerique (1594) Jean de
Léry. Histoire d‘apos;un voyage fait en la
terre du Brésil, autrement dite Amerique..
Epilog
361
WHAT IS THE KOCA INN FOR YOU?
WAS IST DER KOCA FÜR DICH?
The KoCA Inn was an experiment of urban development for
Der KoCA Inn war ein Experiment städtischer Entwicklung
the established city center of Weimar, focused on the
für das etablierte Weimarer Stadtzentrum. Es konzen-
unexpected human interrelations in ordinary daily life
trierte sich auf spontane menschliche Beziehungen in
routines. These interrelations and exchanges, this sharing
der gewöhnlichen Routine des täglichen Lebens. Die Ver
and feedback showed the potential of a living culture and
flechtungen, der Austausch, das Teilen und Geben zeigte
highlighted the current needs of real people (affective
das Potenzial einer lebendigen Kultur und beleuchtete
bonds, intercultural dialogue, economic initiative).
die aktuellen Bedürfnisse von reellen Menschen (emotionale
Bindungen, interkulturelle Dialoge, wirtschaftliche
Newspaper kiosk becomes self-contained-Brazilian-themed-
Initiative).
constantly-transforming-micro-organism-community.
A multi-purpose open space for creativity, free-use,
Zeitungskiosk wird zur Selbstversorger-brasilianisierend-
play, socializing, bartering, meeting, dreaming,
sich-immer-verändernden-Mikroorganismus-Gesellschaft.
and actualizing, with people from around the world.
Ein vielseitiger, offener Raum für Kreativität, zum
freien Gebrauch und Spiel, zum Kontakte knüpfen und Han-
Contrasting the touristic condition of Weimar, the
deln, Treffen, Träumen, und Verwirklichen… das Ganze
inhabitants participating, interacting or just passing
mit Leuten aus aller Welt.
by the KoCA Inn experienced a creative proposal for
362
contemporary ways of feeling, living and deconstructing
Im Kontrast zu Weimars touristischer Natur haben die Ein-
the over-regulated public space (limited to passive
wohner, die am KoCA Inn beteiligt waren, oder auch nur
consumerism) of northern European cities.
im Vorbeigehen oder in einem kurzen Austausch vom Projekt
The symbolism
of the favela in the context of Thuringia was the
Kenntnis nahmen, einen kreativen Ansatz gelebt für eine
cornerstone for the project, transforming a public square
zeitgemäße Art und Weise des Fühlens, Lebens und Hin-
into an experiment of creative do-it-yourself urbanism.
terfragens des überregulierten (auf den passiven Konsum
Epilogue
Epilog
363
This project was about living the public space that the
beschränkten) öffentlichen Raumes nordeuropäischer
KoCA Inn provided us with. During 14 days and aware
Städte. Die Symbolik der Favela im Thüringer Kontext war
of its five senses, our body was connected to everything
die Grundlage für das Projekt, das an einem öffentlichen
we did. Through this connection we also stimulated
Platz mit einem kreativen, selbstgestalterischen urbanen
the senses of others who happened to cross our street
Raum experimentierte.
existence. We were many among those 3 structures;
we crossed so many different worlds... new encounters
Dieses Projekt handelte davon, den öffentlichen Raum,
generating new spaces, through the flexibility that the
den der KoCA Inn uns zur Verfügung stellte, zu (er)leben.
environment offered us.
14 Tage lang und sich aller fünf Sinne bewusst, waren
unsere Körper mit dem, was wir taten, verbunden. Durch
While life is bustling on the sidewalk a few guests use
diese Verbindung haben wir auch die Sinne anderer stimmu
the “tree house” as a place to withdraw. The KoCA Inn has
liert, die unser Straßendasein durchquerten. Wir waren
no predefined use or static spaces. The functions are
zahlreich zwischen den drei Strukturen. Wir haben viele
rather allocated to the spaces through the use one makes
Welten durchquert…. Neue Begegnungen generierten neue
of them. What one defines as a living room, the next
Räume, die durch die Flexibilität der Struktur ermöglicht
experiences as a playground. On Sunday coffee is served,
wurden.
on Monday there is a workshop. In a place in which
public and private, work and leisure are seen in unison,
Während unten auf dem Bürgersteig das Leben pulsiert,
clearly defined spaces loose their meaning. Then the
nutzen einige Gäste das „Baumhaus“ als Rückzugsort. Im
sidewalk becomes a place for breakfast in the morning
KoCA Inn gibt es keine vorgefertigten Nutzungen, die
and an office in the afternoon.
in einem festgelegten Raum stattfinden. Vielmehr werden
die Funktionen den Räumen des KoCA Inn erst von den
364
I loved the way that having a physical space, this sort
Nutzern zugeschrieben. Was der eine für ein Wohnzimmer
of adventure/ fantasy/ play-land structure called
hält, beschreibt der andere als Spielplatz. Am Sonntag
the KoCA Inn, that naturally created a strong platform
wird Kaffee serviert, am Montag findet ein Workshop statt.
Epilogue
Epilog
365
for interaction. I was constantly surprised by the number
An einem Ort, an dem Privat und Öffentlich, Arbeit und
of people that would just stop by the kiosk to see
Freizeit als Einheit betrachtet werden, verlieren klar
what was going on, and to discover how they, too, might
definierte Räume ihre Bedeutung. Dann wird ein Bürgersteig
participate. I also noticed that many people began
am Morgen zu einem Frühstücksort und am Nachmittag zu
to use the kiosk as a meeting point, knowing the constant
einem Büro.
activity of the place. Students, visiting tourists,
Weimar locals, families, friends, a very diverse group of
Ich mochte es, diesen physischen Ort zu haben. Diese Art
people interacting and all finding place within the KoCA
Abenteuer-/Fantasie-/Spielzeugland-Struktur mit Namen
Inn structure.
KoCA Inn bedeutete, auf ganz natürliche Weise eine starke
Plattform für Interaktionen zu schaffen. Ich war immer
The kiosk was successful in bringing people from different
wieder über die Anzahl der Menschen überrascht, die ein
social backgrounds together. Through various means
fach anhielten, um zu sehen, was am Kiosk passierte
(housing, schools, cultural events…), urban planners
und herauszufinden, wie sie sich selbst einbringen könn-
often try to generate social cohesion between different
ten. Ich bemerkte auch, dass viele Menschen den
and disparate groups of society. Without being central
als Treffpunkt nutzten in der Gewissheit, dass dort
to its goal, the kiosk project managed to generate
ständig etwas los war. Studierende, Weimarer, Familien,
honest encounters with people from Weimar’s different
Freunde, eine sehr bunt gemischte Gruppe von Menschen,
social strata. Inhabitants of Weimar West, a socially
die miteinander interagierten. Und jeder fand seinen Ort
deprived neighborhood, enjoyed the spaces just as much
in der KoCA Inn-Struktur.
Kiosk
as students, more affluent locals and retired people.
366
The kiosk served as a place where unplanned encounters
Der Kiosk war erfolgreich im Zusammenführen von Menschen
between these different people could take place.
unterschiedlicher sozialer Herkünfte. Mit einer Viel
It was incredible and rewarding to see the encounters
falt an Mitteln (Wohngebieten, Schulen, kulturellen
between people from all walks of life at the kiosk. The
Events) versuchen Stadtplaner oft, sozialen Zusammenhalt
project illustrated that complicated policies aren’t the
zwischen verschiedenen und ungleichen sozialen Gruppen
Epilogue
Epilog
367
be-all and end-all to urban planning. Simple activities
zu schaffen. Ohne sich das zum Ziel gesetzt zu haben,
that stimulate interest and make people curious can be
ist es am Kiosk gelungen, aufrechte Begegnungen zwischen
far more powerful and far-reaching.
Menschen unterschiedlicher sozialer Schichten zu generieren. Der Raum wurde von Menschen aus Weimar West,
To live in the public space, is to be susceptible to
einem sozial schwachen Wohngebiet, genauso genutzt wie
everything. And to be susceptible in such a safe place
von Studenten, wohlhabenderen Einwohnern und Rentnern.
meant to be in touch with generosity, to the best
Der Kiosk war ein Ort, an dem diese Begegnungen zufällig
of people.
stattfinden konnten. Es war unglaublich und bereichernd,
To live in the kiosk meant to live by
imagination, by improvisation and with care and
diese Begegnungen zwischen so unterschiedlichen Menschen
affection. It is the experience of sharing my house
zu sehen. Das Projekt zeigte, dass komplizierte Regu
with anyone who passes by. It is to give in to chance,
lierungen nicht die ultimative Lösung für Satdtplanung
to accident, to hazard, to dance, according to the
sein können. Einfache Aktivitäten, die das Interesse
circumstances given. It is also to create circumstances;
der Menschen und ihre Neugier wecken, können teils viel
to live intensely, collectively.
mächtiger und weitreichender sein.
Im öffentlichen Raum zu leben bedeutet, für alles offen zu
sein. Und in einem so sicheren Raum offen zu sein, hieß
mit Großzügigkeit in Berührung zu kommen, mit den besten
Menschen. Am Kiosk zu leben hieß mit Vorstellungskraft,
improvisierend, mit Fürsorge und Liebe, zu leben. Es war
die Erfahrung, mein Zuhause mit jedem, der vorbeiläuft,
zu teilen. Es war, sich dem Zufall hinzugeben, sowohl auch
Fehlern und dem Risiko, und dem Tanz, je nachdem wie
die Umstände es erbrachten. Diese Umstände wurden auch
kreiert; intensives und kollektives Leben.
368
Epilogue
Epilog
369
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Flows of thoughts, practices and theoretical research converged into the
Sophienstift waters. The landscape was transformed into text, and references
books brought in by KoCA Inn inhabitants into buildings of ideas.
Gedankenflüsse und Flüsse praktischer und theoretischer Forschungen strömen in den Sophienstiftsgewässern zusammen. Landschaft wurde in Text transformiert, Referenzbücher der KoCA Inn-Einwohner in Gedankenhäuser.
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Landscape of thoughts
Epilog
371
Process and participants
SALVADOR
KIOSK
K&K
WEIMAR
CORPOCIDADE:
GROUPS MERGE
DEBATES ON URBAN AESTHETICS
KoCA Inn
URBANDÆ
J
F
M
A
urbanDE is founded
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
2009
2008
urbanDA is founded
performance 7LINHAS DE URBANDA
workshop AQUI EU
Coming soon
URBANDÆ
J
F
KoCA
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
KIOSK 09
OTTO is a student in the Freie Kunst at the Faculty of Gestaltung - BUW
BERNHARD and SVEN are students of the Architecture Faculty - BUW
ÍCARO and DIEGO are students of the Architecture Faculty - UFBA
CACÁ and ALINE are students of the Urbanism Master course - UFBA
CLARA is a student of the Urbanism Master course - UFBA
DANIELA is a student of the MFA-BUW
ACADEMIC
SUPPORT
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
These graphics draw some of the institutional, cultural and academic
relations that have built and informed the process, initiated with a trip to Salvador
and merging at KoCA Inn.
Diese Grafiken skizzieren einige Aspekte der institutionellen, kulturellen und
akademischen Beziehungen die für unseren Prozess wichtig waren. Es begann
mit einer Reise nach Salvador und trifft am KoCA Inn zusammen.
THERESA and ESTHER are students of the Master course on European Urbanism - BUW
CARLOS, CATHERINE and ZOE are students of the MFA - Public art and new artistic strategies - BUW
LOUKAS and CARLY are students in the MFA - Public art and new artistic strategies - BUW
EDU is a PhD candidate in Urbanism - UFBA
PEDRO teaches at the Architecture Faculty and since 2009 is a PhD candidate in Urbanism - UFBA
DANIELA is a PhD candidate and has taught between 2007 and 2009 at the Architecture Faculty - BUW
FABIANA DULTRA BRITTO coordinates the post-graduate course in Dance - UFBA
PAOLA BERENSTEIN JACQUES teaches at the Architecture Faculty and since 2006 co-cordinates the Post-graduate course in Urbanism - UFBA
MAX WELCH GUERRA coordinates the Department of Spatial Planning and Research at the Architecture Faculty - BUW
FRANK ECKARDT teaches at the Architecture Faculty and since 2009 coordinates the Department of Urban Sociological Research - BUW
UFBA - Universidade Federal da Bahia
BUW - Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
372
Epilogue
Epilog
373
ZOE
Victoria
Berlin
Saltspring Isl
and
Leipzig
Montreal
Waiheke Island
Madrid
Osceola
Seattle
CARLY
Bonn
Weimar
SVEN
Weimar
Lippstadt
Buenos Aires Porto Alegre
Warstein
Weimar
Leipzig
Stockholm
Barcelona
Meschede
Havana
OTTO
Weimar
Granada
Edinburgh
Berlin New York
Weimar Amsterdam
Dublin
Ithaca
Galway ESTHER
Fortaleza
Iguatu
Fortaleza
Salvador
EDU Rio de Janeiro
London
Bauru Santos
ALINE
São Paulo
Barcelona
Brasília
Lima
CARLOS
Berlin
Weimar
THERESA
CATHERINE
Weimar
Frankfurt am Main
Salvador
Weimar
Leipzig
Winterthur
Bautzen
BERNHARD
Oxford
Basel
Dessau
Lisboa
Jena
Miami Erfurt
Taizé
Frankfurt (Oder)
Berlin
Dublin Weimar
ÍCARO
Salvador
Cuzco
Zürich
Roma
Amsterdam Berlin
ork
New Y
LOUKAS
Weimar
Chicago Βόλος
Αθήνα
DIEGO
Dessau
Salvador
Brasília
Catalão
São Paulo
CLARA Vitória
Salvador
Uberlândia
CACÁ
Salvador
São Paulo
Campinas
374
Epilogue
Salvador
PEDRO
Três Lagoas
Weimar
Rio de Janeiro
a
Lisbo Dessau São Paulo
Oxford
DANIELA
375
Credits
Biographies
contemporary society and explore human
(Chronology of the Urban Thought), coordinated
potentials. The main focus in her work is to enable
by Paola Berenstein Jacques and Thais Portela.
metaphysical experiences and to explore utopian
Their concerns focus on gentrification and
ideas by reenacting or performing them.
privatization processes in Salvador, and their
relation to the dynamics of daily life.
Bernhard König studied Architecture and City
UrbanDÆ:
Pedro Britto studied Architecture in São Carlos
Planning in Weimar, Oxford and Zurich.
Sven Müller graduated in Architecture at the
and Environment Planning in Campinas.
Collaborations in architecture and planning
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in 2008. He has
Loukas Bartatilas studied Architecture in
Assistant professor in Universidade Paulista and
offices, recently for Herzog & de Meuron in Basel
worked in different architecture studios in
Greece and is attending the MFA Public Art at
Universidade Federal da Bahia. Prize winner
and Büro für Urbane Projekte in Leipzig. Media,
Germany and Spain and participated in various
the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar since 2008.
of IAB-São Paulo in 2008 for his project of
exhibition and landscape projects. Currently
development projects for Iran and Argentina.
He is member of the artistic groups Weimar
drainage/sewage systems in the conservation
working for the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation at
Those experiences strengthened his interests
Public and Errands. He has worked at Christos
areas of Morro da Garça. General secretary of
IBA Stadtumbau 2010 (IBA Urban Redevelopment
in socio-cultural interactions.
Papoulias’ architectural office in Athens and as
Corpocidade: Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1,
2010).
a freelance photographer. His main interests
Salvador, October 2008.
are interdisciplinary and intercultural practices
Otto Oscar Hernández Ruiz studied Art with
Zoë Kreye recently completed an MFA in Public
major in Painting at the Bauhaus-Universität
throughout specific spatial and social situations
Theresa Dietl, Master student of European
Art at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, BA in
Weimar and at the Hochschule für Grafik und
and the observation and documentation of
Urbanism at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Montreal; she has also worked in Berlin, New
Buchkunst in Leipzig. Educated in Architecture
everyday experiences.
With a background in Cultural Studies (BA), she is
York, Ankara. Her work engages the public in
in Cuba, where he worked in the development
mainly interested in interdisciplinary, intercultural
relations rather than aesthetics, aiming to build
and planning of resorts and offices. His artistic
Esther Blodau-Konick graduated with a B.Sc. in
and experimental urban research. Studied in
slow, inclusive, bottom-up associations that have
practice mixes the architectural background with
Urban Studies from Cornell University, USA and
different cities in Germany as well as in Portugal
the potential to be small catalysts for change
painting, drawings and performances. Co-founder
has since been working for planning organizations
and the US and worked, besides others, for the
within dominant social systems. Her projects ask:
of Baustelle M10: gallery for contemporary
in New York State, Amsterdam and Edinburgh.
International Organization for Migration in Lisbon
How can we collectively rethink the quality of life?
experiments in Weimar.
Currently she is completing her M.Sc. in European
and the Planning Department of Dublin City.
How to find measures that value human contact
and focus on relationship building?
Urbanism at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Cacá Fonseca graduated in Graphic Design
urban planning and is particularly interested
at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Master
Carlos León-Xjiménez, MFA in Public Art at
also teaches as of 2010. Studied Architecture
in interdisciplinary community planning. Lately
in Urbanism at Universidade Federal da Bahia.
the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, 2009. Has a
and Urbanism in Vitória and Mantova, where
she is incorporating her skills and passion for
Works with visual creation in projects related
background in Anthropology (BA) and worked
she participated in an exchange program at the
graphic arts into her professional work.
to architecture and dance, as in Corpocidade:
as a consultant in anthropology for development
Politecnico di Milano. Her research is related to
Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1. Her video-dance
projects in communication and politics for
aesthetic manifestations in the urban context and
Daniela Brasil is PhD candidate in Spatial
installation Entreterritório received the Klauss
different NGOs in Peru. Also collaborates
their relation to political actions.
Planning and Research at the Bauhaus-
Vianna Award by the Brazilian Culture Ministry.
with contemporary art magazines in Peru. His
Universität Weimar, supported by a grant of the
She started recently a PhD in Urbanism focusing
work relates to different issues of urbanism,
Aline Porto Lira is a Master student in Urbanism
FCT -Portuguese Foundation for Science and
on the contemporary production of urban
migration, gender, economy and politics
at Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador,
Technology. The coordination of KoCA Inn is a
cartographies seen through the perspective of
through interventions, collaborative platforms,
developing a research about public urban
central part of her practice-based research:
micro-spatial politics.
installations, media and other strategies.
parks and passages, landscape and everyday
and collective creativity. Her main interests
Catherine Grau recently completed her MFA in
Diego Mauro and Ícaro Vilaça are Architecture
Project at the same university. She was editor
lay on migration of cultural practices, and
Public Art. Merging her interests in performance
and Urbanism students at Universidade Federal
of the virtual magazine [dobra], action platform
situational relations between people, sites and
and participatory art, she is engaged in researching
da Bahia. Since 2006, junior-researchers of the
of Corpocidade: Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1,
objects.
and generating social relations which question
project Cronologia do Pensamento Urbanístico
Salvador, Oct 2008.
at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, where she
life. She is currently teaching an Architecture
how encounters can enable active participation
378
Clara Pignaton is Master student in Urbanism
She wants to continue her career in the field of
379
Eduardo Rocha Lima is an architect and urban
contemporary dance. She was the general
reconsideration of Herbert Marcuse’s aesthetic
planner. He has an MA in Urban Studies of the
coordinator of Corpocidade: Debates in Urban
theories.
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, and is
Aesthetics 1.
Max Welch Guerra is a political scientist
currently a PhD candidate in Urban Studies at
the Universidade Federal da Bahia. His research
Frank Eckardt is a Professor in Urban
and Professor of Spatial Planning and Spatial
deals with contemporary urban practices and
Sociological Research at the Institute for
Research at the Faculty of Architecture,
departs from the relation between body, image,
European Urban Studies, Bauhaus-Universität
Chairholder of the Bachelor program Urbanistik
and quotidian. He was the editor of the virtual
Weimar. He holds a PhD in Political Science
and the PhD program Urban Heritage at the
magazine [dobra], and a performer at Grupo GO,
and has studied Modern History and German
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
a collective dedicated to research and experiment
Philology. His research has focused on different
on bodily practices.
aspects of urban change and urban society.
Sylk Schneider is the Director of the Kloß
Programm Public Art an der Bauhaus-Universität
One of the main aspects of his research and
museum in Thuringia and author of Goethes Reise
Weimar. Er ist Mitglied der Künstlergruppen
Carly Schmitt, after graduating from Macalester
teaching activities is dedicated to the implications
nach Brasilien (2008), among other publications
Weimar Public und Errands. Er arbeitete im
College in 2004, founded Artist@Large, a mural-
of a multi-cultural and multi-religious city in the
around Thüringia gastronomy. Economics,
Architekturbüro von Christos Papoulias in Athen
painting-business. In 2008, she received the
process of urban globalisation.
Geography and Romance Studies in Thüringia
als freischaffender Fotograf. Sein Interesse
and Recife (Brazil). During his various field
gilt interdisziplinären und interkulturellen Praktiken
Alexander von Humboldt German Chancellor
UrbanDÆ:
Loukas Bartatilas studierte Architektur in Griechenland und absolviert seit 2008 das MFA-
Prize, and is currently working towards her MFA
Ronald Hirte is an archaeologist and historian.
research trips, he became interested in tracing
in spezifischen räumlichen und sozialen Situa
in Public Art at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Since 1998, he has worked for the foundation
Goethe’s passion for Brazil.
tionen und der Observation und Dokumentation
Her work employs new media devices as a way
Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora.
to reiterate connections and activate the social
Since 2001, involved in a German Research
Naomi Tereza Salmon is an artist, and works
imaginary.
Foundation project. Lectures at the Universities
as assistant Professor to Norbert Hinterberger
Esther Blodau-Konick studierte Urban Studies
of Bamberg and Weimar. Publications include:
at the Art Department, faculty of Arts and Design,
(B.Sc.) an der Cornell University, USA und
Offene Befunde – Ausgrabungen in Buchenwald.
at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany.
arbeitete bei Planungsorganisationen in New York
Zeitgeschichtliche Archäologie und Erinnerungs
She is the head of The Kiosk09 project, which
State, Amsterdam und Edinburgh. Momentan
kultur (Goslar 2000).
runs under her guidance in the frame of her
schließt sie ihr Studium in Europäischer Urbanis-
practical course When artists curate art parts
tik (M.Sc.) an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Invited authors:
Paola Berenstein Jacques is a Professor and
alltäglicher Erfahrungen.
Researcher at the Faculty of Architecture and the
Katharina Hohmann is an artist, curator and
1 – 3, operating parallel to the 90 years of Bauhaus
ab. Sie möchte ihre berufliche Laufbahn in der
Graduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism
Professor at the faculty of Fine Arts at Geneva
festivities in Weimar from April 2009 to February
Stadtplanung fortsetzen und hat ein besonderes
of UFBA, Salvador. Holds a Phd in History of Art
University of Art and Design, HEAD Genève.
2010.
Interesse an interdisziplinärer Gemeindeplanung.
by the University of Paris I – Panthéon–Sorbonne.
Received travel grants to Marseille, Rome,
Seit Kurzem bezieht sie ihre Fähigkeit und Leiden-
Author of Les favelas de Rio: un défi culturel
Istanbul, Winterthur. Co-founder with Prof. Liz
schaft für Grafikdesign in ihre Arbeit mit ein.
(2001); Estética da Ginga (2001); L’esthétique
Bachhuber of the Master of Fine Arts program:
des favelas (2002); Maré, vida na favela (2002);
Public Art and New Artistic Strategies. In 2002,
Daniela Brasil ist Doktorandin an der Profes-
Apologia da deriva (2003); Corps et Décors
she founded K&K. Zentrum für Kunst und Mode,
sur Raumplanung und Raumforschung der
urbains (l’Harmattan, 2006), among others.
together with Katharina Tietze. She currently
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, unterstützt durch
lives in Weimar and Geneva, Switzerland.
ein Stipendium der portugiesischen Stiftung für
Fabiana Dultra Britto is a Professor and
380
Biographien
Wissenschaft und Technologie (FCT). Die Koor-
coordinator of the post-graduation program in
Malcolm Miles is Professor of Cultural Theory at
dination von KoCA Inn ist ein zentraler Punkt ihrer
Dance at UFBA, Salvador. PhD in Communication
the University of Plymouth, where he coordinates
praxisorientierten Forschung: wie Begegnungen
and Semiotics at PUC, São Paulo. Dance critic
the PhD programme for Art & Media, and chairs
aktive Teilnahme und kollektive Kreativität ermög-
and independent curator in dance. Supervisor
the Culture-Theory-Space research group; his
lichen kann. Ihr Hauptinteresse gilt der Migration
and performer of projects of choreographic
research is between contemporary art and
kultureller Praktiken und situationellen Beziehun-
investigation, including mapping projects on
critical theory, and his next book is a critical
gen zwischen Menschen, Orten und Objekten.
381
Pedro Britto studierte Architektur in São Carlos
Bernhard König studierte Architektur und Stadt-
Portela. Ihre Interessen sind Gentrifizierung und
Eduardo Rocha Lima ist Architekt und Stadt-
und Umweltplanung in Campinas. Dozent an der
planung in Weimar, Oxford und Zürich. Arbeitete
Privatisierungsprozesse in Salvador und deren
planer. MA in Urbanistik von der Universidade
Universidade Paulista und der Universidade
für Architektur- und Planungsbüros, u. a. für
Beziehung zur Dynamik des Alltags.
Federal do Rio de Janeiro und momentan Dokto-
Federal da Bahia. Preisträger von IAB-São Paulo
Herzog & de Meuron in Basel und das Büro
für ein Sanierungs- und Abwasserprojekt im
für Urbane Projekte in Leipzig. Medien-, Ausstel-
Sven Müller erhielt 2008 sein Diplom in Architek-
Bahia. Seine Forschungsarbeit befasst sich mit
denkmalgeschützen Bereich Morro da Garça,
lungs- und Landschaftsprojekte. Gegenwärtig
tur an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Arbeitete
gegenwärtigen urbanen Praktiken und nutzt die
Minas Gerais. Generalsekretär von Corpocidade:
arbeitet er für die Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau im
in mehreren Architekturbüros in Deutschland und
Beziehung zwischen Körper, Bild und Alltag als
Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1, Salvador,
Rahmen der IBA Stadtumbau 2010.
Spanien und nahm an verschiedenen Entwick-
Ausgangspunkt. Er war Herausgeber des Online-
lungsprojekten für den Iran und Argentinien teil.
Magazins [dobra], und Performer in der Gruppe
Zoë Kreye erhielt kürzlich ihren MFA in Public Art
Diese Erfahrungen haben sein Interesse an sozio-
Grupo GO, ein Kollektiv, das sich Recherchen zu
Theresa Dietl ist Masterstudentin der Europäi-
an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, BA in
kulturellen Interaktionen gestärkt.
und Experimenten mit Körperpraktiken widmet.
schen Urbanistik an der Bauhaus-Universität Wei-
Montreal; sie arbeitete in Berlin, New York und
mar. Als studierte Kulturwissenschaftlerin (BA), ist
Ankara. Ihre Arbeiten involvieren die Öffentlich-
Otto Oscar Hernández Ruiz studierte Kunst mit
Carly Schmitt gründete, nachdem sie 2004 ihr
sie besonders an interdisziplinärer, interkultureller
keit eher als persönlche Einbeziehung als auf
Schwerpunkt Malerei an der Bauhaus-Universität
Studium am Macalester College abschloss,
und experimenteller Stadtforschung interessiert.
ästhetische Weise, mit dem Ziel, langsam, inklusiv
Weimar und der Hochschule für Grafik und
Artist@Large, eine Firma für Wandmalerei. 2008
Sie studierte in mehreren deutschen Städten,
und bottom-up Beziehungsgeflechte aufzubauen,
Buchkunst in Leipzig. Als in Kuba ausgebildeter
erhielt sie den Alexander von Humboldt-Preis des
in Portugal und den USA und arbeitete u.a. für
die das Potenzial besitzen, kleine Katalysatoren
Architekt arbeitete er an der Entwicklung und
deutschen Bundeskanzlers und beendet derzeit
die Internationale Organisation für Migration in
für einen Wandel innerhalb dominierender sozialer
Planung von Ferienanlagen und Bürogebäuden.
ihr Studium in Public Art (MFA) an der Bauhaus-
Lissabon und das Stadtplanungsamt Dublin.
Systeme zu sein. Ihre Projekte stellen die Fragen:
Seine künstlerische Praxis verbindet seinen archi-
Universität Weimar. In ihren Arbeiten nutzt sie
Wie können wir kollektiv Lebensqualität neu
tektonischen Hintergrund mit Malerei, Zeichnung
neue Medien, um Beziehungen ständig neu zu
Cacá Fonseca hat einen Abschluss in Grafikde-
denken?, Wie können wir Maßstäbe finden, um
und Performance. Mitbegründer der Baustelle
beleben und die soziale Imagination zu aktivieren.
sign an der Universidade Federal de Uberlândia
menschliche Kontakte zu evaluieren und uns auf
M10: Galerie für zeitgenössische Experimente,
und einen Master in Urbanistik an der Universi-
das Bauen von Beziehungen konzentrieren?
Weimar.
und Kunstprojekten mit visuellen Arbeiten, z.B.
Carlos León-Xjiménez, MFA in Public Art an der
Clara Pignaton ist Masterstudentin der Urbanis-
Corpocidade: Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1.
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, 2009. Ist Anth-
tik an der Universidade Federal da Bahia, wo
Paola Berenstein Jacques ist Professorin
Ihre Video-Tanz-Installation Entreterritório erhielt
ropologe (BA) und arbeitete für verschiedene
sie auch seit 2010 unterrichtet. Studierte Archi-
und Forscherin an der Architekturfakultät und
den Klauss-Vianna-Preis des brasilianischen Kul-
peruanische NGOs als anthropologischer Berater
tektur und Urbanistik in Vitória und Mantova,
im Graduiertenprogramm in Architektur und
tusministeriums. Seit Kurzem ist sie Doktorandin
in der Entwicklung von Kommunikations- und
wo sie an einem Austauschprogramm mit dem
Urbanistik an der UFBA, Salvador. Promovierte
in Urbanistik mit einer Arbeit zur gegenwärtigen
Politikrojekten. Außerdem kollaboriert er mit
Politecnico di Milano teilnahm. Ihre Forschung
in Kunstgeschichte an der Universität von Paris I
Produktion von urbanen Kartografien, betrachtet
Magazinen für Gegenwartskunst in Peru. Seine
befasst sich mit ästhetischen Manifestationen im
– Panthéon-Sorbonne. Autorin von Les favelas
durch eine mikro-räumlich-politische Perspektive.
Arbeiten, Interventionen, kollaborativen Plattfor-
urbanen Kontext und deren Beziehungen zu
de Rio: un défi culturel (2001); Estética da Ginga
men, Installationen, Medien- und andere Strate-
politischen Aktionen.
(2001); L’esthétique des favelas (2002); Maré, vida
Oktober 2008.
rand in Urbanistik an der Universidade Federal da
Eingeladene Autoren:
dade Federal da Bahia. Arbeitet in Architektur-
Catherine Grau erhielt vor Kurzem ihren MFA
gien befassen sich mit verschiedenen Belangen
in Public Art. Performance- und Partizipations-
innerhalb der Themenfelder Urbanistik, Migration,
Aline Porto Lira ist Masterstudentin in Urbanistik
kunst zusammenführend, erforscht und generiert
Gender, Wirtschaft und Politik.
an der Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador,
et Décors urbains (l’Harmattan, 2006), u.a.
wo sie zu öffentlichen städtischen Parks, Wegen,
Fabiana Dultra Britto ist Professorin und Koordi-
Gesellschaft in Frage stellen und menschliche
Diego Mauro und Ícaro Vilaça sind Studenten
Landschaften und Alltagsleben forscht. Sie unter-
natorin des post-gradualen Programms in Tanz an
Potenziale erforschen. Ihre Arbeiten beschäftigen
der Architektur und Urbanistik an der Universi-
richtet z.Zt. ein Architekturprojekt an derselben
der UFBA, Salvador. PhD in Kommunikation und
sich hauptsächlich mit dem Hervorbringen
dade Federal da Bahia. Seit 2006 Juniorforscher
Universität. Herausgeberin des Online-Magazins
Semiotik von der PUC, São Paulo. Tanzkritikerin
methaphysischer Erfahrungen und dem Aus-
im Projekt Cronologia do Pensamento Urbanístico
[dobra], Aktionsplattform von Corpocidade:
und freischaffende Tanzkuratorin. Leiterin und
testen von utopischen Ideen, in dem diese
(Chronologie des urbanen Gedankens), unter der
Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1, Salvador, Oktober
Performerin in Projekten zur choreographischen
nacherlebt oder performt werden.
Leitung von Paola Berenstein Jacques und Thais
2008.
Forschung, einschließlich in Projekten zur
sie soziale Beziehungen, die die gegenwärtige
382
na favela (2002); Apologia da deriva (2003); Corps
383
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