KoCA-Inn: An urban experiment at the Kiosk of Contemporary Art in Weimar

Editors Herausgeber:

Daniela Brasil, Theresa Dietl, Catherine Grau, Bernhard König

This catalogue is the documentation of KoCA Inn 24 hours / 2 weeks occupation of the Kiosk of Contemporary

Art in Weimar. 8 – 22 July 2009

Dieser Katalog ist der Dokumentation der KoCA Inn zweiwöchige Rund-um-die-Uhr Inbesitznahme des Kiosk

of Contemporary Art in Weimar. 8. – 22. Juli 2009

A traffic island resort experience – Take a break from your everyday with usEin 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

innewohnt wurde aus den Tropen importiert und die Kollaboration, die im kollektiven

Gedächtnis vieler Ostdeutscher noch präsent ist, wurde wiederbelebt. Beides beeinflusste

eine urbanistisch-künstlerische Vorrichtung, die Passanten dazu einlud, mit seinen sich

ständig verändernden Möglichkeiten zu experimentieren: einem Mini-Hotel, einer mobilen

Küche, einem Ausstellungsraum, einem Café, einer Disko, einem Schwarzmarkt für

Wissen und Fähigkeiten, einer Bibliothek, einem Fernsehzimmer, einem Spielsalon, einem

Spielplatz, und all das als wäre es in einem tropischen Resort. Indem sich die Bevölker-

ung auf den Ort einließ, wurde KoCA Inn zu einem Treffpunkt für unerwartete Zusammen-

künfte, ein Experimentierfeld für Ideen, ein Ort für Dialog und Austausch.

InhaltContents

Introduction6 Gentileza Gera Gentileza

Daniela Brasil

28 The Kiosk on Sophienstiftsplatz:

From 1968 to 2010

Ronald Hirte, Katharina Hohmann

KoCA Inn 24/7 (x2)40 Occupation

Urban Situation | Sources | Structure |

Materials | Reactions | Plug-Inns |

Opening | Caipirinha, Vatapá e Farofa

com Banana | Shifts | Economy

72 Inhabitation Cooking | Cleaning | Relaxing | Dancing |

By Night | Sala de Televisão | Sleeping

102 Communication Calendar | Window | Green Board |

Street Chalk | Flyers | Newspapers |

Sand wichwoman

120 Islands and Territories Occupied Islands and Annexed

Territories | The Lands Of Weimarer Tafel |

The Hotel Miranda Enclave

138 Explorations Playing | Drumming | Giving | Searching

For Freedom | Magic Show | Exhaust

It On

172 Exchange Coffee | Flea Market | Clothes Exchange |

Data Picnic | Trocação | Thüriger Grill |

Trade Zone

Corpocidade – Salvador210 Feira de São Joaquim | Aqui Eu |

7 Linhas de UrbanDA

Critical Reflections250 An Urbanistic Experiment

Max Welch Guerra interviewed

by Theresa Dietl

260 Tension Zones

Paola Berenstein Jacques

272 About the Public Condition of the

KoCA Inn Corner

UrbanDE

278 Contested Time/Space at the Kiosk

Carlos León-Xjiménez

286 Exile on Main Street: On the Beauty

of a Random Street Community

Naomi Tereza Salmon

Theoretical Musings300 Learning from Favelas


316 Trajectories and the Time

of Everyday Life

Malcolm Miles

326 Urban Bodigraphies

Fabiana Dultra Britto, Paola Berenstein

Jacques

334 Embodying Societies, Incorporated City

Frank Eckardt

346 Performing Another Society

Catherine Grau

Epilogue358 Goethe and the Hammock

Sylk Schneider

362 Guest Book

370 Cartographies

Einleitung6 Gentileza Gera Gentileza

Daniela Brasil

28 Der Kiosk am Sophienstiftsplatz:

Von 1968 bis 2010

Ronald Hirte, Katharina Hohmann

KoCA Inn 24/7 (x2)40 Inbesitznahme Urbane Situation | Quellen | Struktur |

Materialien | Reaktionen | Plug-Inns |

Eröffnung | Caipirinha, Vatapá e Farofa

com Banana | Schichten | Wirtschaft

72 BewohnenKochen | Putzen | Relaxen | Tanzen |

Nachts | Sala de Televisão | Schlafen

102 KommunikationKalender | Schaufenster | Tafel |

Straßenkreide | Flyer | Zeitungen |

Sandwichwoman

120 Inseln und GebieteBesetzte Inseln und annektierte Gebiete |

Die Ländereien der Weimarer Tafel |

Die Hotel Miranda-Enclave

138 ErkundungenSpielen | Trommeln | Geben | Auf der

Suche nach Freiheit | Zaubershow |

Exhaust it on

172 Austausch Kaffee | Flohmarkt | Kleiderwechsel |

Daten Picknick | Trocação | Thüriger

Grill | Trade Zone

Corpocidade – Salvador210 Feira de São Joaquim | Aqui Eu |

7 Linhas de UrbanDA

Kritische Reflexionen251 Ein urbanistisches Experiment

Max Welch Guerra im Gespräch

mit Theresa Dietl

261 Spannungen


273 Über die öffentlichen Gegebenheiten

an der KoCA Inn-Ecke

UrbanDE

279 Umstrittene(r) Zeit/Raum am Kiosk

Carlos León-Xjiménez

287 Exile on Main Street: Über die Schönheit

einer zufälligen Straßengemeinschaft

Naomi Tereza Salmon

Theoretical Musings300 Learning from Favelas


316 Trajectories and the Time

of Everyday Life

Malcolm Miles

326 Urban Bodigraphies

Fabiana Dultra Britto, Paola Berenstein

Jacques

334 Embodying Societies, Incorporated City

Frank Eckardt

346 Performing Another Society

Catherine Grau

Epilog359 Goethe und die Hängematte

Sylk Schneider

363 Gästebuch

370 Kartographien

In allen Texten sind für Lebens- und Berufspositio nen,

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.

4 5

IntroductionGentileza gera GentilezaDANIELA BRASIL

EinleitungGentileza gera GentilezaDANIELA BRASIL

Der Prophet Gentileza1 hatte Recht, Gentileza gera Gentileza: Freun-

dlichkeit 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 kombi-

niert 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 Wasserstras-

sen des Weimarer Sommers 2009 fuhr (manchmal nass, manchmal kalt, aber

Sommer in jedem Fall). Dieses Schiff, tropische Insel, Mini-Favela, Baum-

haus, Überbleibsel der DDR wurde zu einer Art urbanistischer Vorrichtung:

herzergreifend für manche, irritierend für andere. Einige meinten, es sei spek-

takuläres Zurschaustellen von Armut, eine Zusammenkunft unerwünsch-

ter Immigranten, die ihr Lager aufschlugen, andere sahen es als fröhliche

Straßen-Kommune, als Ort freudvollen Miteinanders. Währenddessen spiel-

ten Kinder umher, als sei es ein Baumhaus im Hinterhof. Ein Besucher deutete

The prophet Gentileza1 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

1 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-

autobahnkreuzung am Anfang der 1980er Jahre; unter ihnen, die bekannteste: Gentileza gera Gentileza /

Freundlichkeit ruft Freundlichkeit hervor. Ich erwähne diese Figur bewusst am Anfang dieses Textes nicht

nur der Bedeutung dieser Worte wegen, sondern weil ich es als relevant erachte, ihre urbane Tragweite

in die Diskussion mit einzubeziehen. Die Tat, seine Gedanken mit Farbe an die Betonpfeiler einer deso laten,

überdimensionierten Kreuzung zu schreiben, hatte solch eine konzeptuelle und ästhetische Schlag kraft,

dass dies zu einer denkmalgeschützen Wandmalerie der Stadt wurde. Es ist ein Werk, dass wahrhaftig

öffentliche Affekte anrührte, und zwar in solch einem Ausmaße, dass nicht nur eine zunächst illegale

Handlung offizielles Kulturgut wurde, sondern dass auch der informelle Markt es sich aneignete. Leute

laufen nun in Gentileza gera Gentileza T-Shirts umher. Zwei davon konnte man am KoCA Inn sehen.

1 A controversial figure of Rio de Janeiro streets, José Datrino (1917-1996), popularly known as

Prophet Gentileza, painted a series of inscriptions on the pillars of an important highway overpass, in

the beginning of the 1980’s; among them the most well-known: Gentileza gera Gentileza / kindness

generates kindness. I am deliberately evoking his figure to start this text, not only because of the

meaning of these words; but I find it relevant to bring into discussion its urban implication. His act

of painting his thoughts on the concrete pillars of a desolated mega-scaled intersection, had such a

conceptual and aesthetic power that it became a heritage protected mural of the city. It is a work that

truly engaged public affects, to an extent that not only a primarily illegal act became official heritage, but

also the informal market appropriated it. People now walk around in Gentileza gera Gentileza T-shirts.

A couple of them were to be seen at KoCA Inn.

6 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 Rund-

um-die-Uhr-Nutzung des öffentlichen Raumes beibrachte.

Informell meinte, dass Improvisation, Spontanität, unerwartete und spiele-

rische Aneignungen und alle Sorten des Eingriffs Teil des Spieles waren. Unsere

urbane Vorrichtung wollte kulturelle Identitäten und urbane Territorien (des)arti-

kulieren; offen sein für Zufall und Überraschung, Raum bieten, der sich an alte

Wünsche und an Bedürfnisse in letzter Minute anpassen ließ. Diese Anpassungs-

fähigkeit war nicht arrangiert oder gezielt vorbereitet. Es war die organische Ent-

wicklung 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 Kreativi-

tät 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 Austauschpro-

jekts 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,

Brasilien stattfand: Corpocidade: debates in urban aesthetics. http://www.corpocidade.dan.ufba.br.

Zu diesem Anlass, bei dem die Gruppe eine Serie von Performances in Salvador durchführte (siehe

7 linhas de urbanDA, S.218), formierte sich die Weimarer Gruppe und gab sich den Namen UrbanDA.

Die Zusammenarbeit mit einer Gruppe in Salvador, die unser Gastgeber war, vertiefte sich und wir luden

sie ein, die künstlerisch-urbanistische Forschung in Weimar fortzusetzen. Sie nannten sich UrbanDE.

Als sich die Möglicheit ergab, eine Ausstellung am Kunst Kiosk in Weimar zu machen, schlug UrbanDA

das Projekt KoCA Inn vor, eine Plattform, um die Debatten und Aktionen aus Salvador zurückzubringen

und weiterzuführen. UrbanDE-Mitglieder wurden als unsere Gäste eingeladen und damit beauftragt,

unseren „Inn“ in Weimar mitzuleiten. UrbanDÆ schließlich bezeichnet die Fusion beider Gruppen plus

neue Mitglieder, die dazu stießen, um KoCA Inn zu realisieren.

2 As we will see further on, KoCA Inn was realized by the group UrbanDÆ. However, articulations

date back to the preparations of the event Corpocidade: debates on urban aesthetics, which took place

in Salvador, Brazil in October 2008. http://www.corpocidade.dan.ufba.br. The Weimar group was formed

for that occasion, and named itself UrbanDA in order to realize a series of performances in Salvador (see

7 linhas de UrbanDA, p.218). The collaboration with the group from Salvador who had hosted us evolved,

and we invited them to continue the artistic-urban research in Weimar. They named themselves UrbanDE.

When the opportunity to realize an exhibition for the Art Kiosk in Weimar came, UrbanDA proposed the

KoCA Inn as a platform for bringing the debates and actions back from Salvador, pushing them further.

UrbanDE members were invited to be our guests and at the same time to help run our “Inn” in Weimar.

UrbanDÆ is the fusion of these groups plus new members who joined in for the realization of KoCA Inn.


Leben in den Tropen gegenwärtig sind. Vor und während unserer Reise recher-

chierten 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 überreglemen-

tierte Weimar zu „importieren“. Wie könnten wir Partizipation und Mitarbeit im

befriedeten/kommodifizierten/touristischen öffentlichen Raum dieser „Kultur-

stadt“ begünstigen?3 Um diese Problemstellung zu diskutieren und mit kontra-

hegemonialen Perspektiven dazu beizutragen, kamen unsere Kollegen aus Salva-

dor, 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/OrganismusDas 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 Kunst-

Kiosk 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. Die-

ser Raum in Bewegung gestaltete die Art und Weise, in der die Leute am

Kiosk waren und das wiederum gestaltete das KoCA Inn. Um öffentliche Partizi-

pation und Mitarbeit anzuspornen, boten wir viele verschiedene, sich immer

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/OrganismKoCA 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

3 Weimar ist offiziell bekannt als „Kulturstadt“, seine Haupteinnahmequelle ist der Tourismus. Dieser

„Freilicht-Freizeitpark“ beruht auf dem deutschen Klassizismus, unter dem unbestreitbaren Führung von

Goethe and Schiller. Unter anderen Kuriositäten möchte ich gerne den örtlichen Bahnhof erwähnen, der

ebenfalls als „kulturell” (KulturBahnhof) gekennzeichnet ist, selbst wenn er bis jetzt noch nicht mit roman-

tischen Statuen oder wandmalerischen Gedichten geschmückt wurde. Das Jahr 2009 jedoch war einer

anderen touristischen Attraktion geweiht: dem 90. Jahre Bauhaus. Gropius, Schlemmer und Kandinsky

waren der Besucher Haupt-„Objekte der Begierde“, in Kon kurrenz mit den älteren Dichtern.

3 Weimar is officially known as “Kulturstadt”, and its main income is tourism. This “open-air theme-

park” is based on German classicism, under the uncontestable leadership of Goethe and Schiller. Among

other curiosities, I would like to mention that the local train station is also labelled as “cultural” (Kultur

Bahnhof), even if it has not yet been decorated with romantic statuary nor with wall poems. The year 2009,

however, was dedicated to another touristic attraction: the 90th anniversary of the Bauhaus. Gropius,

Schlemmer and Kandinsky were the visitors’ main “objects of desire”, competing with the older fellows.


wandelnde Möglichkeiten und Mittel: Hängematten, Kaffee, eine offene Küche,

ein Mini-Hotel, einen Showroom für gebrauchte Objekte und für Lieblings-

gegenstände, eine Musikanlage, eine Bibliothek für wichtige persönliche Bücher,

einen Schwarzmarkt des Wissens, einen Spielsalon, eine Sportecke, ein Wohn-

zimmer usw. Diese Einladung wurde duch eine offene Kommunikationsplattform

des spontanen Werbens auf einer hausgemachten Tafel, einem Straßenrand-

Kalender 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 Eröff-

nung getroffen hatten. UrbanDÆ4 war eine temporäre, eigens für dieses Pro-

jekt gegründete Gruppe. Wir waren die „Besetzer-Organisatoren“, die Gastge-

ber. 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, wur-

den 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 flexi-

bel 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

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 “organizer-

occupants”, 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

4 Dieser Name ist eine Anspielung auf die Idee, hier zu sein und von dort zu kommen. Als die

Austausch-Zusammenarbeit begann, benannten sich die Gruppen, um die Intention ihrer Forschung zum

Ausdruck zu bringen. Die Weimarer Gruppe nannte sich zunächst UrbanDA (DA, aus dem deutschen

Ausdruck und dem philosophischen Begriff: Dasein). In Reaktion darauf benannte sich die Gruppe aus

Salvador UrbanDE (DE, im Portugiesischen u.a. eine Präposition, um die Herkunft anzugeben). Die

beiden Gruppen schlossen sich zusammen und wurden zu UrbanDÆ: ein temporäres Kollektiv, das da

sein musste und alle Eigenarten von den Orten mitbrachte, von denen es kam.

4 This name is an allusion to the idea of being there and coming from. When the exchange

collaboration started, groups named themselves in order to express some intentions of their

research. UrbanDA: DA, from the German expression and philosophical term: Dasein. UrbanDE: DE,

in Portuguese, a preposition to indicate origin, among others. The two groups merged, becoming

UrbanDÆ: a temporary collective who had to be there, bringing all the modes of being from where they

came from.


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 Küs-

tenstreifen der Bucht von Salvador befindet (siehe S. 212). Diese beiden Aus-

wahlen hatten strategische konzeptuelle Gründe in Hinblick auf die Geschichte

sowohl Weimars als auch Salvadors. Beide Städte haben eine Form des mehr-

schichtigen Dialogs zwischen ihren jeweiligen symbolischen Praktiken des täg-

lichen Lebens entwickelt. Diese Wahl hatte die Absicht, hegemoniale Handels-

wege 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.

RessourcenWeimar: Das Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé ist eine Sozialeinrichtung, die bei Spen-

dern 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 Hilfeleis-

tung und Unterstützung bemühten christlichen Vereinigung. Sie ist nun die ein-

zige permanente Quelle, wo man Gebrauchtwaren in der Stadt finden kann. Sper-

müll 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 Rat-

haus verfügbar und die Leute konnten sehr leicht nach Objekten, die sie mochten

und/oder brauchten, Ausschau halten und sie aufsammeln. Die jüngsten Verän-

derungen dieser öffentlichen Dienstleistung (nun sollen die Bewohner individuelle

Termine machen, damit die Stadt den Sperrmüll abholt, oder sie sollen ihre alten

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.

ResourcesWeimar: 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.


Möbel selbst entweder zum Sozialkaufhaus oder direkt zur zuständigen Müllde-

ponie 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-Weiterverwen-

den-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 Produk-

ten, die direkt mit der Volkskultur der Stadt verbunden sind. In der Vergangen-

heit wurde er in den zentralen Docks betrieben, doch wegen Erneuerungen im

Hafen und der planlosen Ausbreitung des Marktes wurde er zu seinem gegen-

wärtigen 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 sonnen-

getrocknetes 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 täg-

lich in seinen Straßen zum Ausdruck kommt: Rituale, Tänze, Gaben und Live-

Musik 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 Sau-

berkeit des öffentlichen Raumes in Weimar wählten wir die Feira de São Joa-

quim als Hauptlieferanten unserer brasilianischen Objekte für den Handel und

Gebrauch in Weimar.

Aktivitäten und AlltäglichesEine grüne Tafel mit einem Zwei-Wochen-Kalender bemalt war der Aus-

gangspunkt. 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

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 EverydayA 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.


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 mögli-

chen Sorten Bier erschienen mit den Anwohnern, die ihr tägliches Leben umlei-

teten 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 Begeg-

nungen wurden und Menschen aller Generationen vereinten, eine Myriade sozi-

aler Herkünfte und Lebensformen. Ganz unterschiedliche Teilnehmer verbrach-

ten 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 brach-

ten 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 Waf-

feln; ein Junge lud zu einer Zauberschau. Die Verkehrsinsel wurde zur Pira-

teninsel. 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 Nach-

barn. Das bedeutet nicht, dass alles rosig war. Gleich am Anfang gab es

eine heftige Reaktion seitens des benachbarten Frisiersalons: sie hat-

ten sich direkt beim Rathaus beschwert, ohne zu versuchen, mit uns zu spre-

chen. Später erlitten wir an zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Nächten Wasser-

bomben-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

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

5 Die deutsche, mit Kohlensäure versetzte Version des kalten, braunen, brasilianischen Mate tees.

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.


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 überkontrollier-

ten 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 Vor-

richtung zur Auslösung aktiver Partizipation zu öffnen. Durch den Import der pre-

kären, 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.

AffekteDie 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 demokra-

tisch 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 Subjektivi-

tät 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

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.

AffectsThe 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-to-

face 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.


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 künstle-

rische/urbanistische Absichten oder akademische Recherchen über demokrati-

sche 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 einzu-

tauschen 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 lie-

gen, 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 Kronleuch-

ter zu kaufen, durch ein Oiticica-, Clark- oder Caetano-Buch aus unserer Mini-

Bibliothek 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 kon-

kreten 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 kul-

turelle Gewohnheiten und kleine Gesten. Ich glaube, dass durch diese Art von

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 self-

made 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 BookAs 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


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 short-

lived 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

gemeinsamen Erfahrungen gewisse urbane, und hoffentlich auch soziale, Verän-

derungen 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 sollteDa wir mehr an diesen Prozessen als an ihren Produkten interessiert sind,

ist dieses Buch nicht allein die Dokumentation dieser zweiwöchigen Inbesitz-

nahme, sondern auch ein Zeugnis über die Kraftfelder, die das KoCA Inn gene-

riert haben und die von ihm generiert wurden. Wir versuchten, Wege zu fin-

den, diese sich streckende Wolke von Ideen zu erfassen; wir versuchten

diese inexakte Landschaft von Gedanken aufzuzeichnen. Um diesen Prozess greif-

bar zu machen, schauen wir zurück auf UrbanDAs Reise nach Salvador und kom-

men danach zu UrbanDEs Reflexionen ihre Reise nach Weimar. Darüber hinaus

wirst du in diesem Buch die zahlreichen Bestrebungen auffinden, die die singulä-

ren Formen der Wahrnehmung und der Daseinsweise, die dieses Projekt nährte,

unterstreichen: in den Kartographien und kritischen Reflexionen, im theoreti-

schen 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 kön-

nen 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 hinzu-

weisen, in dem Differenzen sehr willkommen sind, aber in dem soziale Hierarchien

vorübergehend aufgelöst werden können – eine Situation, die das KoCA Inn über-

raschenderweise zu ermöglichen imstande war. Vielleicht war es in diesen Augen-

blicken 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?


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!

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 wor-

den sind. Ja, eine Frage bleibt: Können diese Momente der Freiheit von Dauer

sein? Bis zu welchem Grade können urbane Räume von jedermann im alltägli-

chen Leben permanent neu erfunden werden? Hat das KoCA Inn möglicherweise

ein Entwurf sein können für das, was Amin & Thrift als die Gemeinschaft definie-

ren, in der die Umstände der Zugehörigkeit nicht repräsentiert werden können?

Hat es eine „temporäre Gemeinschaft des Banalen und Irdischen, die Gemein-

schaft 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 Wider-

sprüchlichkeit 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 schließ-

lich 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!


Inmitten eines Ensembles aus Beton-Bodenplatten, Blumenrabatten-Elemen-

ten, Verkehrsschildern, Geländern und einer Platane steht heute noch am Nord-

West-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 am SophienstiftsplatzBeim Besuch des Archivs der Bauaufsicht der Weimarer Stadtverwaltung

bekommen wir nur sehr wenige Informationen darüber, was früher am Sophien-

stiftsplatz 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 Schwan-

seestraße, die 1952 Stalinstraße hieß. Der Kiosk am Sophienstiftsplatz jedoch

schlägt sich in aktenkundlicher Weitergabe nicht wieder, vielleicht weil er im Ver-

gleich 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 Perspek-

tive aufgenommene Bilder, die eine neue Verkehrsführung der Platzes dokumen-

tieren sollen, zeigen einen Zeitungskiosk der Postzeitungsvertriebe.

Dieses, in Form eines umgekehrten Pyramidenstumpfes ausgeführte Modell,

Der Kiosk am Sophienstifts platz: Von 1968 bis 2010RONALD HIRTE, KATHARINA HOHMANN

The Kiosk on Sophienstiftsplatz: From 1968 to 2010RONALD HIRTE, KATHARINA HOHMANN

Today, in the midst of an ensemble consisting of concrete paving stones,

flowerbed elements, traffic signs, fencing and a huge plane tree, on the north-

western 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.

Kiosk at SophienstiftsplatzVisiting 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


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 Mon-

tage 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 Kleinst-

architekturen stets im Fokus. Auf diesen zumeist Schwarz-Weiß-Bildern sind

Post-Kioske aller Art und durch die Zeiten zu sehen: feste oder fahrbare, quadra-

tische, rechteckige oder sechseckige, an Litfasssäulen erinnernde, Knickdach tra-

gende, 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 des-

sen Reihe heute noch ein Exemplar in Weimar steht. Mögen sicher Funktions-

bestimmtheit 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 Men-

schen im unmittelbaren öffentlichen Raum kann nicht gesprochen werden. Erst

seit den 1990er Jahren verschwinden diese Kioske zusehends aus den Stadtbil-

dern, umso wichtiger, die wenigen noch irrlichternden Vertreter durch kulturelle

Inwertsetzung etwas festzuhalten.

K&K – Zentrum für Kunst und ModeIm Jahr 2001 entdeckten Katharina Hohmann und Katharina Tietze den lee-

ren Kiosk und verliebten sich in ihn. Die letzte Besitzerin, Frau Hackeschmied,

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

Kiosk K50 at the Sophienstiftsplatz, 1967

Kiosk K50 am Sophienstiftsplatz, 1967

Foto: Helmut Scholz. Stadtarchiv Weimar


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 Ver-

kaufen 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 Alltagskul-

tur. Mit der Übernahme des Kiosks bestand auch die Möglichkeit, alle Originalmö-

bel zu bekommen, zum Beispiel die drehbaren Zeitungsständer, die später oft für

Ausstellungen genutzt wurden. K&K dokumentierte und recherchierte, gab Einbli-

cke und Ausblicke, interpretierte Fragestellungen, spielte mit ihnen und beschäf-

tigte sich mit den Möglichkeiten, die der Ort selbst, der Kiosk, bot.

Eine Vielzahl nicht nur von Künstlern, sondern auch Theoretikern und Schrift-

stellern, Wissenschaftlern und Forschern bereicherten die Diskussionen mit ihren

visuellen Beiträgen. Die Installationen waren vor allem das Ergebnis der Gesprä-

che zwischen der Künstlerin Katharina Hohmann und der Designerin Katharina

Tietze. Die Einladungen folgten den Logiken der jeweiligen Themen. Der vier-

jährige Arbeitskomplex untersuchte in einem fortlaufendem Dialog Überschnei-

dungen 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 Überschnei-

dung von Kunst und Mode verstanden werden. Einige der etwa 70 Ausstellun-

gen basierten auf Partizipation. Passanten, in der Regel nur Zuschauer, wurden

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 ModeIn 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.

Taking over the empty kiosk

Übernahme des leeren Kiosks, 2001

Foto: Manuel Fabritz

Käthe Kruse: Football dress

Katharina’s closet, K&K 2006

Käthe Kruse: Fußballkleid

Katharinas Schrank, K&K 2006

Foto: Käthe Kruse


in die Ausstellung und den Prozess mit einbezogen. Der Kiosk ist immer Teil des

städtischen Straßenmobiliars. Mit der Möglichkeit, ein bis drei Personen zur glei-

chen Zeit aufzunehmen, kann der Kiosk im Winter gemütlich beheizt werden und

im Sommer Schutz bieten. Er kann als Plattform für verschiedene Aktionen wie-

der in Kraft gesetzt und neu erfunden werden. Die eingeladenen Künstler, einige

von ihnen werde ich hier nennen, nutzten den Aspekt der Kommunikation auf ver-

schiedene, 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 Abbildun-

gen 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 engmaschi-

gen 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 ein-

wöchige Verkaufsausstellung dieser recht einzigartigen Magazine, die nie zuvor

und nie wieder danach in Weimar gesehen wurden.

Eineform – Das universale Kleidungsstück Eineform besteht aus der Kom-

bination 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 Individu-

altät 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 Bau-

haus-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 Unersätt-

lichen und Unermüdlichen. Nachts stehen unsere Gäste im Mittelpunkt: auf dem

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 one-

week 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.


Präsentierteller, dem Laufsteg. Wir erzählen Geschichten quer über die Theke,

suchen Menschen, die früh verschlafen und zerknittert ihre Morgenzeitung kau-

fen. Dann, wenn wir am Ende sind.“ (K&K Magazin, 2006:92)

Coming SoonIm 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 Perso-

nen zusammen, die den Kiosk dem Besitzer abkaufte, um seine einzigartige Iden-

tität 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 ArtIm Jahr 2008 und teilweise in 2009 übernahmen die Künstler Leonie Weber

und Felix Ruffert die Kuration und arbeiteten hauptsächlich mit jungen internati-

onalen Künstlern zusammen, die in Installationen die Interpretationen ihrer indi-

viduellen 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.

Kakao2010 hat die Jenaplan Grundschule die Macht über den Kiosk an sich genoh-

men und ihm den neuen Namen KAKAO gegeben.

Lang lebe der Kiosk am Sophienstiftsplatz!

Night Shop Radio for Body and Soul – For some days in July 2002 Christin

Albert and Laurentius Schmeier, both students of the media-faculty, Bauhaus-

Universität 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 SoonIn 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 ArtIn 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.

KakaoIn 2010 the nearby Jenaplan Elementary School took over the Kiosk, and

gave it the new name KAKAO.

Long live the kiosk on Sophienstiftsplatz!

Next page folgende Seite:

Hagen Betzwieser: Institut für Allgemeine Theorie - Primordial Matter, KoCA 2009. Foto: Hagen Betzwieser

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.

links: www.kkkiosk.de, www.koca-weimar.de, www.kiosk09.de


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 Sütterlin-

schrift. 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 gene-

rierten 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 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. Erinne-rungen 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 sei-ner 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 meinem Schlafkameraden wiederbegegnen sollte...

In the following pages we

attempt to make readable the

complexity of the two weeks

of life at KoCA Inn. This is not a

chronology as much happened

simultaneously. Here a number

of thematic points of view

put events and happenings in

relation through a collage of

participants narrations: various

voices highlight the subjectivity

of interpretations that experience

enables.

Auf den folgenden Seiten ver

suchen wir, die Komplexität des

zweiwöchigen Lebens am

KoCA Inn lesbar zu machen.

Es ist keine Chronologie, denn

vieles geschah gleichzeitig.

Eine Anzahl von thematischen

Schwerpunkten setzt die

Geschehnisse durch eine Kol

lage aus Erzählungen der

Teilnehmer in Beziehung: ver

schiedene Stimmen betonen

die Subjektivität der Sichtweisen.

24/7 (x2)

Within three days the Sophien

stiftsplatz was occupied: a few

structural elements, a semi

parasitic infrastructure, basic

operating systems, a growing

range of involved people, ideas,

aims and resources, and

endless plugInns. KoCA Inn

activated the public space with

its ongoing transformations,

experimentations, informality

and engagement.

Innerhalb von drei Tagen war

der Sophienstiftsplatz in Besitz

genommen: wenige bauliche

Elemente, eine halbparasitäre

Infrastruktur, grundlegende

Betriebssysteme, eine wachs

ende Zahl involvierter

Menschen, Ideen, Ziele und

Ressourcen und zahllose

PlugInns. Mit seiner ununter

brochenen Transformation,

den Experimenten, der Infor

malität und dem Engagement

aktivierte KoCA Inn den öffent

lichen Raum.

Occupation Inbesitznahme

Goethe & Schiller Monument at Theaterplatz

Goethe & Schiller Denkmal am Theaterplatz

Project area in an afternoon / week day / summer time

Projektgebiet an einem Nachmittag / Wochentag / Sommer

Kiosk of Contemporary Art at Sophienstiftsplatz

pedestrians/hour Fußgänger/Stunde

vehicles/hour Fahrzeuge/Stunde

Urban Situation Urbane Situation

44 Occupation Inbesitznahme 45

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 angekom-men 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

Sleeping SchlafenSources QuellenFeira de São Joaquim

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

Weimarer Tafel

5 h per Transporter/ by delivery van

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 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.


Structure Struktur236 kg WC-Kabinen/ portable toilets

120 l Frischwasser/ fresh water

500 l Abwassertank/ cesspool

1553 kg Layher-Gerüst/ scaffolding

Inbesitznahme 49





13 Stk Europaletten/ europalett

43 kg Sperrmüllküche/ recycled kitchen

45 kg Alteisen/ scrap iron

6 kg Aluminium-Wellblech/ corrugated metal sheet

Materials Materialien


52 m² Gewebeplane/tarp

10,5 m² Noppenbahn/burling sheetplastik

12,5 m² Polyester-Wellenbahn/corrugated sheetpolyester

16,8 m² Strohmatten/staw mats

14 m² Texilien/textiles

40 m Montagelatten/ contruction boards

6 m Leuchtschlauch/tube light

0,7 m² Plexiglas (grün)/ plexiglass (green)

28 m² Kunststofffolien / plastic foil


80 lange Schrauben/ long screws

800 Kabelbinder/ cable connectors

39 m Stromkabel/ electric cable

70 m Seile/ cords

370 m Schnur/ string

176 m Wäscheleine/ clothesline

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


Plug-Inns

Objects from Objekte der

Weimarer Tafel

Feira de São Joaquim

The 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.

Das 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.

Kitchen

Küche

Sports field

Sportplatz

Living room

Wohnzimmer

Bed room

Schlafzimmer

Showroom, cash register, Soundset

Ausstellungsraum, Kasse, Musikanlage

WC

Fresh water from

neighbors and

fountain

Frisches Wasser

von Nachbarn und

Brunnen

Waste water into city’s

sewage system

Schmutzwasser in die

Kanalisation

56 Inbesitznahme 57Occupation

Reactions Reaktionen

No idea. Perhaps a stage.

Keine Idee. Eine Bühne vielleicht.

Well. I don’t know.

Tja. Weiß ich nicht.

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,

damit dann der Baum sich drüber legt.

It’s too small for theatre.

Für Theater ist sie zu klein.

Looks like a climbing

frame. A climbing

park?

Sieht irgendwie aus

wie ‘n Klettergerüst.

‘n Kletterpark?

Only, that someone will play music.

Höchstens, dass da Musik gemacht wird.

That is going to be a house, or not?

Aber das wird n Haus, oder?

It is already a scaffolding. But with several spaces up there ...

one, two, three, four. No idea.

Ein Baugerüst isses ja sowieso, aber mit mehreren Stellflächen

oben … eins, zwo, drei, vier. Keine Ahnung.

Although, it can’t really be for the

trees, I guess. Because... well,

in landscape architecture it looks

somehow different when they

lop trees.

Obwohl, für Bäume kann das ja

eigentlich nicht sein, glaube

ich. Weil das ja…für Gartenbau-

landschaft sieht das ja irgendwie

anders aus, wenn sie die Bäume

beschneiden.

During 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?”

Verwunderte Passanten wurden von Radio Lotte während des Aufbaus befragt, was da wohl am Entstehen sei:

“Was meinen Sie, was das wird?”

Art

Kunst





Opening

Eröffnung

As 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

D ie Eröffnung soll gleich anfangen und wir sind noch dabei, Dächer aus Camping-

planen 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 Essbe-reich, 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 Wasser-spende 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 deut-schen 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


Service anbieten, sondern viel eher ein Sys tem aus Initiative, Kooperation und öffentli-cher Gesellschaftlichkeit vorschlagen. Dies ist wahr scheinlich der wichtigste Punkt, den wir bei der Eröffnung ver mitteln wollen – nicht nur mit Worten, sondern mit Taten. Als unsere Zutaten aufgebraucht sind, schla-gen 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 Hän-gematten schaukeln, Leitern rauf und runter klettern, im Wohnzimmer eine Ausruh-Probe, den Müll trennen, der mit international ver-ständlichen 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 Init iaiven und Beteiligung. Dies sind die ersten Schritte in Richtung der zwei Wochen experimenteller Nutzung des öffentlichen Raums.

Dem 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 Stadtverwal-tungsabteilungen 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.

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.

The 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.

Inbesitznahme 65

Caipirinha, vatapá e farofa de banana

VATAPÁ (serves 10 people)

ingredients:

4 old bread loaves

500 ml of coconut milk

500 ml of palm oil

100g dried shrimps

100g cashews

100g peanuts

5 onions

a small piece of ginger

salt and pepper

way to prepare:

Remove the crust of the old

bread, and break the white p

art

in pieces. Soak them in a co

oker

with the coconut milk, and i

f

needed add a bit of water. B

lend

until smooth. Set aside. Gri

nd

the shrimps in a food proces

sor,

set aside; grind the cashews

and

the peanuts, set aside; grin

d

the onion and the ginger. Al

l

the ingredients must be grou

nd

separately and finely. Heat t

he

palm oil in a skillet, add t

he

onion and ginger mixture unt

il

soft and golden. Add the gro

und

nuts to the skillet and saut

é

a few minutes more, adding a

little oil if necessary, unt

il

golden. Add the shrimps and

the

bread-coconut-milk mixture.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cook, stirring for about 15

min,

adding more coconut milk and

oil

if necessary. The porridge h

as

to reach a thick consistency

.

Serve warm.

VATAPÁ (serve 10 pessoas)

ingredientes:

4 pães franceses velhos

500 ml de leite de côco

500 ml de azeite de dendê

100g camarão seco

100g castanha

100g amendoim

5 cebolas

um pedaço pequeno de gengibr

e

sal e pimenta

modo de preparo:

Retire a casca do pão velho,

despedaçando o miolo e despe

-

jando em uma panela, acresce

nte

o leite de coco e se necessá

rio

um pouco de água. MIsture-os

até

ficar macio, separe.

Processe o camarão seco,

reserve, a castanha, reserve

,

amendoim, reserve, bata as 6

ou

7 cebolas no liquidificador e

o

gengibre. Todos esses ingred

ien-

tes devem ser triturados sep

ara-

damente. Esquente o dendê, d

oure

as mistura de cebola e gengi

bre

até ficar macia. Doure a cast

anha

e o amendoim, adicione óleo

se

necessário. Adicione o camar

ão

seco, a mistura de pão e lei

te

de coco. Leve ao fogo e vá

adicionando aos poucos o

restante do leite de coco e

o

azeite de dendê, tempere com

sal

e pimenta e deixe por 15 a 2

0

minutos. Deve até atingir o

ponto de consistência de uma

pasta firme. Servir quente.

FAROFA DE BANANA

ingredients:

1 kg manioc flour

2 tablespoons of butter

3 big onions

½ dozen bananas

1 tablespoon of salt

1 cup of “bottle butter”

(clarified butter)

parsley

way to prepare:

In a large skillet, put the

two tablespoons of butter

and onions chopped into small

pieces, let the onions brown

and add the flour gradually.

Always stirring the mixture,

add the bananas cut into slices

and finally the butter liquid,

stir well to have a soft and

golden farofa. To serve, add

the chopped parsley.

FAROFA DE BANANA

ingredientes:

1 kg de farinha de mandioca

2 colheres de sopa de manteiga

3 cebolas grandes

½ dúzia de bananas

1 colher de sopa de sal

1 xícara de manteiga de garrafa

salsinha

modo de preparo:

Em uma frigideira grande

deposite as duas colheres de

sopa de manteiga e as cebolas

picadas em pequenos pedaços,

deixe dourar as cebolas e

adicione a farinha aos poucos,

sempre mexendo a mistura,

adicione as bananas cortadas em

rodelas e por fim a manteiga de

garrafa, mexa bem até a farofa

ganhar ficar soltinha e dourada.

Para servir, acrescente a

salsinha picada.

66

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.

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 Hauptver-antwortung.

Shifts Schichten


Economy Wirtschaft 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 Work-shops 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 Spen-densystem 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 Veranstal-tungen, 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.

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 self-governance, space and possibilities grew exponentially as resources came in and a cooperative open community was put into practice.


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 living-

space.

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 Potenzi al

des Sophienstiftsplatzes, indem

wir seine Nutzungen ausweiteten

und ihn in einen Lebensraum

verwandelten.

Inhabitation Bewohnen

My 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.

Wegen 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 Zube-reitung 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.

Cooking and Eating Kochen und Essen

I outdoor kitchens

Ich Outdoor-Küchen

Survival, pleasure,

fund raising, an open

invitation, a space for

encounters and sharing

Überleben, Genuss,

Spendenaktion, eine

offene Einladung,

ein Ort für Begegnung

und zum Teilen

74 Inhabitation Bewohnen 75

FENOUIL MAXIMO

Zutaten:

1 Fenchel

2 Zucchini

3 Paprika

12 Tomaten

2 Zwiebeln

etwas Lavendel

2 Dosen geschälte Tomaten

Salz, Pfeffer und Kräuter

Zubereitung:

Fenchel, Zucchini, Paprika,

Zwie bel in Öl anbraten. Mit

geschäl ten Tomaten ablöschen

und köcheln lassen, nach

Belie ben mit Salz, Pfeffer,

Lavendel und Kräutern würzen,

frische Tomaten hinzugeben

und mit ver schie denen Brotsor

ten ser vieren.

FENOUIL MAXIMO

Ingredients:

1 fennel

2 zucchini

3 bellpeppers

12 tomatoes

2 onions

some lavender

2 cans of peeled tomatoes

salt, pepper and herbs

Preperation:

Fry the fennel, zucchini,

bellpepper and onions in oil.

Add the peeled tomatoes and let

everything simmer. Add salt,

pepper, lavender and herbs to

desire, then add the diced

fresh tomatoes. Serve with a

variety of bread.

It was an equilibrist’s task to arrange space for the cutting, washing and sto ring 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.

Es war der Akt eines Akrobaten, den Platz zum Schneiden, Waschen

und Aufbe wahren des Essens zu organisie-ren. Immer war ein gewisser Ansammel- und Improvi sationssinn 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 Abend-essen war für zehn Leute geplant und zehn weitere folg ten dem Duft der die Pfannen umgab und waren bald beim Herd.

Bewohnen 77

The mobile kitchen

Die mobile Küche

small work space

Arbeitsplatte

electric ofen/stove:

attach to extension cord

Elektroherd/-ofen

mit Verlängerungskabel

anschließen

storage space for

ingredients and utensils

Stauraum für

Zutaten und Geräte

2 levels for

coal and ashes

zwei Ebenen für

Kohle und Asche

work space

Arbeitsfläche

extension for

ready sausages

Verlängerung

für fertige Würste

storage space

Stauraum

place to hang dishtowel

Geschirrhandtuchträger

The mobile grill Der mobile Grill

borrowed shopping cart

geliehener Getränke-

Einkaufswagen storage space for pots and pans

Stauraum für Töpfe und Pfannen


Gerda 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.

Gerda 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 Mar-melade 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 konn ten. 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.

Waffles and Jam Waffeln und Marmelade

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

Früchtezupflücken,danachnochdie

rest lichen Zutaten einzukaufen

und dann eigene Marmelade zu machen.


Sleeping Schlafen

HerzcHenwaffeln von Gerda

zutaten:

125g Margarine

30g zucker

1 Päcken vanillinzucker

Salz

2 Eßlöffel Rum

3 eier

250g Mehl

knapp 1 Teelöffel Backpulver

1/8 l Milch

1/8 l wasser

zubereitung:

Alle Zutaten recht gut mit-

einander verrühren, etwa 10

Minuten ruhen lassen und

portionsweise im Waffeleisen

backen.

Gerda’s heart-waffles

Ingredients:

125g margarine

30g sugar

1 package vanillin sugar

salt

2 tablespoons rum

3 eggs

250g flour

almost 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 l milk

1/8 l water

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients well,

let the liquid dough rest for

about 10 minutes and then bake

portion by portion in the waffle

iron.

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 Sütterlin-

schrift. Kevin versucht, es zu lernen: Nun

ist es seine Aufgabe, eine Textpassage

zu lesen. Hans Peter schreibt in der alten

Schrift in unser Gästebuch.

“It was an interesting experience with the young people from

Brazil.Inthiswayitispossibletomeet.Webakedwafflesand

are very glad that they have all been eaten. We wish these young

people all the best, may they keep good memories of Weimar.”


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 Variatio nen, die für den Kiosk zubereitet wurden, hielten sich dicht am Origi nal, 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 Pro-vecho!

KOLUMBIANISCHES MENU

15. JULI

PAPAS SALAdAS

(SALzIgE KArtOffELN)

2 kg Kartoffeln

Salz

Die Kartoffeln für 20 min in

heißem Wasser kochen, abgießen,

mit Salz bestreuen und umheben.

CEvICHE dE MANgO (MANgO CEvICHE)

1 Mango

3 Zwiebeln

1 Tasse Tomatensoße

3 Zitronen

Salz und Pfeffer

Die Mango und Zwiebeln in klei-

ne Stücke schneiden und vermi-

schen. Die Tomatensoße und den

Saft der 3 Zitronen dazugeben.

Je nach Geschmack mit Salz und

Pfeffer würzen.

POLLO CON MAIS y QUEzO

(HüHNCHEN MIt MAIS UNd KäSE)

3 Hühnerschenkel

1 kg Maiskörner

200 g geriebener Käse

Das Fleisch in heißem Wasser

kochen und dann zerkleinern.

Den Mais mit etwas Öl anbraten,

dann das Fleisch dazugeben und

einige Minuten kochen lassen.

In einer Schüssel mit dem Käse

mischen und servieren.

HOgAO (CrIOLLO SOSSE)

1 kg Tomaten

750 g Zwiebeln

4 EL Öl

2 EL Butter

1 Bouillionwürfel

Das Öl und die Butter in einer

Pfanne erhitzen. Die gehackten

Zwiebeln 2 Minuten anbraten.

Die Tomaten und Hühnerbrühe

dazugeben und auf niedriger

Flamme einige weitere Minuten

köcheln lassen.

BocaDillo con QueZo (Guava

PasTe MiT Käse in BananenBlaTT

GewicKelT)

Guava-Paste in stücke schneiden

und mit weißem Käse servieren.

aGuarDienTe

(liQueur, anis GescHMacK)

Pur in einzelnen shots trinken

Menu coloMBiano

15. Julio

PaPas salaDas

2 kilos de papas (patatas)

sal

cocine las papas en agua

caliente por 20 minutos. retire

el agua, agrégue sal y remueva.

cevicHe De ManGo

1 mango

3 cebollas

1 taza de salsa de tomate

3 limones

sal y pimienta

corte el mango y las cebollas

en pequeños trozos, luego

mezcle. agrégue una taza de

salsa de tomate y el jugo de

tres limones. sazone al gusto

con sal y pimienta.

Pollo con MaíZ y Queso

3 piernas de pollo

100 gramos de granos de maíz

frescos

200 gramos de queso rallado

cocine el pollo en agua

hirviendo y luego desmenuzar.

Freír el maíz con un poco de

aceite y agregar luego el

pollo. Dejar cocinar por

algunos minutos, luego poner en

una vasija honda, agregar el

queso y mezclar.

Hogao

1 kilo de tomates

750 gramos de cebolla

4 cucharadas de aceite

2 cucharadas de mantequilla

1 tableta de sazonador de pollo

(concentrado de pollo)

Caliente una sartén con el

aceite y la mantequilla.

agregar las cebollas y freirlas

ligeramente por 2 minutos.

Colocar los tomates y el

concentrado de pollo, cocinando

a fuego bajo por algunos

minutos.

BoCaDillo Con Queso

Pasta de guayaba cortada en

trozos y servida con queso

blanco.

aguarDiente

Beber directamente en copas

pequeñas (shots)

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.

water from public fountain

Brunnenwasser

potable water

Trinkwasser

Ich 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, ent-leere 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.

Frisches Wasser bekamen wir größtenteils von dem freundlichen Nach-barschafts-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

Between 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.

Zwischen 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 mit-brachten. Sie nahmen den Bürgersteig in Beschlag, waren auf der Suche nach Schatten oder Sonne, nach einem Zusammenrücken oder sich Vertei len. Das Wohn zimmer und das Schlafzimmer boten intimere Orte, um sich zurückzuziehen. Sechs Hängematten – die sich durch die Gegend beweg ten – zogen viele Leute an, vorbeizuschauen und sich eine Pause zu gönnen. Extra Veranstaltungen wie das Filmezeigen im bra silianischen Fernsehzimmer oder das Anbieten von Fußmassagen boten zusätzliche, unerwartete Momente des Entspannens.





Dancing Tanzen

Dancing 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!”

W 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 konzentrieren 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.

Tanzen 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, Synchroni sa-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!“

L ike breathing, chatting or using the toilet, dancing as an action fre quently waved in and out of occurrence as part of the dynamic social

sculpture called the KoCA Inn. Many of my memories involve me concen trating 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.



Sleeping Schlafen In 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…

In den ersten Nächten brauchten wir Schutz. In gewisser Weise versuch-ten 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…

By night Nachts

Bewohnen 95





Thefirstfilmwasprojectedwiththehelp

ofamirror,duetothedifficultiesof

the Brazilians understanding the German

settings. (or, in Portuguese: jeitinho,

see page 300)

Der erst Film wurde mit Hilfe eines

Spiegels projeziert, da die Brasilianer

die deutschen Einstellungen nicht

verstanden. (oder, auf Portugiesisch:

jeitinho, siehe Seite 300)

Sala de televisão


Sleeping 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 balance. 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: 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 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 seines. Währenddessen holte er seinen Computer. Sein Bildschirmhin-tergrund 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 mich in eine Hängematte. Ein Mann, der auf dem Bürger steig vorbeilief, hatte mich gesehen, nahm zwei Brötchen aus sei ner 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 meinem Schlafkameraden wieder-begegnen sollte…

I have a strong memory of fresh air.

Sur prisingly on this busy street corner, I felt

fresh, safe and slept quietly under

the canopy of our tree. Ich erinnere mich

stark an frische Luft. Überraschenderweise

fühlte ich mich an dieser belebten

Straßenecke frisch, sicher und ich schlief

ruhig unter dem Dach unseres Baumes.


Islept 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.

In 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 gin-gen 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 Schran-ken 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 gesellschaft-lichen Erfahrung, Menschen für eine Nacht aufzunehmen: alle Hängematten und die Coach waren besetzt. Einige bleiben der Erfahrung wegen, andere aus der Not heraus.

“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.~”


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

Beschil derungen wurden

vor Ort mit den zur Verfügung

ste henden Mitteln produziert.

Sie spielen auf die improvisier ten

und Low-Budget-Lösungen an,

die wir in den Straßen von

Salvador beobachtet hatten.

Sie waren gleichzeitig eine

Einladung an die Öffent lichkeit

und Ausdruck des Projekt-

konzepts.

Communication Kommunikation

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 bring ing 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 ...

Calendar Kalender

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 erfor-schen 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

Magazine about Orixás,

brought from Salvador

Zeitschrift über Orixás,

aus Salvador mitgebracht

Necklace of Olho de Boi,

protection against jealousy

Olho de Boi-Kette

Schutz gegen Eifersucht

Senhor do Bonfim Bracelets

3 knots = 3 wishes

Senhor-Do-Bonfim-Armbänder

3 Knoten = 3 Wünsche

Relational objects, biological

architectures and other works from

Lygia Clark

Relationale Objekte, biologische

Architektur und weitere Werke

von Lygia Clark

Caetano Veloso

Verdade Tropical

Be an outlaw, be a hero

Oiticica’s poster as cover for the

Tropicália exhibition catalogue, 2007

Sei ein Gesetzloser, sei ein Held

Oiticica-Poster als Titelseite des

Tropicália-Ausstellungskatalogs, 2007

Yemanjá: Queen of Waters

Yemanjá: Wasserkönigin

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

library of art and urbanism theory books

that informed the project. Slowly it also

became a medium for advertising events

and quoting artistic thoughts.

Der Kiosk wurde in eine Art Kuriositä -

tenkabinett verwandelt. Eine Mischung

aus Reisesouvenirs, Glücksbringern,

per sönlichen Gegenständen, Düften,

Geschmäckern und Erinnerungen

aus Salvador wurden ausgestellt. Dazu

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.


Green board Grüne Tafel


Street Chalk Straßenkreide


before / vorher Wishes and ideas to be

plugged into the kiosk

Wünsche und Ideen zum

Einfügen

after / nachherThe 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

aimed to highlight the partnership between the Hotel and the Inn, making them evident to

the public.

Zwei Monate nach Ende der Inbesitznahme fand ein Runder Tisch im Hotel Miranda statt,

bei dem die Dokumentation gezeigt und auch diskutiert wurde, wie das Buch organisiert

werden soll. Diese Veranstaltung beabsichtigte auch, die Partnerschaft von Hotel und Inn

ins Bewußtsein der Öffentlichkeit zu bringen.

Flyers


Quite 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.

Ziemlich oft gab es am KoCA Inn Zeitungen zum Lesen. Aber die Neu-gierde 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 folgen-den Seiten zeigen wir die „Medieninterpretationen“, die zu dem Zeitpunkt am meisten Menschen erreichten. Am Kiosk selbst gab es für die Besu-cher 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.

Newspapers Zeitungen

Kommunikation 115

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

Brazil at KoCA InnArtistic project transforms the

area in a mini-village with

market for the Sozialkaufhaus.

Thüringer Allgemeine,

9 July 2009


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 Wei-

mar 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 Marketing-

strategie mit Alltag vermischt.

118 Communication

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 Aneig-

nung und Transformation des

öffentlichen Raumes durch

den KoCA Inn. Zwei Kollaborati-

onspartner in Weimar werden

vorgestellt, die dazu beitrugen,

das Projekt zu ermöglichen.

Islands & Territories Inseln & Gebiete

KoCA Inn Inseln

weiße Sandstrände

exotische Hybridpalmen

Holzbrücke

Frischwasserbrunnen

Unbekannte Siedlung

Kommunikationsversuche der KoCA Inn-

Forscher ergaben, dass die Eingeborenen

nicht freundlich sind und es bevorzugen,

eine geschlossene Gesellschaft

zu bleiben.

Grosse Gemeinschaft von Kindern

Für die KoCA Inn-Forscher war dieser Ort

nicht zugänglich während sie die Region

in Besitz nahmen. Feldforschungen haben

ergeben, dass die meisten Kinder

im Urlaub oder irgendwo anders waren.

122 Islands & Territories Inseln & Gebiete 123

The Occupied Islands are located at the intersection of Sophienstiftsplatz, 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 shortlived. The islands were transformed from places that simply directed traffic flows to LandofplentyIslands, SportsIslands, WellnessIslands and tropical PirateIslands.

D ie Besetzten Inseln sind vor dem KoCA InnFestland 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, Schlaraffen landInseln, Relaxinseln und tropischen PiratenInseln.


The 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 InnSiedler 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)“


Permanent 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

Migra tions und Handelsrouten wurden zwischen den Territorien aufgebaut. Ressourcen wurden geteilt und eine einheitliche Politik und Kommu nikationsweise wurden eingeführt.

Die permanent annektierten Gebiete


Welcome 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 Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé. Mit Unterstützung der Diakoniestiftung

bieten wir eine Vielfalt an sozialen Leistungen an: Essen und Lebensmittelausgabe, Begegnungsstätte, Reparationswerkstatt, die Verwaltung von Spenden und den Verkauf gebrauchter Möbel, von Haushaltswaren, Kleidern und einer Menge zusammengewürfeltem Kram.

Die Ländereien der Weimarer Tafel

Katrin Lausch (left, links)

Koca Inn ambassador of the

Lands of Weimarer Tafel

and Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé

KoCA Inn Botschafterin der

Länder Weimarer Tafel

und Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé

Here you can also receive a cup of coffee for a small donation and leave a message in

the Guest Book. Auch hier bekommst du gegen eine kleine Spende eine Tasse Kaffee und

kannst dich im Gästebuch äußern.

Inseln & Gebiete 131

The Hotel Miranda was an artistic installation developed by the Baustelle M10 for the special Weimarer summer of 2009. It was

used as an artistic residency by participants from Salvador during their threeweek 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.

Das Hotel Miranda war eine künstlerische Installation der Baustelle M10 für den besonderen Weimarer Sommer 2009. Während ihres

drei wöchigen 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.

Room Installation

Otto Hernandez,

July 2008

Rauminstallation

Otto Hernandez,

Juli 2008

left: Carmen Miranda,

by Felix Scholz

links: Carmen Miranda,

von Felix Scholz

Die Hotel Miranda-Enclave


Hotel 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 leftovers from former art shows, and the Hotel Hopefull screenprintings 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 reenactment of M10’s uncertain future: “The hotel as the crossingpoint of traces, as the fulminent culmination of escape, hope, desire and rest.” (Weitzel, 2009)

Das Hotel Miranda – eine Hommage an Carmen Miranda zum 100jährigen 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 Kunst shows 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 DoppelSuite 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)

Hotel Miranda:

rooms, reception and

restaurant.

Deus Exit,

by Stephan Weitzel

Hotel Miranda:

Zimmer, Rezeption und

Restaurant.

Deus Exit,

von Stephan Weitzel

Inseln & Gebiete 135

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

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.

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 “tropicalrainshower”. The water ran through a long hose that zigzagged across the exterior wall allowing the water to be heated naturally by the sun. The hose was connected to the coppertubeconstruction pierced with small holes creating “the tropical rainshower”. 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 secondstorywindow. 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.

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 dieser Konstruktion und dem milden Weimarer Sommer verschreckt. Die prekäre Regendusche wurde durch Expeditionen in der Nachbarschaft auf der Suche nach wärmerem Wasser abgelöst.

Constructing a showerEine Dusche bauen

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

inter pretieren und zu entdecken

gilt. Viele fröhliche Momente

der Geselligkeit wurden durch

den KoCA Inn hervorgerufen:

Einige geplant, andere spontan.

Eine Aktion führt zur nächsten.

ExplorationsErkundungen

Playing Spielen

D 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 gleichermaßen 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 „Nur sotunalsoobmanspiele“.

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 verwandelt 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 Absolvierungsfeiern 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.

The KoCA Inn structure I keep in mind can be best described as a gigantic playhouse. A space that reminded me of the treehouses,

secrethideouts and favoriteplayspaces 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 “onlypretendingtoplay”. One of my favorite “pretending” activities was something light heartedly referred to as the GDR Space Training Program. A couple of people at the kiosk began to use an old rotating footstool 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 bloodpressure or laughter. What started as a partnertopartner activity was soon embraced by the entire group and quickly began to attract passersby. 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 Erkundungen 141

“Dear Bau - m - häusler,

Barbara, Markus and Georg say

thank you for the fun Risk-Party

up in the treehouse. We bought the

game for 2 € on the condition of

playing a round with you. And we

have to say that it was great!

We wish you much fun in the

treehouse,

Georg, Barbara, Markus”

(TN: Baum is a tree, Bau is

construction, Bauhäusler is a

term to address the students and

masters of the Bauhaus school)

Drumming TrommelnTRoMMEl GRuPPE

DRuM GRouP TamBour du soleil

It 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 inbetween 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.

Es 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 Angestellten der Stadtverwaltung genutzt, um das zwischen den Steinen wachsende 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 auslösen? 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.


Impressions from a DrummerEindrücke eines TrommlersSTEPhAn DiETl, TamBour du soleil

The 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.

Aus 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 Improvisationskonzert 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 alltäglichen 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 Erfahrung. 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

erzeu gte eine unglaubliche Atmosphäre, direkt auf einer Kreuzung. Selbst der Verkehrslärm um uns herum wurde durch die Trommeln übertönt. Und das ganze

drei Stunden lang.

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.


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.

Geben 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 InnProjekts von ihrer Beteiligung profitierten: Je mehr man beisteuerte, desto mehr Nutzen hatte man. Als Gastgeber und Teilnehmer hatte ich am Ende, nach dem Abbau und nachdem der Platz wieder aufgeräumt war, als alle Spuren des KoCA Inn enfernt waren, komischerweise ein Gefühl der Heimatlosigkeit.

Giving Geben

150 Explorations

TARDES DE BRIGADEIRO

Ingredientes2 latas de leite condensado2 colheres de cacau ou chocolate em pó1 prato de sopa de granulados de chocolate, coloridos ou não2 colheres de sopa de manteigaModo de preparo:Numa panela média, despeje as duas latas de leite condensado, as colheres de manteiga e as duas colheres de chocolate em pó. Misture os ingrediente na própria panela, deixando ferver e abaixando o fogo quando necessário. A mistura de chocolate deve adquirir consistência pastosa mais dura, e não deve grudar na panela, para isso mexa sempre, com uma colher de pau. Quando estiver no ponto retire da panela e coloque numa vasilha e conserve para esfriar, pode guardar na geladeira. Quando a mistura estiver fria, comece a fazer as bolas de brigadeiro. Fazendo as bolas: unte as mãos com manteiga e com uma pequena colher retire da vasilha uma pequena quantidade de chocolate para enrolar, a colher é a medida. Enrole o brigadeiro com movimento suaves, dando forma a pasta de chocolate até ficar redonda. Após enrolar as diversas bolinhas de chocolate, jogue-as uma a uma no prato de granulado, até cobri-las. Sirva para as crianças e para as crianças!

AFTERNOONS OF BRIGADEIROS

Ingredients: 2 cans of condensed milk (sugary and creamy one) 2 teaspoons of cocoa or powder chocolate 1 dish of chocolate sprinkles, colourful or not 2 tablespoons of butter

Way to prepare:In a medium saucepan, pour the two cans of condensed milk, two tablespoons of butter and chocolate powder. Mix the ingredients in the saucepan, boil it and lower the heat if necessary. The mixture of chocolate should get a paste consistency, and should not bind to pan, stir it forever, with a wooden spoon. Remove it from the pan and place it in a bowl and store it in the fridge when cold. When the mixture is cold enough, start to make the balls of brigadier.

Making the balls: rub your hands with butter and with a small spoon, remove from the canister a small amount of chocolate to furl, the spoon is the measure. Roll the Brigadier with smooth movement, forming the chocolate spread until it gets round. After furling the balls of chocolate, throw them one by one on the dish with sprinkles to cover them. Serve it for the kids and the kids!


The 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 discussions about freedom and imprisonment. And there is a location to make this possible: the KoCA Inn. For now there is nothing concrete except for the people and the potential these people bring with them.

Die 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.

Searching for Freedom Auf der Suche nach FreiheitGilDA BARTEl & luciAn PATERMAnn

There is freedom where six people that barely know each other embark on a common search for an answer.Freiheit ist da, wo sechs Personen, die sich nicht wirklich kennen, sich gemeinsam auf die Suche begeben nach einer Antwort.

154 Explorations

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 pedestrians. “Excuse me, could you tell us what freedom is?” Some have answers, others don’t. It takes some courage to approach 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 mindmap of possible freedoms. Then they neatly place the chalk back in the circle for others to use. We walk off with a smile.

Montag:Ankommen am KoCA Inn, Befangensein der Jugendlichen wegen

so vieler fremder Gesichter, erstmal Kaffee trinken, warten, bis Luke auf wacht. Catherine kennenlernen. Sitzen, beobachten, erste Sprachannäherungsversuche durch Kevin. Schüchternheit. Eine Assoziationskette, 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 Kreidestückchen fein säuberlich in den Kreis zurück, um auch anderen die Möglichkeit zu geben, etwas dazu zu schreiben. Mit einem Lächeln gehen wir davon.

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

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

There is freedom where I can ask questions.Freiheit ist da, wo ich Fragen stellen kann.


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 decisionmaking? 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.

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 erfahren. Nach etwa einer Stunde sind wir am Ende unserer Wanderung, als

wir bei dem besetzten Haus in der Gerberstraße ankommen. Die Jungen begutachten die Graffitis und die Transparente, die an der Hauswand hängen und entscheiden sich, die Stille zu brechen. Sie wollen wissen, was die Hausbesetzer über Freiheit denken und wir nutzen die Möglichkeit, Mittag in ihrer Volksküche zu essen und unsere Interviews des Vortags fortzusetzen. Die Jungs

zeigen sich beeindruckt von dem Ort und der Möglichkeit der Selbstbestimmung.

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 Vorlage für unser Spiel sein.

There is freedom where I make decisions.Freiheit ist da, wo ich etwas entscheide.


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; crosscultural 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 truckload 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 scaveng ing 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 gamemove there should be a possible action that visually exemplifies where a person has spaces for decisionmaking. 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.

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, Fremdsprachen kenntnisse 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 helfen, 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 wir recyceln und zum Bau unseres Spielfelds verwenden können. Es wird gelacht, geraucht, in der Hängematte gelegen, zusammen gedacht und gebaut. Wir sammeln die „Räume der Freiheit“ für das Spiel (Gedankenfreiheit, Meinungsfreiheit, Glaubensfreiheit, Geldfreiheit, 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 2tägige 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.

There is freedom where I truely encounter people.Freiheit ist da, wo ich Menschen wirklich begegne.


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.

boards to manifest opinions

Schilder, um Meinungen

zu manifestieren

wishing-box to admit wishes

and prejudices

Wunschbox, um Wünsche und

Vorurteile zuzugeben

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

Brazilian exchange

table to “buy” something

Brasilianische Tauschbörse,

um etwas zu „kaufen“

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 benötigten Teilen. Unser Spiel besteht aus vielen Einzelteilen, die in einer Schubkarre bewegt werden, aus einem Schaukelstuhl, leeren Demonstrationsschildern. 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, Basti, Gilda, und René. Pedro trägt seinen Bauchladen wieder bei sich und es vermischen sich Spiel und andere Aktionen. Basti bleibt die meiste Zeit im Schaukelstuhl sitzen, etwas verklemmt. René läuft zu seiner persönli

chen Hochform auf. Kevin tauscht eine gepflückte Blume gegen eine brasilianische 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 Entspannen, und wir geben zu, welche Vorurteile wir haben; all dies dem Zufall entsprechend, je nachdem auf welchem Spielfeld wir landen.

There is freedom where I can let go.Freiheit ist da, wo ich loslassen kann.


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 him this week was a week of encounters.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 Begegnungen 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 kann und gleichzeitig war er geschockt von sich selbst und der Schwier igkeit, seine eigenen Ängste zu überwinden. Bemerkenswert für René war, dass Schwer und Einfach so nah beieinander liegen. Catherine fand, die Balance zwischen Gespräch und Ausprobieren in der Woche war gut. Für Kevin war die Woche einfach nur „geil“, er hat so viel Neues ausprobiert, was er sich so in seinem normalen Alltag nicht getraut hätte. Gilda erkannte, dass ein Freiraum immer auch ein Bildungsraum ist, der ermöglicht, sich selbst in seinem Menschsein zu bilden. Luke fand die Überwindung der eigenen Grenzen, des eigenen Bekannten am Eindrucksvollsten. Für ihn war die Woche eine Woche der Begegnung.

There is freedom.Freiheit ist da.

“Freiheitsentzug” literally

translates to the removal or

deprivation of freedom. The

Jugend arrest anstalt (youth

penitentiary) is located in

the center of Weimar and

hosts boys from age 15 – 21

for a maximum sentence

of one month. As part of the

“educa tional measure”, they

can participate in community

service activities, as well as

work shops, such as this one.

164 Explorations

Magic show ZaubershowMAnuEl,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 lateday 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 RabbitintheHatTrick. 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 SnakeintheHat 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 farflung 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 entwerfen. 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 bemängelte 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,

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 HasenausdemHutTrick 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 schließlich: „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 SchlangeimHutTrick 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 Zeitschriften 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 dieser 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.


Exhaust it onGABRiElA TARchA

The performance took place throughout the streets of Weimar, surprising and challenging the passerby 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 inbetween 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.

Die 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 Öffentlichkeit.

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

Han delsweisen. Einige dieser

(Aus-)Tausche waren Teil

des Alltags, andere sollten alter -

nativen Herangehensweisen

an die Herausforderungen der

Konsumgesellschaft und

an gesellschaftliche Isolation

testen.

Exchange Austausch

Coffee is the one thing we never lack, the

one thing we offer to everyone, and our

key ingredient for starting conversation,

inviting people to feel home...

Kaffee ist die Sache die uns nie fehlt, die

wir jedem anbieten, die wichtigste Zutat,

um Unterhaltungen zu initiieren und Leute

einzuladen, sich zu Hause zu fühlen …

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!

Am 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-Trade-Kaffee, Wasserflaschen und eine großes Brot zu bringen!

174 Exchange Austausch 175

"If the coffee is not only strong, but also

hot, this will become my favorite local

café!

2 tourists from Leipzig"

“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.”

“Thanks for the coffee and I wish you

many more good encounters!”

Many people never having met before, all of the sudden sat together, having coffee, chatting about this and that, laughing and enjoying the

sun shine.

Lauter 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.

Austausch 177

The 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.

2€!

1€!

5€!

5€!

3€!

2€!

Flea Market Flohmarkt

10€!

Clothes exchange KleiderwechselFrAnZISKA STübGEn

This 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”


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 draht-

loses netzwerk oder gegen eine “hand-

gemachte“ brasilianische CD.

Ein Piraten-Experiment, das von einer

Open-Source-Philosophie, bishin zu

überlebensstrategien diskutiert.

Data Picnic Daten PicknickEInS 78 & bErnD nAUMAnn (MASCHInEnrAUM)

Without Internet but with hammocksIt 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 Maschinen-raum*, 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 wur-den zur späteren Stunden von minimalistischeren Klängen abgelöst und

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 spießi-gen 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

who interact in a creative way with their

environment. Our philosphy about

“hacking” includes soft- and hardware,

networking, art & culture and politcs

and philosophy, too. The space is open

for all interested people and has

no command structure (grassroots

democracy) and is autonomous.

http://maschinenraum.tk/

* ist ein offener Hackspace für Menschen,

die kreativ mit ihrer Umwelt interagieren.

Unsere Philosophie vom „Hacken“ reicht

von Soft- und Hardware, netzwerken

über Kunst und Kultur, bis hin zu Politik

und Philosophie. Der raum steht jedem

interessierten Menschen offen und ist

in sich hierarchiefrei (basisdemokratisch)

und unabhängig organisiert.

http://maschinenraum.tk/


TrocAção UrbanDE: Aline Porto Lira, Cacá Fonseca, Clara Pignaton, Diego ribeiro,

Eduardo rocha, Ícaro Vilaça, Pedro Dultra britto

TREE-housemagi

c show

games

swimming pool

baleirovodu

DIAGRAMA: TROCAÇÃO

bus displacement Schondorf

As 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.

A ls ein Schwerpunkt der gemeinsamen städtischen Forschung entwickelte die brasilianische Gruppe

UrbanDE eine Reihe von Aktionen für Weimar. Bezug-nehmend auf den “täglichen Handel”, der als infor-melle 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 Straßen-verkäufers aufgreifend, zog die Gruppe auf der Suche nach Kontakt zu Passanten und Einwohnern durch Weimar. Die folgenden Seiten erfassen die Schwierig-keiten und die lohnenden Momente, die die Gruppe beim Experimentieren mit interkulturellen Kommuni-kationsformen durchlebte.

188 Exchange 189TrocAção

The 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-communication-exchange 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-

Bus Ônibus

*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

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

* A expressão

“baleiro” é aqui usada

para designar tanto

o equipamento de

mobilidade quanto a

pessoa que o veste.


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.

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 aproximação-comunicação-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 redu-ziam 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, che-gando 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.


Pool Piscina

The 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.

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.


In 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.

No 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 repre-senta 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.

Voodoo Vodu


Roulette Roleta

both objects are

exchanged: the group

gets the gambler’s bet

and the gambler wins

the brazilian object

the gambler wins

the brazilian object

and keeps his bet

the gambler

loses his bet to the

group UrbanDE

Processo: 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

Process: 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


Sleeping Schlafen 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 Wei-mar 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 prê-mio 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


regras ao longo do jogo, quando um brasileiro resolveu sentar no banquinho durante a rodada, girando junta-mente 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 eli-minados 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.

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.

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).


baleiro

map : exchanging experience

CHErrIE

S

COLOrED P

EnCIL

DIArY

lego toy

teddy

earr

ings

plum candle

bike’s refle

ctor

neues testa

ment bEDrOOM SOAP

subway

ticke

t

s TAM

P

PO

rC

E L AI n

DO

L L

ceram

ic jar

brok

en d

iving

mas

k

scarf

»luck

y jac

ket«

story

book

bOOK

LITT

LE b

OTTLE

S: KüM

MErLI

nG AnD J

ÄGEr-

MEIS

TEr

purse

plastic finger

messagethe way the baleiro left Weimar

saints - iemanjá

iansã, cosme damião

coco nut and guava sweetS

ritual n e c k l a c E

orixás sculptureS

CErAMIC PIPEV O O D O O DOLL

S T r A W r AT T L E

SPIrITUAL InCEnSE MIrrOrS »pata-pata« comb

ceramic POTS

the way it arrived

YOGUrT

The 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.

Das 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.

Closing AbschlussThüringer Grill

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.


LIM

A more than objects, a better appreciation/

understanding of personal relations

in unexpected ways. Brazilian music

MADEIRA

EDINBURG

Mad

eira

win

e, S

aloi

o ch

eese

sketch book and paints, a bag, a wa�

e iron and a mixing bow

l

Two wooden chairs made one day before the opening, for

a more comfortable sitting on the pipes of the sca�old. A

candelabrum, magazine. Sca�olding, �owers, bread. Aprons,

kitchen utensils, pillows, plants. An origami dragon from chinese

new year. Lots of paints, arts and crafts, materials, spices. Baking

powder, an exercise machine, a bamboo window covering, a

spatula, a Bauhaus book, an apron, tape, a frying pan, Baking

paper, brown sugar. My health insurance. Cordel literature and

Orixás magazines from Salvador, a doll, music. Black eyeliners

from Saudi Arabia, foods, drinks, cds.

A book a

bout uto

pia an

d a ham

mock

. A p

lastic

colo

red b

ag.

A bar

becue. “S

agala

nd” boar

d game - m

emorie

s fro

m m

y

child

hood, six

cofe

e cups,

60’s sty

le cupboar

d for m

y room

, stri

pped

mat

erial to

mak

e a Bra

zilian

bag

. Books

, books

, books

, and a

self-

mad

e pip

e. A hair

pick

/ stic

k, "d

as b

este vo

m C

hico Buar

que"

CD, ban

ana-

�avore

d candies i

n my s

tom

ach, s

patula,

fryin

g pan

and

an ap

ron. 6

0’s sty

le chair

from

Weim

arer T

afel a

nd 5GB spac

e of

picture

s on m

y har

d disk. F

ilms,

music

, a p

lastic

star

, a fo

rtune

wristb

and, a

mad

onna min

iature

, a lo

ve note

, and a

hamm

ock!

Caipirinha mixers with Brazilian birds

carved on wood, various popular carioca

bags, 100m of coloured-�owered-chita

fabrics , Tropicália books, natural seed

necklaces, mistura para pão de queijo

Yoki, Matte Leão, Cachaça 51.

White sheets for sun protection,

pillow cases, towels, grandmother’s

DDR trays, cherries.

RIO

DE JA

NEIR

O

ERFURT

Rotating footrest used for Roulette,

Wäschetruhe, camping tarp.

Green girating 60’s chair, kitchen sink, a City of

Coop book, green pullover, a treasure island

pijama trousers, a sofa, a chair, a hair dryer, two

bikes, a stripped pijama.

A white and red stripped t-shirt, fabric from kiosk

curtain, CDs, a bag from feira de São Joaquim

and a hammock.

BERLIN

ERFURT

DESSAU

Bugigangas da Feira de São Joaquim: smokers, dried shrimp, cabaças,

Cosme e Damião, Iemanjá and Iansã souvenirs, guias de santos, small

mirrors, sweets for th

e saints, coconut and guava sweets, plastic bags,

recycled bags, chocoalho de berimbau, m

anioc grinders, búzios,

patuás, wood spoons and hair sticks, clay cups, pata-pata hair combs,

voodoo dolls 10 straw mats and 10 hammocks. Good mood (muita

disposição). A small sculpture of a Salvador boy with a kyte. Two hats.

Only me, all of m

y stu� was lost between Lisbon and Frankfurt but

I found many things to call m

ine.

WEIMAR

SALVADOR

A turtle tea pot, wool socks from hello kitty,

a porcelain doll, alcoholic berverages in mini-bottles,

photographies, contacts, jackets, a pair of jeans and

a skirt. A beautiful neon "bar" lamp, objects and

many m

usic cds from the exchange, with people's

favorite music styles, a black bag. Two hats. Lots of

things, clothes from �ohm

arkt. More than objects,

all mem

ories of �avors, songs, and friends.

Elias and Bettina. Lots of music from

the Daten

Picnic. An umbrella, sun glasses, a black winter shirt

and a KoCA Inn T-shirt. Many objects from

Trocação,

a beautiful suitcase, 2 plates.

SALVADOR

WEIM

AR

Trade Zone HandelszoneCompendium of exchanged objects Kompendium der getauschten Objekte

LIM

A

more than objects, a better appreciation/

understanding of personal relations

in unexpected ways. Brazilian music

MADEIRA

EDINBURG

Mad

eira

win

e, S

aloi

o ch

eese

sketch book and paints, a bag, a wa�

e iron and a mixing bow

l

Two wooden chairs made one day before the opening, for

a more comfortable sitting on the pipes of the sca�old. A

candelabrum, magazine. Sca�olding, �owers, bread. Aprons,

kitchen utensils, pillows, plants. An origami dragon from chinese

new year. Lots of paints, arts and crafts, materials, spices. Baking

powder, an exercise machine, a bamboo window covering, a

spatula, a Bauhaus book, an apron, tape, a frying pan, Baking

paper, brown sugar. My health insurance. Cordel literature and

Orixás magazines from Salvador, a doll, music. Black eyeliners

from Saudi Arabia, foods, drinks, cds.

A book about uto

pia and a hammock. A

plastic c

olored bag.

A barbecu

e. “Sagaland” b

oard game - m

emories f

rom m

y

child

hood, six co

fee cups, 6

0’s style cu

pboard fo

r my ro

om, strip

ped

material to

make a Brazil

ian bag. Books, b

ooks, books, a

nd a

self-m

ade pipe. A hair p

ick / s

tick, "d

as beste

vom Chico Buarq

ue"

CD, banana-�avored ca

ndies in m

y stomach

, spatu

la, frying pan and

an apron. 6

0’s style ch

air fro

m Weim

arer Tafel a

nd 5GB space

of

pictures o

n my hard

disk. F

ilms, m

usic, a

plastic s

tar, a fo

rtune

wristb

and, a m

adonna miniatu

re, a lo

ve note, and a hammock

!

Caipirinha mixers with Brazilian birds carved on wood, various popular carioca bags, 100m of coloured-�owered-chita fabrics , Tropicália books, natural seed necklaces, mistura para pão de queijo Yoki, Matte Leão, Cachaça 51.

White sheets for sun protection,

pillow cases, towels, grandmother’s

DDR trays, cherries.

RIO

DE JA

NEIR

O

ERFURT

Rotating footrest used for Roulette,

Wäschetruhe, camping tarp.

Green girating 60’s chair, kitchen sink, a City of

Coop book, green pullover, a treasure island

pijama trousers, a sofa, a chair, a hair dryer, two

bikes, a stripped pijama.

A white and red stripped t-shirt, fabric from kiosk curtain, CDs, a bag from feira de São Joaquim and a hammock.

BERLIN

ERFURT

DESSAU

Bugigangas da Feira de São Joaquim: smokers, dried shrimp, cabaças,

Cosme e Damião, Iemanjá and Iansã souvenirs, guias de santos, small

mirrors, sweets for the saints, coconut and guava sweets, plastic bags,

recycled bags, chocoalho de berimbau, manioc grinders, búzios,

patuás, wood spoons and hair sticks, clay cups, pata-pata hair combs,

voodoo dolls 10 straw mats and 10 hammocks. Good mood (muita

disposição). A small sculpture of a Salvador boy with a kyte. Two hats.

Only me, all of my stu� was lost between Lisbon and Frankfurt but

I found many things to call mine.

WEIMAR

SALVADOR

A turtle tea pot, wool socks from

hello kitty,

a porcelain doll, alcoholic berverages in mini-bottles,

photographies, contacts, jackets, a pair of jeans and

a skirt. A beautiful neon "bar" lamp, objects and

many m

usic cds from the exchange, w

ith people's

favorite music styles, a black bag. Tw

o hats. Lots of

things, clothes from �ohm

arkt. More than objects,

all mem

ories of �avors, songs, and friends.

Elias and Bettina. Lots of music from

the Daten

Picnic. An umbrella, sun glasses, a black w

inter shirt

and a KoCA Inn T-shirt. Many objects from

Trocação,

a beautiful suitcase, 2 plates.

SALVADOR

WEIM

AR






In 2008, during the Corpocidade

platform of actions

in Salvador, a two year

collaboration between groups

from Universidade Federal da

Bahia and Bauhaus-Universität

Weimar was initiated.

Techniques of artistic urban

research were tested out in a

workshop and performances.

Combining the documentation

of these experiments with

extracts from travel books,

this chapter highlights the main

inspirations, references and

resources brought from Salvador

to Weimar for the realization

of KoCA Inn.

2008 begann mit der Teilnahme

an der Aktionsplattform

Corpocidade in Salvador eine

zweijährige Kollaboration

zwischen Gruppen der

Universidade Federal da Bahia

und der Bauhaus-Universität

Weimar. Techniken der künstle-

rischen Stadtforschung wurden

durch Workshops und Per-

formances erprobt. In diesem

Kapitel wird die Dokumentation

dieser Experimente mit den Ein-

trägen von Reisetagebüchern

kombiniert. Dadurch werden

die wichtigsten Inspirationen,

Bezüge und Ressourcen, die aus

Salvador zum Projekt KoCA Inn

nach Weimar gebracht wurden,

vorgestellt.

Corpocidade– Salvador

212 Corpocidade - Salvador

Feira de São Joaquim

We 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.

W ir kamen beladen mit einem Sack voller innerer Landschaften, von Vorstellun-gen 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 – stereo-typisiert: 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. Bohnen-säcke 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

213Corpocidade - Salvador

1

2

1 Get out of me, bad thing! Raus aus mir, böses Zeug!

2 Win everything

Alles gewinnen

3 Bunch of money

Geldstrauß

4 Big eye (envy)

Große Augen (Neid)

4

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 afro-

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

Defumadores

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 (Räucher-kerzen) 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?

Objects, ideas, and people wandered over

the ocean. It was them that flavored the

KoCA Inn.

Objekte, Ideen und Menschen wanderten

über den Ozean. Sie waren es, die dem

KoCA Inn seinen Charakter gaben.

215

Organized 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, Freudemedo: fear, Angstlembrança: memory, Erinnerungfronteira: boundary, Grenze

Workshop: AQUI EU

216 Corpocidade - Salvador

Noun.

1. Place as a Poetic Mode of Being.

To be there, Dasein.

2. An urban band in which each member plays

a different instrument while playing one

common music.

Origin: The term evolved from the research

about everyday practices in Salvador, in which

religious rituals play an important role. Umbanda:

a syncretic mix of catholicism, spiritism and Afro-

Brazilian religions.

Substantiv.

1. Ort als poetische Art des Seins.

Da sein, Dasein.

2. eine urbane Band, bei der jeder Spieler ein

anderes Instrument aber eine gemeinsame Musik

spielt.

Ursprung: Das Wort entwickelte sich

zur Beschreibung der Erforschung alltäglicher

Handlungen in Salvador, wo religiöse Rituale eine

wichtige Rolle spielen. Umbanda: eine synkreti-

sche Mischung aus katholischer, spiritueller und

afro-brasilianischer Religion.

Founding stone

White tile painted live by Marlon, a street sales

and craftsman, during UrbanDA’s first meeting

after their arrival in Salvador, on October 23,

2008.

After finishing his art work, and while the ink was

still fresh, Marlon gave us his painting tool - a

toothpick - so that we could make the inscription

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 Stra-

ßenhändler und –kunsthandwerker während des

ersten Treffens von UrbanDA nach deren Ankunft

in Salvador am 23. Oktober 2008 bemalt. Nach-

dem 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 Überlebensstra-

tegien im alltäglichen Leben synkretisiert, das

heißt, vermischt.

In 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.

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.

Daniela Brasil

Theresa Dietl

Catherine Grau

Otto Oscar Hernandez

Katrin Karioth

Bernhard König

Carlos Leon-Xjiménez

Sven Müller

Performance:7 linhas de UrbanDA

UrbanDA

218 Corpocidade - Salvador 219Corpocidade - Salvador

This 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 .

Für diese Intervention wurde das Format einer kollektive Zelebrati-onsprozession 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 Straßenver-käufer. Ein Carro de Cafézinho (Kaffeewagen) spielte eine Soundkollage aus Aufnahmen von der Feira de São Joaquim, einem der Hauptlebens-mittelmärkte 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.

CATHERINE GRAU

Sunday, Oct 26th, 08

Sonntag, 26. Okt. 08


Taste the delicious

cheese – sausage – tofu

Bahia – Thuringia – China

Authentic Peruvian recipe

Probiert die Leckerei

Käse – Bratwurst – Tofu

Bahia – Thüringen – China

Echtes peruanisches Rezept

Cardboard as “ventilator” for the grill Karton als Fächer für den Grill

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.

Beeinflusst 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.

CARLOS LEON-XjIMENEZ

Sunday, Oct 26th,08

Sonntag, 26.Okt.08

Imported product, As we announced,

Lowest price. Importiertes Produkt,

Aus unserer Werbung, Niedrigster Preis.


The 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 Wahrnehmun-gen 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 kennzeichne-ten eine starke persönliche Erfahrung. Die Wahrnehmung Salvadors wurde mehr und mehr zu einem Prozess des physischen Entdeckens.

KATRIN KARIOTH

Wednesday, Oct 29th,08

Mittwoch, 29.Okt.08


The 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 Einkaufzen-trum 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.

THERESA DIETL

Wednesday, Oct 29th,08

Mittwoch, 29.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.

Das 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 gewöhn-lichen Nutzung des öffentlichen Raums grundlegend zu ändern. Die Bewegung erscheint nicht als Choreographie, sondern als eine persönliche Erfahrung jedes ein-zelnen 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, die-sen bestimmten Ort und seinen Rhythmus zu verstehen. Beobachtung führt zu einer Intervention im öffentlichen Raum.

SVEN MÜLLER

Thursday, Oct 30th,08

Donnerstag, 30.Okt.08

236 Corpocidade - Salvador 237

It 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.

Es 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 konfron-tiert, 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.

OTTO HERNANDEZ

Friday, Oct 31th,08

Freitag, 31.Okt.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.

Es ist Zeit, Abschied zu nehmen von Salvador und All seinen Heiligen. Aus vierhun-dert 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, manch-mal 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.

DANIELA BRASIL & BERNHARD KöNIG

Saturday, Nov 1st,08

Samstag, 1.Nov.08

Praia da Boa Viagem

Good journey Beach

Gute-Reise-Strand

Critical Reflections

An Urbanistic Experiment

Max Welch Guerra intervieWed by 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 Sophienstifts-

platz wollten wir den Versuch unternehmen, den öffentlichen Raum in Deutsch-

land 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 mini-

mal verändert. Dennoch war der Ort für zwei Wochen ein völlig anderer als vorher

und auch nachher. Die Veränderungen entstanden durch die Menschen, die die-

sen Ort nutzten, die ihn anders nutzten als gewöhnlich. Wir haben unzählige Ant-

worten auf die Frage bekommen, was der KoCA Inn war, eindeutige, gegensätzli-

che, 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 experi-

ment. 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 Üppig-

keit, mit einer solchen Produktion von bildern. das war eine gemischte Gruppe,

das war eine bunte Gruppe, offensichtlich Künstler, Freaks, Jüngere, studie-

rende, auch Ältere, auch zum teil sozial benachteiligte leute. es war keine wilde

Mischung, es war eine sehr harmonische Mischung. allerdings eine sehr unge-

wohnte. das ungewohnte war aber nicht, diese Menschen zu sehen, diese Men-

schen 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

Ein Urbanistisches Experiment

Max Welch Guerra iM GesPrÄch Mit theresa dietl

250 Critical Reflections Kritische Reflexionen 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 street-

culture in latin america, and this doesn’t only count for brazil, yet this lifestyle

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. Wäh-

rend unserer Reise nach Brasilien haben wir andererseits eine völlig entgegenge-

setzte 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 definier-

baren 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 gesell-

schaftlichen 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, zugäng-

liche 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 unglaub-

liche 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


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.

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 wunderschö-

nes 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 erfah-

ren. Für uns, die wir in Weimar leben, war es vielleicht sogar einfacher, dieses Pro-

jekt 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 differen-

zierter sehen und wir haben uns in deutschland – jetzt verteidige ich deutsch-

land 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 Mediter-

ranisierung des öffentlichen lebens. viel mehr deutsche als früher – die deut-

schen 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 kontinuier-

lich 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 nazideutsch-

land. sondern hier ist viel mehr leben als früher. natürlich nicht an diesem unwirt-

lichen Ort, an dieser straßenkreuzung. deutschland kann sehr bürokratisch sein,

aber lateinamerikanische länder auch. ich denke, das ist keine spezifische eigen-

schaft deutschlands. Für mich geht es deshalb bei diesem experiment nicht um


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

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 öffent-

lichen raumes bildeten. aber es hätten möglicherweise auch - sagen wir mal -

Portugiesen sein können, oder isländer, nicht unbedingt Menschen aus den tro-

pen. 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 sophienstifts-

platz 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 durchschnitt-

licher 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 konzi-

piert wurde. dahinter steckt eine genaue vertrautheit, eine systematisch gewon-

nene 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 straßen-

theaters oder der straßenmusik, wo in gewisser Weise happeningähnliche situ-

ationen jeden tag entstehen. nur dass dann ein paar leute Geld dafür einsam-

meln, 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


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.

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 ein-

mal 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 bedin-

gungen. Wir können also nicht feste rahmenbedingungen haben. Wenn über-

haupt 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.


I would like to deal with two different but complementary tensions. The first

tension lies between the criticisms of the current spectacularization of cities1,

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 micro-

resistance 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

Tension Zones

PaOla berenstein Jacques

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 spektakula-

risierung von städten, Kulturen und Körpern gesehen werden. ein zweites span-

nungsverhältnis 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 ver-

such 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 ange-

gangen. der raum ist unabwindbar einem spektakularisierungs-Prozess unterwor-

fen, 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 versu-

chen, lichter, mediatischer und spektakulärer zu werden.

Spannungen

PaOla berenstein Jacques

1 idea developed in other texts, see Espetacularização Urbana Contemporânea, in: Territórios

Urbanos e Políticas Culturais, (salvador, 2004), available in portuguese at: http://www.portalseer.ufba.br/

index.php/ppgau/article/view/1684

1 die idee wurde in anderen texten entwickelt, siehe Espetacularização Urbana Contemporânea, in:

Territórios Urbanos e Políticas Culturais, (salvador, 2004), erhältlich in Portugiesisch unter: http://www.

portalseer.ufba.br/index.php/ppgau/article/view/1684


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 spectaculari-

zation 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 pro-

cesses 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 geo-

politics 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.

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 Prak-

tiken und nutzungen des urbanen raumes, meist informell, in Konflikt und dis-

sens, 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 ver-

schiedenen namen: szenario-stadt, Museums-stadt, Freilicht-stadt, einkauf-

scenter-stadt oder auch spektakel-stadt. „das spektakel ist das Kapital in einem

solchen Grad der akkumulation, dass es zum bild wird.“ (debord 34:1967) urba-

nisten-schulen gelangen offenbar zum selben ergebnis: die spektakularisierung

der kommodifizerten stadt wird als hegemoniales, konsensuelles einheitsdenken

betrachtet. einzelne urbane Prozesse wie: Ästhetisierung, Kulturisierung, Patrimo-

nialisierung, 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 verbun-

den, 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 Mar-

ken-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


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 tourists2. 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 Kon-

senses 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 wer-

den immer standardisierter und gleichförmiger. Wie dies bereits geschieht mit inter-

nationalen hotel-Ketten, Flughäfen, Fast-Food-Ketten, shopping-centern, Freizeit-

parks, 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 eli-

miniert werden. richard sennett hat uns gezeigt, wie diese räume direkt in bezie-

hung 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 weitestge-

hend ignoriert worden. sennet, sich stützend auf Foucaults studien über die bezie-

hung von Körper und raum, versuchte zu zeigen, wie verschiedene repräsentati-

onen des Körpers und Körpererfahrungen verschiedene urbane Gebiete über die

Geschichte der städte hindurch bildeten. aber nicht nur Körperstudien beeinflus-

sen die urbanistische Forschung, denn Körper und stadt formen sich gegensei-

tig und Körper schreiben sich in die städte ein, wie auch städte sich in unsere

Körper eingeschreiben. Wir nennen diese art der Kartografie, bei der unterschiedli-

che 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 nut-

zen und geben ihnen dadurch Körper. die konsensuellen Marken-bilder können die

2 see henri Pierre Jeudy et Paola berenstein Jacques (org), Corps et décors urbains, Paris,

l’harmattan, 2006.

2 siehe henri Pierre Jeudy et Paola berenstein Jacques (org), Corps et décors urbains, Paris,

l’harmattan, 2006.


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 micro-

war 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 micro-

resistance, 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

Körpererfahrungen der stadt nicht wegradieren, die immer noch so latent und pul-

sierend in deren eher opaken, flauen und dissensuellen räumen existieren. viel-

leicht sollten wir die idee des Widerstandes gerade als eine uneinigkeit, ein Wider-

sprechen 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 aus-

drücklichkeit 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 ver-

langt (Rancière 2005). Könnte Kunst als eine Form der dissentierenden Aktion gese-

hen werden? eine, die es ermöglicht, verborgene Konflikte hinter der spektakel-

bild-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 Widerspre-

chens, 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 Kon-

flikt 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 schaf-

fen und vorzuschlagen, und um damit das versichernde und befriedete bild des

öffentlichen raumes, das das Konsens-spektakel zu modellieren sucht, zu stö-

ren. in diesen aktionen hat der Körper Priorität. die urbane körperliche erfahrung


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

ist entscheidend, um spannungen im öffentlichen raum aufzudecken oder zu

schaffen. Was hier auf dem spiel steht, ist die sinnliche Körper- und dissenserfah-

rung, 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 vermi-

schen 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, infor-

meller und formeller, improvisation und regulierung, transgression und institutio-

nalisierung, 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 urba-

nen raumes gestört, ohne aber geändert zu werden. um Tension Zones zu schaf-

fen, benutzten wir dieselben strategien wie die informellen erbauer brasilianischer

städte (siehe Learning from favelas, in diesem buch), anders ausgedrückt: Prakti-

ker 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 verbun-

den. vor allem ist er mit der bewegung verbunden, mit der erfahrung, den raum zu

durchschreiten, und gleichzeitig die Änderungen zu erkennen, die dem raum sel-

ber 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 Rau-

mes in Bewegung verlangt nach der dimension des handelns, oder besser noch:

nach Partizipation. im Gegensatz zu den formellen, fast statischen, unveränderli-

chen (geplanten, gestalteten und fertig gestellten) räumen, wird der passive nutzer

(Zuschauer) im Raum in Bewegung fast immer zum akteur (und/oder Ko-akteur)


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.

oder zumindest zum teilnehmer. die informellsten Gebiete periphärer städte und

vorstädte großer agglomerationen sind Räume in Bewegung. ihre nutzer/ bewoh-

ner 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/ affi-

ziert 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 Öffent-

lichem, 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 teil-

nehmern des experiments. einerseits erlaubte dies das experiment selbst, anderer-

seits 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 jewei-

ligen lebenserfahrungen in unterschiedlichen städten. solche debatten erlaubten

die schaffung anderer Tension Zones in anderen räumen. anders gesagt, verschie-

dene Übungen theoretisch-kritischer reflexion über den öffentlichen raum dieses

experiments wurden in den öffentlichen raum eingefügt.


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.

About the Public Condition of the KoCA Inn Corneraline POrtO lira, cacá FOnseca, clara PiGnatOn, eduardO rOcha,

dieGO MaurO, ÍcarO vilaça, PedrO brittO

Über die öffentlichen Gegebenheiten an der KoCA Inn-Eckealine POrtO lira, cacá FOnseca, clara PiGnatOn, eduardO rOcha,

dieGO MaurO, ÍcarO vilaça, PedrO brittO

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 blu-

menbeeten. 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 zweiwö-

chigen 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 teilneh-

mern, 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 For-

schungsgruppe 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 auf-

geworfen wurde, bezog sich auf die öffentlichen Gegebenheiten der Koca inn-

ecke.

eine erste lesart versteht die installation als eine „inbesitznahme des öffent-

lichen 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 blumen-

beeten in berührung zu kommen oder sie zu stören. die Küche musste an einen


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 socio-

historical 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.

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 abge-

stellt werden.

dennoch, während der zwei Wochen des Projektes weichten diese regeln

langsam auf. Wäscheleinen wurden in der nähe des Kiosks aufgehangen, band-

eirolas 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 wei-

tet 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 Refle-

xion über den öffentlichen raum gezeigt werden, werden mit in betracht gezo-

gen. diese spannungen geben Machtverhältnisse und Mikro-Machtverhältnisse

wieder, die staatliche aktionen überschreiten und welche die soziale und histori-

sche 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, sozi-

alen 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.


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?

2 yearly public exhibition of academic and artistic productions of the Faculties of art, Media and

architecture from the bauhaus-universität Weimar.

kulturelle einrichtung umgewandelt, wo kuratierte Kunstausstellungen durch die

Funktionalisierung der nutzung stattfanden. der Kiosk war also schon ein regu-

larisierter 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 künst-

lerischen 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 Pro-

fil 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 hervor-

gehoben.

ein anderer aspekt der diskussion zum öffentlichen raum in Weimar ist die

tatsache, dass die stadt mit ausstellungen und interventionen der bauhaus-stu-

denten 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 fest-

gelegte Kategorien passt?

2 Jahresausstellung von akademischen und künstlerischen Produkten der Fakultäten Gestaltung,

Medien und architektur der bauhaus-universität Weimar.


Contested Time/Space at the Kiosk: Notes on Border Situations in the Public Realm

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

1 Fifteen percent of the students are foreigners (thüringer landesamt für statistik: 2008)

Umstrittene(r) Zeit/Raum am Kiosk : Bemerkungen zu Grenzsituationen in der Öffentlichkeit

carlOs leÓn-xJiMÉneZ

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 interventions strategien und angriffen

als öffentliche Reaktion beschäftigen. Über vergangene Erfahrungen zu reflektie-

ren 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 Wirtschaftssek-

toren der stadt und zeigen, wie die nachgefragten dienstleistungen arbeitsplätze

für die einwohner der stadt und der region schaffen. es ist wichtig, die post-

sozialistischen 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 zeitge-

nössische 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 positio-

niert. Dieser Platz befindet sich 200 Meter vom Theaterplatz entfernt, dem Ziel-

ort der touristischen Pilgerreisen und dem offiziellen Stadtzentrum. Deshalb war

1 Fünfzehn Prozent der studierenden sind ausländer (thüringer landesamt für statistik: 2008).


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 Attackthere 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

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 existenz-

grundlage garantieren, indem Konsum und gesellschaftliche interaktionsmuster

verändert werden. des Weiteren könnten solche alternativen auch als ein Wieder-

aufleben von Werten der Solidarität zu Zeiten des Sozialismus verstanden wer-

den.

Dienstleistungen und öffentliche Angeboteder Koca inn benutzte dienstleistungen und angebote (Flohmarkt, sozial-

kaufhaus, 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 alter-

nativen. 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 interkul-

turelles 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 wich-

tig, 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.


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 13th 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 Ostalgie2?) 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

3 in 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.

Über öffentliche Reaktionen: Ein Angriffes 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, hinwegse-

hen 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 Zeit-

raum 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 stra-

tegie handelte, um die leute, die auf dem oberen Gerüst übernachteten, einzu-

schüchtern.

viele Fragen haben wir uns auf Grund dieser attacke gestellt: 1. auch

wenn es ein Kunstprojekt war, empfanden es manche Menschen als ein gewalt-

sames 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 verhal-

ten im öffentlichen raum gegenüber stehen? der Kiosk verwischte die Grenzen

zwischen privat und öffentlich. Wurde dadurch ein rahmen für hass und intole-

ranz gegen das Projekt geschaffen? (Könnte dies auch eine kontrastierende erin-

nerung zur Ostalgie2 sein?) 4. richteten sich die angriffe gegen den offenen,

interkulturellen charakter des Projektes … eine reaktion auf die anzahl an spra-

chen 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 entwick-

lungsländern kennt, im „klassischen Weimar“ auf?

vielleicht hängt es mit dem erleben von „andersartigkeit“ zusammen. und

dieser Zustand alternativer „andersartigkeit“ zeigte alternativen zu lokalen

2 Ostalgie: nostalgisches Gefühl der ostdeutschen vergangenheit gegenüber


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.

4 Further text and photos availabe on: http://www.mut-gegen-rechte-gewalt.de/news/reportagen/

weimar-2008/.

schwächen auf, berührte Wunden, die normalerweise niemand sehen will (oder

an die niemand erinnert werden will). es war ein experiment zu Parallelwirtschaf-

ten, 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, wel-

che 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 antwor-

ten 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 gro-

ßen 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 sei-

ner eigenen agenda.

die aufmerksamkeit auf veränderte dynamiken des sozialen verhaltens im

öffentlichen raum gerichtet, wurde die Wahrnehmung der stadt als ruhig, aka-

demisch 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 antifa-

schisten 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.

3 dies 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

lateinamerika in den 90er Jahren.

4 details unter http://www.mut-gegen-rechte-gewalt.de/news/reportagen/weimar-2008/


Exile on Main Street: On the Beauty of a Random Street CommunitynaOMi 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)

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

Exile on Main Street: Über die Schönheit einer zufälligen StraßengemeinschaftnaOMi 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. (Wittgen-

stein: in barret 1966: 1)

als leitmotiv für die anstehende ausstellungsserie wurde von der Gruppe

KisOK09 das thema Aneignung gewählt. Mit diesem Zusammenhang als aus-

gangspunkt – 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 unse-

rem digitalen Zeitalter sind wir mit einer quantitativen und qualitativen Fülle und

der schnellen entstehung und verbreitung von appropriation Art-Projekten kon-

frontiert. besonders prägend ist das Phänomen, dass Künstler an das geistige

eigentum anderer Künstler und lokaler Kunstinstitutionen anknüpfen. Zum bei-

spiel: 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 bezugs-

punkt 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


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

to socio-political deficiencies. Proceeding even further and invariably translating these proposals into

action, artistic creativity is no longer seen as a formal act, but as an intervention into society. source:

http://www.wochenklausur.at/index1.php?lang=en 28sept09 12:21

2 German translation for “Office for Green and Open Space.”

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 Fachkur-

ses When Artists Curate Art der bauhaus-universität Weimar. die ausschreibung

wurde an ausgewählte alumni geschickt, aus denen schließlich das KiOsK09-

Kuratorium eine auswahl traf.

der name Koca inn wurde von anfang an von der deutsch-brasilianischen

Gruppe urbandÆ und der Künstlerin und Projektkoordinatorin daniela brasil vor-

geschlagen. 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 verei-

nigung 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 reflek-

tieren?

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 inte-

ressen, zum beispiel wirtschaftliche, ökologische, kulturelle und politische vertre-

ten, müssen untereinander und mit dem staat verhandeln, um ihre eigenen Ziele

mit dem stand der dinge im öffentlichen raum abzugleichen (ebd: 77). ursprüng-

lich 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

verbesserungen sozio-politischer Mängel. sie gehen sogar noch weiter und übertragen diese vorschläge

immer in konkrete aktionen, so dass die künstlerische Kreativität nicht länger als formaler akt, sondern

als eine intervention in die Gesellschaft gesehen werden muss. quelle: http://www.wochenklausur.at/

index1.php?lang=en 28sept09 12:21


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).

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 Jaa-

Weimar 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

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.

… 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 verglei-

che, muss ich feststellen, dass die deutsche regierung und öffentliche Finan-

zierung solchen öffentlichen Projekten gegenüber sehr großzügig und ermu-

tigend sind. der Koca inn wurde vom Fonds Soziokultur kofinanziert, was die

umsetzung einer utopischen idee für einen kurzen Zeitraum erlaubte. dank die-

ser 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, toi-

letten 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 vor-

beikommenden gut sichtbar an einem schwarzen brett bekannt gegeben. einige

veranstaltungen waren außerhalb konventioneller Grenzen, so etwa der Work-

shop 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 erfah-

ren. ein anderes ereignis war das Daten Picknick, das an einem samstag nach-

mittag von KiOsK09 und der freien initiative Maschinenraum unter der leitung

von bernd naumann und Max albrecht durchgeführt wurde. dort konnten Musik


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)

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

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 inter-

netcafé, 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 dokumentier-

ten und uploadeten weiterhin permanent eindrücke ins internet, aber nicht in der

gleichen intensität, die sonst als normal angesehen worden wäre. einige unter-

nahmen 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 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)


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 favela-

kiosk 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 non-

intimidating 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-

es war nicht schwer, das ereignis selbst zu dokumentieren. dies lag teilweise

in der natur der veranstaltung, die sehr dokumentationsfreundlich war, und teil-

weise daran, dass wir in der Kunstszene mitlerweile sehr vertraut mit dokumen-

tationsprozessen sind. und so wurde dokumentation ein teil der aktivitäten am

Koca inn, aber nicht sein hauptziel. vielleicht war es das Fehlen der notwendig-

keit, das ereignis während seiner existenz zu beschreiben, was die totale teil-

nahme und den austausch von input und Output, der während der aktion statt-

fand, 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 Pro-

jekts zu werden. es war kalt, und dennoch entwickelte sich eine hängematten-

kultur. Mitglieder beider teams schliefen während der zwei Wochen am Koca

inn. auswärtige reisende hörten von dem Projekt und blieben ebenfalls als Über-

nachtungsgäste. 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 umliegen-

den 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 wenigs-

tens 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 off-

line 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


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 rea-

lem leben herzustellen, bei der die Kunst eine vermittlerrolle einnehmen kann.

die Frage bleibt: Was hat eine solche aktive teilnahme ermöglicht? War es ein-

fachheit? Konnte die „angenommene armut“ befreien und verbinden? War es die

Favela selbst, oder der künstlerische input? in meinen augen war es der Künst-

ler in einer Favela-Situation, der den unterschied ausmachte. Künstlerische Frei-

heit und der Wunsch, in der Öffentlichkeit privat zu handeln, waren die Ziele, und

die Favela wurde zum Werkzeug, mit dem dies ermöglicht wurde. Künstler soll-

ten 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 zuge-

schrieben wurden: solche Projekte sind soziale Fakten und Kunst ist nicht allein

etwas, das betrachtend bleibt, sondern aktiv die soziale Sphäre beeinflusst.


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 social-

economical 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

“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

that makes an apologia to vernacular-commercial northern American architecture, dated from1972.

1 Also, see the classic by the same author: Carnavais, malandros e heróis. Para uma sociologia do

dilema brasileiro, (Carnivals, wheeler-dealers and heroes – Towards a Sociology of the Brazilian Dilemma)

Rio de Janeiro, Guanabara, 1990.

2 Refer to our book Estética da Ginga, 2001. Ginga (the swing) is a word originally used to name both

the oar used at the stern of a boat in order to move it from portside to starboard and “the pole which by

pushing it against the bottom moves a boat in shallow waters”. By implication one started calling ginga

a certain swing of a body in movement. Consequently, ginga also started to be related to samba, to the

movement of the hips, to the swinging, to the swaggering; to be related to the capoeira, when the fighter

feints a movement to deceive the opponent; and in football, especially in the dribbling movements.

300 Theoretical Musings Theoretical Musings 301

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,

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 CulturesPau-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

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.


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.

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 TropicáliaThe 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

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.


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

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

6 The first bi-annual art exhibition in São Paulo happened in 1951 with a strong Swiss participation, in

particular Max Bill. The show influenced enormously young Brazilian artists at the time..

5 it was exactly via the music that tropicalism became best known; the tropicalist musicians positioned

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

groups, i.e., to make Brazilian music but using electric guitars. They were the rebel sons of the Brazilian

music for export in the fifties: the bossa nova.


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 movement7, 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 BuildingModern 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 movements-

moments, 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

7 1967 is regarded as the start of the movement with the exhibition New Brazilian Objectivity at the

Modern Art Museum in Rio where Oiticica exhibited Tropicália for the first time. In the same year, Caetano

Veloso premiered Alegria, Alegria (Joy, Joy) his first tropicalist song. At the same time the movie Terra

em Transe (entranced land) by Glauber rocha, was being shown in the cinemas and being hailed as a

Cinema Novo (New Cinema) masterpiece. It was also the year in which the play O Rei da Vela, written by

the modernist guru Oswald de Andrade and staged by the polemic José Celso Martinez Corrêa was first

performed at Teatro Oficina.

8 A good example is the song Tropicália, by Caetano Veloso. Actually, at the time he composed the

song, Caetano had not yet met Oiticica in person. Luís Carlos Barreto (photographer of Terra em Transe),

a mutual friend of both artists, was the one who suggested to Caetano that he used Oiticica’s title for his

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

lead to several discoveries (as it had happened with the artist): the discovery of samba, which is also

the discovery of rhythm, the discovery of a new temporality and, above of all, the discovery of the body;

the discovery of another type of society, non-bourgeois, much freer and at the same time marginal but

based on an anonymous collective, on the idea of community and lastly the discovery of a new type of

architecture, a new way of building, made of precarious, unstable and ephemeral materials.

10 Lúcio Costa is best known as the designer of Brasília’s City-plan. He was a great scholar of Brazilian

architecture. Initially, he was linked to the Neo-Colonial group, and was the great theoretician of modern

Brazilian architecture. He had enormous influence as the director of the Fine Arts School and as co-

creator of the Service of Historic and Artistic National Heritage, in the late 1930s. It is noticeable here a

clear concern with the interaction between modernity and Brasilianship.


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.

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 high-

priced 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.

Favelasas 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).


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

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


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.


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

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 TrajectoryThe 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 avant-

garde, 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.


(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 avant-

garde’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)

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.

HappeningsIn 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 art-

object, 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)


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

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


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 EmergencyI 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 Buci-

Glucksmann 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


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 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

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.

5 see Marcuse, H. Liberation from the Affluent Society, in Cooper, D. ed. “The Dialectics of Liberation”,

Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1968, p. 177


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

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 choreo-

cartography, 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

Urban Bodigraphies: Processual Relations Between Body and CityFABIANA DULTRA BRITTO, Paola Berenstein Jacques

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

living in the ambience of a favela was inscribed into the body of the teenagers he worked with, as a

memory of their urban experiences. The experience of living in an uneven, tortuous space, organized their

bodily configurations with a singular physical sensor-motor availability.

2 For a didactical introduction to recent arguments in the interpretative discurse of culture in the

context of globalization, see Moacir dos Anjos in Local/Global: arte em trânsito (Rio de Janeiro, 2005).


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 technical-

corporal 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.

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

3 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

Dança: parâmetros para uma história contemporânea (Belo Horizonte, 2008).

4 See the differentiation between molar and molecular by Félix Guattari and Suely Rolnik in The

molecular revolution in Brazil (Los Angeles, 2008).

5 see Berenstein Jacques, Espetacularização Urbana Contemporânea in “territórios urbanos e

Políticas Culturais - Cadernos do PPG-AU/FAUFBA” (Salvador, 2004), available at: http://www.portalseer.

ufba.br/index.php/ppgau/article/view/168

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

construtivist hypothesis in The Triple Helix: Gene, Organism and Environment, 2000.

7 We refer to the definition of coherence as suggested by Philosopher Paul Thagard in Coherence in

Thought and Action (Massachusetts, 2000): maximum satisfaction of multiple restrictions. Coherence is a

result of the systems’ reorganization: when systems are involved in a co-evolutional process, they need to

satisfy the multiple restrictions imposed by the system’s and sub-system’s environments with which they

interact.


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 micro-

resistance 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

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

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).


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.


Embodying Societies, Incorporated City: Discourses on Urban BodiesFRANK 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 body-

space-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.

The Historical Bodyif 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


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 Perceptionthe 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 ExperienceBoth contingency and innovation characterize, on the one hand, the body as

a historical object, but simultaneously define the body’s capacity to experience

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 ExpectationsWhether 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


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.

The Other Bodysociologically 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


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 BodyThe 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.

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 Cityunderstanding 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


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 BodiesWhen 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,

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.


Rap City BodyReturning 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.”

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.


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

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.

Performing Another Society

CATHERINE GRAU

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.


Crossing BoundariesAll 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, künstle-

rischen, kulturellen, wissenschaftlichen, belehrenden oder erzieherischen

Zwecken oder der Wirtschaftswerbung dienen, sofern sie in räumen

stattfinden, die für Veranstaltungen der beabsichtigten Art bestimmt sind.

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 mass-

culture, 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


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:

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

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)


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

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?

KinesicsKinesics 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”


(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.

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.


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

Goethe and the Hammock

SYLK SCHNEIDER

Goethe und die Hängematte

SYLK SCHNEIDER

Ist ein Bild wie dieses denn möglich? „Bestimmt

nicht!“, mag man sagen. Goethe ist niemals in den

Tropen gewesen, Kokospalmen wuchsen nie in Wei-

mar und Goethe hat sich auch nie in einer Hänge-

matte ausgeruht. Die Wahrheit der letzten Aussage

jedoch wissen wir nicht sicher, denn es wurde in Goe-

thes ethnografischer Sammlung eine Hängematte

gefunden. Er erhielt diese Hängematte wahrschein-

lich von Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, als dieser

Goethe in Weimar besuchte. Martius reiste zwischen

1817 und 1820 durch Brasilien. Das Buch über seine

Reise nach Brasilien wurde übersetzt, unter anderem

ins Englische. Martius erlangte solche Anerkennung,

dass er heute noch als der „Vater der brasilianischen

Botanik“ gilt.

Goethe interessierte sich so sehr für Brasilien,

dass er fast jedes zu seiner Zeit verfügbare Buch darüber las. Er schrieb den füh-

renden Wissenschaftlern, die zu diesem Thema arbeiteten, Dutzende Briefe zu

brasilianischen Wissenschaftsthemen. Er schenkte dem Herzog von Weimar Dia-

manten aus Brasilien und hielt für den Botanischen Garten Ausschau nach Pflan-

zen 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

Etching of Coroados indians hammock,

as the one found in Goethe’s collection.

As Martius’ Travel Book to Brazil describes:

“Some women pound maize in a hollowed-

out tree trunk, (...) Another group, chiefly

men, are employed about the fire, where the

repast is prepared. Some Indians are resting

in their hammocks.”

(Martius. 1824: 232)

Kupferstich einer dem Coroados-Stamm

typischen Hängematte, ähnlich derer in

Goethes Sammlung. Martius beschreibt

in seinem Brasilianischen Reisebuch:

„Einige Frauen zerstampfen Mais in einem

ausgehöhlten Baumstamm (...) Eine andere

Gruppe, hauptächlich Männer, sind am

Feuer zugange, wo die Mahlzeit zubereitet

wird. Einige Indianer liegen in ihren Hänge-

matten.“ (Martius, 1824: 232)

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 359Epilog

befriedigt werden; und so empfinden wir uns, den Kreis obgedachter Druckschrif-

ten durchlaufend, in einem weit entlegenen Weltteile Brasi li en durchaus als anwe-

send und einheimisch“. Wir können nun davon ausgehen, dass Goethes Hän-

gematte 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 eige-

nen 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.

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

his friend von Knebel: “If I only would be younger, I would

travel to India”. At that time South America was still seen

in many writings as a part of India. In Italy Goethe saw

palms and began the research for his botany work Die

Metamorphose.

Martius together with Nees van Esenbeck

named a Brazilian plant after Goethe:

Goethea. Martius und Nees van Esenbeck

benan-nten eine brasilianische Pflanze

nach Goethe: Goethea. Flora Brasiliensis

(1892) Carl F.P. von Martius and Augustus

Guilielmus Eichler. ol. XII, Part III, Fasc. 111

Plate 105.

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..

Schneider, S. (2008), Goethes Reise nach Brasilien, Weimar:

Weimarer Taschenbuch Verlag, www.goethebrasil.de

360 Epilogue 361Epilog

WHAT IS THE KOCA INN FOR YOU?

The KoCA Inn was an experiment of urban development for

the established city center of Weimar, focused on the

unexpected human interrelations in ordinary daily life

routines. These interrelations and exchanges, this sharing

and feedback showed the potential of a living culture and

highlighted the current needs of real people (affective

bonds, intercultural dialogue, economic initiative).

Newspaper kiosk becomes self-contained-Brazilian-themed-

constantly-transforming-micro-organism-community.

A multi-purpose open space for creativity, free-use,

play, socializing, bartering, meeting, dreaming,

and actualizing, with people from around the world.

Contrasting the touristic condition of Weimar, the

inhabitants participating, interacting or just passing

by the KoCA Inn experienced a creative proposal for

contemporary ways of feeling, living and deconstructing

the over-regulated public space (limited to passive

consumerism) of northern European cities. The symbolism

of the favela in the context of Thuringia was the

cornerstone for the project, transforming a public square

into an experiment of creative do-it-yourself urbanism.

WAS IST DER KOCA FÜR DICH?

Der KoCA Inn war ein Experiment städtischer Entwicklung

für das etablierte Weimarer Stadtzentrum. Es konzen-

trierte sich auf spontane menschliche Beziehungen in

der gewöhnlichen Routine des täglichen Lebens. Die Ver-

flechtungen, der Austausch, das Teilen und Geben zeigte

das Potenzial einer lebendigen Kultur und beleuchtete

die aktuellen Bedürfnisse von reellen Menschen (emotionale

Bindungen, interkulturelle Dialoge, wirtschaftliche

Initiative).

Zeitungskiosk wird zur Selbstversorger-brasilianisierend-

sich-immer-verändernden-Mikroorganismus-Gesellschaft.

Ein vielseitiger, offener Raum für Kreativität, zum

freien Gebrauch und Spiel, zum Kontakte knüpfen und Han-

deln, Treffen, Träumen, und Verwirklichen… das Ganze

mit Leuten aus aller Welt.

Im Kontrast zu Weimars touristischer Natur haben die Ein-

wohner, die am KoCA Inn beteiligt waren, oder auch nur

im Vorbeigehen oder in einem kurzen Austausch vom Projekt

Kenntnis nahmen, einen kreativen Ansatz gelebt für eine

zeitgemäße Art und Weise des Fühlens, Lebens und Hin-

terfragens des überregulierten (auf den passiven Konsum

362 Epilogue Epilog 363

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 flexibility that the

environment offered us.

While life is bustling on the sidewalk a few guests use

the “tree house” as a place to withdraw. The KoCA Inn has

no predefined use or static spaces. The functions are

rather allocated to the spaces through the use one makes

of them. What one defines as a living room, the next

experiences as a playground. On Sunday coffee is served,

on Monday there is a workshop. In a place in which

public and private, work and leisure are seen in unison,

clearly defined spaces loose their meaning. Then the

sidewalk becomes a place for breakfast in the morning

and an office in the afternoon.

I loved the way that having a physical space, this sort

of adventure/ fantasy/ play-land structure called

the KoCA Inn, that naturally created a strong platform

beschränkten) öffentlichen Raumes nordeuropäischer

Städte. Die Symbolik der Favela im Thüringer Kontext war

die Grundlage für das Projekt, das an einem öffentlichen

Platz mit einem kreativen, selbstgestalterischen urbanen

Raum experimentierte.

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 stimmu

liert, die unser Straßendasein durchquerten. Wir waren

zahlreich zwischen den drei Strukturen. Wir haben viele

Welten durchquert…. Neue Begegnungen generierten neue

Räume, die durch die Flexibilität der Struktur ermöglicht

wurden.

Während unten auf dem Bürgersteig das Leben pulsiert,

nutzen einige Gäste das „Baumhaus“ als Rückzugsort. Im

KoCA Inn gibt es keine vorgefertigten Nutzungen, die

in einem festgelegten Raum stattfinden. Vielmehr werden

die Funktionen den Räumen des KoCA Inn erst von den

Nutzern zugeschrieben. Was der eine für ein Wohnzimmer

hält, beschreibt der andere als Spielplatz. Am Sonntag

wird Kaffee serviert, am Montag findet ein Workshop statt.


for interaction. I was constantly surprised by the number

of people that would just stop by the kiosk to see

what was going on, and to discover how they, too, might

participate. I also noticed that many people began

to use the kiosk as a meeting point, knowing the constant

activity of the place. Students, visiting tourists,

Weimar locals, families, friends, a very diverse group of

people interacting and all finding place within the KoCA

Inn structure.

The kiosk was successful in bringing people from different

social backgrounds together. Through various means

(housing, schools, cultural events…), urban planners

often try to generate social cohesion between different

and disparate groups of society. Without being central

to its goal, the kiosk project managed to generate

honest encounters with people from Weimar’s different

social strata. Inhabitants of Weimar West, a socially

deprived neighborhood, enjoyed the spaces just as much

as students, more affluent locals and retired people.

The kiosk served as a place where unplanned encounters

between these different people could take place.

It was incredible and rewarding to see the encounters

between people from all walks of life at the kiosk. The

project illustrated that complicated policies aren’t the

An einem Ort, an dem Privat und Öffentlich, Arbeit und

Freizeit als Einheit betrachtet werden, verlieren klar

definierte Räume ihre Bedeutung. Dann wird ein Bürgersteig

am Morgen zu einem Frühstücksort und am Nachmittag zu

einem Büro.

Ich mochte es, diesen physischen Ort zu haben. Diese Art

Abenteuer-/Fantasie-/Spielzeugland-Struktur mit Namen

KoCA Inn bedeutete, auf ganz natürliche Weise eine starke

Plattform für Interaktionen zu schaffen. Ich war immer

wieder über die Anzahl der Menschen überrascht, die ein-

fach anhielten, um zu sehen, was am Kiosk passierte

und herauszufinden, wie sie sich selbst einbringen könn-

ten. Ich bemerkte auch, dass viele Menschen den Kiosk

als Treffpunkt nutzten in der Gewissheit, dass dort

ständig etwas los war. Studierende, Weimarer, Familien,

Freunde, eine sehr bunt gemischte Gruppe von Menschen,

die miteinander interagierten. Und jeder fand seinen Ort

in der KoCA Inn-Struktur.

Der Kiosk war erfolgreich im Zusammenführen von Menschen

unterschiedlicher sozialer Herkünfte. Mit einer Viel-

falt an Mitteln (Wohngebieten, Schulen, kulturellen

Events) versuchen Stadtplaner oft, sozialen Zusammenhalt

zwischen verschiedenen und ungleichen sozialen Gruppen


be-all and end-all to urban planning. Simple activities

that stimulate interest and make people curious can be

far more powerful and far-reaching.

To live in the public space, is to be susceptible to

everything. And to be susceptible in such a safe place

meant to be in touch with generosity, to the best

of people. To live in the kiosk meant to live by

imagination, by improvisation and with care and

affection. It is the experience of sharing my house

with anyone who passes by. It is to give in to chance,

to accident, to hazard, to dance, according to the

circumstances given. It is also to create circumstances;

to live intensely, collectively.

zu schaffen. Ohne sich das zum Ziel gesetzt zu haben,

ist es am Kiosk gelungen, aufrechte Begegnungen zwischen

Menschen unterschiedlicher sozialer Schichten zu gene-

rieren. Der Raum wurde von Menschen aus Weimar West,

einem sozial schwachen Wohngebiet, genauso genutzt wie

von Studenten, wohlhabenderen Einwohnern und Rentnern.

Der Kiosk war ein Ort, an dem diese Begegnungen zufällig

stattfinden konnten. Es war unglaublich und bereichernd,

diese Begegnungen zwischen so unterschiedlichen Menschen

zu sehen. Das Projekt zeigte, dass komplizierte Regu

lierungen nicht die ultimative Lösung für Satdtplanung

sein können. Einfache Aktivitäten, die das Interesse

der Menschen und ihre Neugier wecken, können teils viel

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.


SOUSA SAN

TOS: Gram

ática do

TEMPO: por um

a nova cultura política

BARROS: Retrato do artista quando coisa

RIBEIRO: O Povo BrasileIro

LISPECTOR: A hora da estrela

JACOBS: The Death and Life os Great American Cities

BRECHT: Stories of Mr. Keune

ROLNIK AND GUATTARI : Micropolíticas:

cartografias do desejo

LOBO ANTUNES: Cús dos Judas

LISPECTOR: A descoberta do mundo RIZÉRIO: A história da cidade da Bahia

RUSHDIE: Os versos satânicos

LOBO ANTUNES: O meu nome é legião

ROLNIK

: Car

togr

afia

sen

timen

tal

DE CE

RTEA

U: A in

venç

ão d

o co

tidia

no

PIRAN

DELLO

: Um

, nen

hum

e c

em m

il

EHRENREICH: A History of C

ollectiv

e Joy.

NEUWIRTH: Shadow Citie

s - A Billi

on Squatters, A

New UrbanWorld

HAYDN & TEMEL: Temporäre Räume – Konzepte zur Stadtnutzung

BALKE: Kolle

ktivkörper -

Kunst und Politi

k von Verbindung

STEINER, B

ERGER & LIPPARD: IN

VENTORY:

The Work of C

hristin

e Hill and Volksboutiq

ue

GROYS: Art

Power

GIBRAN: T

he Prophet

PESSOA: Livro do Desassossego

SOPHIE CALLE: M'as-tu vue

CASANUEVA: Libro de Torneos

KESTER: Convers

ation pieces

NILSSON: The south

ern w

all

EGGERS: What is

the w

hat

VERWIEBE: Transnationale Mobilität innerhalb Europas

URRY: Sociology beyond Societies

HERZOG: Cartography & Citizen ParticipationCARROLL: Adventures in Wonderland

SARAMAGO: El evangelio según Jesucristo

MARQUEZ : 100 años de soledad

ZUKERM

ANN

: Topics in Sociology of Art

DIAM

OND

: Guns, G

erms and Steel,

The Fates of Hum

an Societies

GROYS: Art Pow

er

BARTHES: Como viver juntos

GUATTARI: Caosmose

PELBART: Vida Capital

LEIRIS: Espelho da Tauromaquia

DELEU

ZE: Sacher e Masosh: o frio e o cruel

SENN

ETT: O D

eclínio do Hom

em Público:

a tirania da intimidade

GENETTE: Palim

pseste. Die Lieratur a

uf zweite

r Stufe

HOMER: Oddyssee / V

ERGIL: Aeneis / J

OYCE: Ulysses

SLOTERDIJK: Im W

eltinnenraum des Kapita

l

DAWKINS: The extended phenotype

PRIGOGINE AND STENGERS: Entre o Tempo e a Eternidade

THAGARD: Coherence in Thought and Action

ORW

ELL:

Erl

edig

t in

Pari

s un

d Lo

ndon

LAN

Z (E

D):

City

of C

oop

LATOUR & WEIBEL: Making things public, athmospheres of democracy.

THRIFT: Non-representational Theory. Space/Politi

cs/Affect

THRIFT & AMIN: Cities: re

imagining the urban

FERGU

SON (ED): Talking cities, The m

icropolitics of urban space

ATELIER D’ARCHITECTTU

RE AUTOG

ERÉE (ED): Urban acts

FRO

MM

: The

Art

of L

ovin

g

PLAT

FOR

MA

9,81

: Sup

erpr

ivat

e

PEAK

E: M

aps

VALERY: Eupalinos, The dance and the soul

LEM: SolarisLORENZ: On agression

HOW ARE ORDIN

ARY LIFE AND MASS CULT

URE REPRESENTED IN

MASS M

EDIA? THE CONSTRUCTION OF VISUAL AND MENTAL LANDSCAPES

ARTIST AS A PROFESSION, ARTISTIC AUTARKY, INTERNET AS PUBLIC AND /OR PRIVATE SPACE.

LIVING AND SURVIVING PRACTICES THAT RELATE NATURE AND CITY, INTEGRATING PEOPLE IN THEIR URBAN HABITAT

URBAN

PRACTICES/ HOW

TO B

UILD

PUBLIC SPACES/ PU

BLIC PO

LITICS HOW

ARE ORD

INARY LIFE AN

D M

ASS CU

LTUR

E R

EP

RESEN

TED IN M

ASS MEDIA?

LANDSCAPES, WALK, EVER

YDAY LIFE

HOW C

AN PEOP

LE B

E AT

TRAC

T ED

TO

ACT

IVEL

Y AF

FECT

TH

EIR

OWN

SU

RROU

ND

ING

SPA

CES’

SIT

UATI

ON?

THE ORDINARY, THE USUAL, THE EVERYDAY , WHAT IS OVERLOOKED, HOW PEOPLE BEHAVE AND THINK IN PA R

TICULAR SITUATIONS, PLACES AN

D CULTURES.

EXPERIMENTING EXPERIENCES: FROM SMALL GESTURES TO GLOBAL FLOWS. COLLABORATION, PARTICIPATION, DEMOCRACY AND UTOPIA

TERRITORIALITIES, CARTOGRAPHY, EVERYDAY, CULT

URAL

PR

ACTI

CE

S A

ND CAPOEIRA

LIFESTYLES, PUBLIC SPACE AND GASTRON

OM

Y

OBS

ERVA

TION

OF

SOCI

AL

BE

HAV

IOU

R, P

HOTOGRAPHY

HOUSING AND PUBLIC SPAC

ES

HOW

TO

FACI

LITA

TE D

EMOC

RATI

C, O

PEN

-EN

DED

, CO

LLAB

OR

ATIVE EXPERIENCES? HOW TO WORK WITH PARTICIPATION, COMM

UNITY

AND

MIG

RAT

ION

, BUILDIN

G A MORE COMPLEX S

OCIAL IDENTITY?

EXHIBITION AND SEDUCTION, PROSTITUTE BODIES

2001 SPAC

E OD

ISSEY : FU

TUR

E LAND

SCAPES AND

DATAB

ASES. AIRPORTS, TRAIN NETWORKS, M

OTORWAYS, PARKS, RESORTS, STATISTICS, INTERFACES

CONSTRUCTION OF IMAGES, SPATIAL PRACTICES.

HOW SOM

E URBAN PRACTICES CAN CONNECT INFORMAL TERRITORIES IN THE FORMAL CITY

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 strö-

men in den Sophienstiftsgewässern zusammen. Landschaft wurde in Text trans-

formiert, Referenzbücher der KoCA Inn-Einwohner in Gedankenhäuser.

Landscape of thoughts


WEIMAR

KoCA Inn

SALVADOR

2001

2003

2005

2007

2007

2008

2009

CORPOCIDADE:DEBATES ON URBAN AESTHETICS

2002

2004

2006

J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D

urb

anD

A is

fo

und

ed

urb

anD

E is

fo

und

ed

GROUPS MERGE

performance 7LINHAS DE URBANDAworkshop AQUI EU

UFBA - Universidade Federal da BahiaBUW - Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

KIOSK K&K KoCA Coming soon

URBANDÆ

KIOSK 09

DANIELA is a student of the MFA-BUW DANIELA is a PhD candidate and has taught between 2007 and 2009 at the Architecture Faculty - BUW

BERNHARD and SVEN are students of the Architecture Faculty - BUW ÍCARO and DIEGO are students of the Architecture Faculty - UFBA

URBANDÆ

THERESA and ESTHER are students of the Master course on European Urbanism - BUWCARLOS, CATHERINE and ZOE are students of the MFA - Public art and new artistic strategies - BUW

LOU�S and CARLY are students in the MFA - Public art and new artistic strategies - BUW

CACÁ and ALINE are students of the Urbanism Master course - UFBACLA� is a student of the Urbanism Master course - UFBA

PEDRO teaches at the Architecture Faculty and since 2009 is a PhD candidate in Urbanism - UFBAEDU is a PhD candidate in Urbanism - UFBA

FABIANA DULT� BRI�O 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 - UFBAMAX WELCH GUER� coordinates the Department of Spatial Planning and Research at the Architecture Faculty - BUW

O�O is a student in the Freie Kunst at the Faculty of Gestaltung - BUW

ACADEMICSUPPORT

F�NK EC�RDT teaches at the Architecture Faculty and since 2009 coordinates the Department of Urban Sociological Research - BUW

Process and participantsThese 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.


CARLY

Osceola SeattleBonn

Waiheke IslandMadrid

Weimar

OTTOLeipzig

Weimar

Havana

SVEN

Warstein Meschede

StockholmLippstadt

Porto Alegre Buenos Aires Barcelona

Weimar

EDU

FortalezaRio de Janeiro

Salvador IguatuFortaleza

THERESA

Erfurt

Jena

Frankfurt (Oder)Berlin

Taizé MiamiLisboa

Dublin Weimar

LOUKAS

ΑθήναChicago

DANIELA

Rio de Janeiro

São PauloLisboa

Oxford

Weimar

Dessau

ESTHER

EdinburghBerlinWeimar

Dublin Ithaca

New York

Amsterdam

Galway

Berlin

BERNHARD

Zürich Winterthur

Granada

Bautzen

Leipzig

Basel

DessauWeimar

Oxford

Salvador

PEDROCampinasSalvador

CampinasSalvador

ZOE

Saltspring Island Leipzig

Berlin

Montreal

Victoria

Weimar

CATHERINE

Frankfurt am Main

AmsterdamNew York

Roma

Weimar

DIEGO

Salvador

ALINE

Brasília

SantosSão Paulo

BauruLondon

Barcelona

Salvador

CLARA Vitória

Salvador

Três Lagoas

ÍCARO

Salvador

Uberlândia

Catalão Brasília

São Paulo

CACÁ

Βόλος

CARLOS

Lima DessauCuzco

Berlin

Weimar

Weimar

São Paulo

374 Epilogue 375

Credits

Biographies

UrbanDÆ:

Loukas Bartatilas studied Architecture in

Greece and is attending the MFA Public Art at

the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar since 2008.

He is member of the artistic groups Weimar

Public and Errands. He has worked at Christos

Papoulias’ architectural office in Athens and as

a freelance photographer. His main interests

are interdisciplinary and intercultural practices

throughout specific spatial and social situations

and the observation and documentation of

everyday experiences.

Esther Blodau-Konick graduated with a B.Sc. in

Urban Studies from Cornell University, USA and

has since been working for planning organizations

in New York State, Amsterdam and Edinburgh.

Currently she is completing her M.Sc. in European

Urbanism at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

She wants to continue her career in the field of

urban planning and is particularly interested

in interdisciplinary community planning. Lately

she is incorporating her skills and passion for

graphic arts into her professional work.

Daniela Brasil is PhD candidate in Spatial

Planning and Research at the Bauhaus-

Universität Weimar, supported by a grant of the

FCT -Portuguese Foundation for Science and

Technology. The coordination of KoCA Inn is a

central part of her practice-based research:

how encounters can enable active participation

and collective creativity. Her main interests

lay on migration of cultural practices, and

situational relations between people, sites and

objects.

Pedro Britto studied Architecture in São Carlos

and Environment Planning in Campinas.

Assistant professor in Universidade Paulista and

Universidade Federal da Bahia. Prize winner

of IAB-São Paulo in 2008 for his project of

drainage/sewage systems in the conservation

areas of Morro da Garça. General secretary of

Corpocidade: Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1,

Salvador, October 2008.

Theresa Dietl, Master student of European

Urbanism at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

With a background in Cultural Studies (BA), she is

mainly interested in interdisciplinary, intercultural

and experimental urban research. Studied in

different cities in Germany as well as in Portugal

and the US and worked, besides others, for the

International Organization for Migration in Lisbon

and the Planning Department of Dublin City.

Cacá Fonseca graduated in Graphic Design

at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Master

in Urbanism at Universidade Federal da Bahia.

Works with visual creation in projects related

to architecture and dance, as in Corpocidade:

Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1. Her video-dance

installation Entreterritório received the Klauss

Vianna Award by the Brazilian Culture Ministry.

She started recently a PhD in Urbanism focusing

on the contemporary production of urban

cartographies seen through the perspective of

micro-spatial politics.

Catherine Grau recently completed her MFA in

Public Art. Merging her interests in performance

and participatory art, she is engaged in researching

and generating social relations which question

contemporary society and explore human

potentials. The main focus in her work is to enable

metaphysical experiences and to explore utopian

ideas by reenacting or performing them.

Bernhard König studied Architecture and City

Planning in Weimar, Oxford and Zurich.

Collaborations in architecture and planning

offices, recently for Herzog & de Meuron in Basel

and Büro für Urbane Projekte in Leipzig. Media,

exhibition and landscape projects. Currently

working for the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation at

IBA Stadtumbau 2010 (IBA Urban Redevelopment

2010).

Zoë Kreye recently completed an MFA in Public

Art at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, BA in

Montreal; she has also worked in Berlin, New

York, Ankara. Her work engages the public in

relations rather than aesthetics, aiming to build

slow, inclusive, bottom-up associations that have

the potential to be small catalysts for change

within dominant social systems. Her projects ask:

How can we collectively rethink the quality of life?

How to find measures that value human contact

and focus on relationship building?

Carlos León-Xjiménez, MFA in Public Art at

the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, 2009. Has a

background in Anthropology (BA) and worked

as a consultant in anthropology for development

projects in communication and politics for

different NGOs in Peru. Also collaborates

with contemporary art magazines in Peru. His

work relates to different issues of urbanism,

migration, gender, economy and politics

through interventions, collaborative platforms,

installations, media and other strategies.

Diego Mauro and Ícaro Vilaça are Architecture

and Urbanism students at Universidade Federal

da Bahia. Since 2006, junior-researchers of the

project Cronologia do Pensamento Urbanístico

(Chronology of the Urban Thought), coordinated

by Paola Berenstein Jacques and Thais Portela.

Their concerns focus on gentrification and

privatization processes in Salvador, and their

relation to the dynamics of daily life.

Sven Müller graduated in Architecture at the

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in 2008. He has

worked in different architecture studios in

Germany and Spain and participated in various

development projects for Iran and Argentina.

Those experiences strengthened his interests

in socio-cultural interactions.

Otto Oscar Hernández Ruiz studied Art with

major in Painting at the Bauhaus-Universität

Weimar and at the Hochschule für Grafik und

Buchkunst in Leipzig. Educated in Architecture

in Cuba, where he worked in the development

and planning of resorts and offices. His artistic

practice mixes the architectural background with

painting, drawings and performances. Co-founder

of Baustelle M10: gallery for contemporary

experiments in Weimar.

Clara Pignaton is Master student in Urbanism

at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, where she

also teaches as of 2010. Studied Architecture

and Urbanism in Vitória and Mantova, where

she participated in an exchange program at the

Politecnico di Milano. Her research is related to

aesthetic manifestations in the urban context and

their relation to political actions.

Aline Porto Lira is a Master student in Urbanism

at Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador,

developing a research about public urban

parks and passages, landscape and everyday

life. She is currently teaching an Architecture

Project at the same university. She was editor

of the virtual magazine [dobra], action platform

of Corpocidade: Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1,

Salvador, Oct 2008.

378 379

Eduardo Rocha Lima is an architect and urban

planner. He has an MA in Urban Studies of the

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, and is

currently a PhD candidate in Urban Studies at

the Universidade Federal da Bahia. His research

deals with contemporary urban practices and

departs from the relation between body, image,

and quotidian. He was the editor of the virtual

magazine [dobra], and a performer at Grupo GO,

a collective dedicated to research and experiment

on bodily practices.

Carly Schmitt, after graduating from Macalester

College in 2004, founded Artist@Large, a mural-

painting-business. In 2008, she received the

Alexander von Humboldt German Chancellor

Prize, and is currently working towards her MFA

in Public Art at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

Her work employs new media devices as a way

to reiterate connections and activate the social

imaginary.

Invited authors:

Paola Berenstein Jacques is a Professor and

Researcher at the Faculty of Architecture and the

Graduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism

of UFBA, Salvador. Holds a Phd in History of Art

by the University of Paris I – Panthéon–Sorbonne.

Author of Les favelas de Rio: un défi culturel

(2001); Estética da Ginga (2001); L’esthétique

des favelas (2002); Maré, vida na favela (2002);

Apologia da deriva (2003); Corps et Décors

urbains (l’Harmattan, 2006), among others.

Fabiana Dultra Britto is a Professor and

coordinator of the post-graduation program in

Dance at UFBA, Salvador. PhD in Communication

and Semiotics at PUC, São Paulo. Dance critic

and independent curator in dance. Supervisor

and performer of projects of choreographic

investigation, including mapping projects on

contemporary dance. She was the general

coordinator of Corpocidade: Debates in Urban

Aesthetics 1.

Frank Eckardt is a Professor in Urban

Sociological Research at the Institute for

European Urban Studies, Bauhaus-Universität

Weimar. He holds a PhD in Political Science

and has studied Modern History and German

Philology. His research has focused on different

aspects of urban change and urban society.

One of the main aspects of his research and

teaching activities is dedicated to the implications

of a multi-cultural and multi-religious city in the

process of urban globalisation.

Ronald Hirte is an archaeologist and historian.

Since 1998, he has worked for the foundation

Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora.

Since 2001, involved in a German Research

Foundation project. Lectures at the Universities

of Bamberg and Weimar. Publications include:

Offene Befunde – Ausgrabungen in Buchenwald.

Zeitgeschicht liche Archäologie und Erinnerungs

kultur (Goslar 2000).

Katharina Hohmann is an artist, curator and

Professor at the faculty of Fine Arts at Geneva

University of Art and Design, HEAD Genève.

Received travel grants to Marseille, Rome,

Istanbul, Winterthur. Co-founder with Prof. Liz

Bachhuber of the Master of Fine Arts program:

Public Art and New Artistic Strategies. In 2002,

she founded K&K. Zentrum für Kunst und Mode,

together with Katharina Tietze. She currently

lives in Weimar and Geneva, Switzerland.

Malcolm Miles is Professor of Cultural Theory at

the University of Plymouth, where he coordinates

the PhD programme for Art & Media, and chairs

the CultureTheorySpace research group; his

research is between contemporary art and

critical theory, and his next book is a critical

reconsideration of Herbert Marcuse’s aesthetic

theories.

Max Welch Guerra is a political scientist

and Professor of Spatial Planning and Spatial

Research at the Faculty of Architecture,

Chairholder of the Bachelor program Urbanistik

and the PhD program Urban Heritage at the

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

Sylk Schneider is the Director of the Kloß-

museum in Thuringia and author of Goethes Reise

nach Brasilien (2008), among other publications

around Thüringia gastronomy. Economics,

Geography and Romance Studies in Thüringia

and Recife (Brazil). During his various field

research trips, he became interested in tracing

Goethe’s passion for Brazil.

Naomi Tereza Salmon is an artist, and works

as assistant Professor to Norbert Hinterberger

at the Art Department, faculty of Arts and Design,

at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany.

She is the head of The Kiosk09 project, which

runs under her guidance in the frame of her

practical course When artists curate art parts

1 – 3, operating parallel to the 90 years of Bauhaus

festivities in Weimar from April 2009 to February

2010.

UrbanDÆ:

Loukas Bartatilas studierte Architektur in Grie-

chenland und absolviert seit 2008 das MFA-

Programm Public Art an der Bauhaus-Universität

Weimar. Er ist Mitglied der Künstlergruppen

Weimar Public und Errands. Er arbeitete im

Architekturbüro von Christos Papoulias in Athen

als freischaffender Fotograf. Sein Interesse

gilt interdisziplinären und interkulturellen Praktiken

in spezifischen räumlichen und sozialen Situa-

tionen und der Observation und Dokumentation

alltäglicher Erfahrungen.

Esther Blodau-Konick studierte Urban Studies

(B.Sc.) an der Cornell University, USA und

arbeitete bei Planungsorganisationen in New York

State, Amsterdam und Edinburgh. Momentan

schließt sie ihr Studium in Europäischer Urbanis-

tik (M.Sc.) an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

ab. Sie möchte ihre berufliche Laufbahn in der

Stadtplanung fortsetzen und hat ein besonderes

Interesse an interdisziplinärer Gemeindeplanung.

Seit Kurzem bezieht sie ihre Fähigkeit und Leiden-

schaft für Grafikdesign in ihre Arbeit mit ein.

Daniela Brasil ist Doktorandin an der Profes-

sur Raumplanung und Raumforschung der

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, unterstützt durch

ein Stipendium der portugiesischen Stiftung für

Wissenschaft und Technologie (FCT). Die Koor-

dination von KoCA Inn ist ein zentraler Punkt ihrer

praxisorientierten Forschung: wie Begegnungen

aktive Teilnahme und kollektive Kreativität ermög-

lichen kann. Ihr Hauptinteresse gilt der Migration

kultureller Praktiken und situationellen Beziehun-

gen zwischen Menschen, Orten und Objekten.

Biographien

380 381

Pedro Britto studierte Architektur in São Carlos

und Umweltplanung in Campinas. Dozent an der

Universidade Paulista und der Universidade

Federal da Bahia. Preisträger von IAB-São Paulo

für ein Sanierungs- und Abwasserprojekt im

denkmalgeschützen Bereich Morro da Garça,

Minas Gerais. Generalsekretär von Corpocidade:

Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1, Salvador,

Oktober 2008.

Theresa Dietl ist Masterstudentin der Europäi-

schen Urbanistik an der Bauhaus-Universität Wei-

mar. Als studierte Kulturwissenschaftlerin (BA), ist

sie besonders an interdisziplinärer, interkultureller

und experimenteller Stadtforschung interessiert.

Sie studierte in mehreren deutschen Städten,

in Portugal und den USA und arbeitete u.a. für

die Internationale Organisation für Migration in

Lissabon und das Stadtplanungsamt Dublin.

Cacá Fonseca hat einen Abschluss in Grafikde-

sign an der Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

und einen Master in Urbanistik an der Universi-

dade Federal da Bahia. Arbeitet in Architektur-

und Kunstprojekten mit visuellen Arbeiten, z.B.

Corpocidade: Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1.

Ihre Video-Tanz-Installation Entreterritório erhielt

den Klauss-Vianna-Preis des brasilianischen Kul-

tusministeriums. Seit Kurzem ist sie Doktorandin

in Urbanistik mit einer Arbeit zur gegenwärtigen

Produktion von urbanen Kartografien, betrachtet

durch eine mikro-räumlich-politische Perspektive.

Catherine Grau erhielt vor Kurzem ihren MFA

in Public Art. Performance- und Partizipations-

kunst zusammenführend, erforscht und generiert

sie soziale Beziehungen, die die gegenwärtige

Gesellschaft in Frage stellen und menschliche

Potenziale erforschen. Ihre Arbeiten beschäftigen

sich hauptsächlich mit dem Hervorbringen

methaphysischer Erfahrungen und dem Aus-

testen von utopischen Ideen, in dem diese

nacherlebt oder performt werden.

Bernhard König studierte Architektur und Stadt-

planung in Weimar, Oxford und Zürich. Arbeitete

für Architektur- und Planungsbüros, u. a. für

Herzog & de Meuron in Basel und das Büro

für Urbane Projekte in Leipzig. Medien-, Ausstel-

lungs- und Landschaftsprojekte. Gegenwärtig

arbeitet er für die Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau im

Rahmen der IBA Stadtumbau 2010.

Zoë Kreye erhielt kürzlich ihren MFA in Public Art

an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, BA in

Montreal; sie arbeitete in Berlin, New York und

Ankara. Ihre Arbeiten involvieren die Öffentlich-

keit eher als persönlche Einbeziehung als auf

ästhetische Weise, mit dem Ziel, langsam, inklusiv

und bottom-up Beziehungsgeflechte aufzubauen,

die das Potenzial besitzen, kleine Katalysatoren

für einen Wandel innerhalb dominierender sozialer

Systeme zu sein. Ihre Projekte stellen die Fragen:

Wie können wir kollektiv Lebensqualität neu

denken?, Wie können wir Maßstäbe finden, um

menschliche Kontakte zu evaluieren und uns auf

das Bauen von Beziehungen konzentrieren?

Carlos León-Xjiménez, MFA in Public Art an der

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, 2009. Ist Anth-

ropologe (BA) und arbeitete für verschiedene

peruanische NGOs als anthropologischer Berater

in der Entwicklung von Kommunikations- und

Politikrojekten. Außerdem kollaboriert er mit

Magazinen für Gegenwartskunst in Peru. Seine

Arbeiten, Interventionen, kollaborativen Plattfor-

men, Installationen, Medien- und andere Strate-

gien befassen sich mit verschiedenen Belangen

innerhalb der Themenfelder Urbanistik, Migration,

Gender, Wirtschaft und Politik.

Diego Mauro und Ícaro Vilaça sind Studenten

der Architektur und Urbanistik an der Universi-

dade Federal da Bahia. Seit 2006 Juniorforscher

im Projekt Cronologia do Pensamento Urbanístico

(Chronologie des urbanen Gedankens), unter der

Leitung von Paola Berenstein Jacques und Thais

Portela. Ihre Interessen sind Gentrifizierung und

Privatisierungsprozesse in Salvador und deren

Beziehung zur Dynamik des Alltags.

Sven Müller erhielt 2008 sein Diplom in Architek-

tur an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Arbeitete

in mehreren Architekturbüros in Deutschland und

Spanien und nahm an verschiedenen Entwick-

lungsprojekten für den Iran und Argentinien teil.

Diese Erfahrungen haben sein Interesse an sozio-

kulturellen Interaktionen gestärkt.

Otto Oscar Hernández Ruiz studierte Kunst mit

Schwerpunkt Malerei an der Bauhaus-Universität

Weimar und der Hochschule für Grafik und

Buchkunst in Leipzig. Als in Kuba ausgebildeter

Architekt arbeitete er an der Entwicklung und

Planung von Ferienanlagen und Bürogebäuden.

Seine künstlerische Praxis verbindet seinen archi-

tektonischen Hintergrund mit Malerei, Zeichnung

und Performance. Mitbegründer der Baustelle

M10: Galerie für zeitgenössische Experimente,

Weimar.

Clara Pignaton ist Masterstudentin der Urbanis-

tik an der Universidade Federal da Bahia, wo

sie auch seit 2010 unterrichtet. Studierte Archi-

tektur und Urbanistik in Vitória und Mantova,

wo sie an einem Austauschprogramm mit dem

Politecnico di Milano teilnahm. Ihre Forschung

befasst sich mit ästhetischen Manifestationen im

urbanen Kontext und deren Beziehungen zu

politischen Aktionen.

Aline Porto Lira ist Masterstudentin in Urbanistik

an der Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador,

wo sie zu öffentlichen städtischen Parks, Wegen,

Landschaften und Alltagsleben forscht. Sie unter-

richtet z.Zt. ein Architekturprojekt an derselben

Universität. Herausgeberin des Online-Magazins

[dobra], Aktionsplattform von Corpocidade:

Debates in Urban Aesthetics 1, Salvador, Oktober

2008.

Eduardo Rocha Lima ist Architekt und Stadt-

planer. MA in Urbanistik von der Universidade

Federal do Rio de Janeiro und momentan Dokto-

rand in Urbanistik an der Universidade Federal da

Bahia. Seine Forschungsarbeit befasst sich mit

gegenwärtigen urbanen Praktiken und nutzt die

Beziehung zwischen Körper, Bild und Alltag als

Ausgangspunkt. Er war Herausgeber des Online-

Magazins [dobra], und Performer in der Gruppe

Grupo GO, ein Kollektiv, das sich Recherchen zu

und Experimenten mit Körperpraktiken widmet.

Carly Schmitt gründete, nachdem sie 2004 ihr

Studium am Macalester College abschloss,

Artist@Large, eine Firma für Wandmalerei. 2008

erhielt sie den Alexander von Humboldt-Preis des

deutschen Bundeskanzlers und beendet derzeit

ihr Studium in Public Art (MFA) an der Bauhaus-

Universität Weimar. In ihren Arbeiten nutzt sie

neue Medien, um Beziehungen ständig neu zu

beleben und die soziale Imagination zu aktivieren.

Eingeladene Autoren:

Paola Berenstein Jacques ist Professorin

und Forscherin an der Architekturfakultät und

im Graduiertenprogramm in Architektur und

Urbanistik an der UFBA, Salvador. Promovierte

in Kunstgeschichte an der Universität von Paris I

– Panthéon-Sorbonne. Autorin von Les favelas

de Rio: un défi culturel (2001); Estética da Ginga

(2001); L’esthétique des favelas (2002); Maré, vida

na favela (2002); Apologia da deriva (2003); Corps

et Décors urbains (l’Harmattan, 2006), u.a.

Fabiana Dultra Britto ist Professorin und Koordi-

natorin des post-gradualen Programms in Tanz an

der UFBA, Salvador. PhD in Kommunikation und

Semiotik von der PUC, São Paulo. Tanzkritikerin

und freischaffende Tanzkuratorin. Leiterin und

Performerin in Projekten zur choreographischen

Forschung, einschließlich in Projekten zur

382 383

Kartierung des zeitgenössischen Tanzes. Sie war

Hauptkoordinatorin von Corpocidade: Debates in

Urban Aesthetics 1.

Frank Eckardt ist Professor für Sozialwissen-

schaftliche Stadtforschung am Institut für Euro-

päische Urbanistik an der Bauhaus-Universität

Weimar. Er studierte moderne Geschichte und

deutsche Philologie und promovierte in Politik-

wissenschaften. Im Rahmen seiner Forschungen

befasst er sich mit diversen Aspekten urbaner

Veränderungen und städtischer Gesellschaften.

Eines der Hauptaugenmerke seiner Forschungs-

und Lehrtätigkeit liegt auf den Implikationen

einer multikulturellen und multireligiösen Stadt im

Prozess der Globalisierung.

Ronald Hirte ist Archäologe und Historiker. Seit

1998 ist er Mitarbeiter der Stiftung Gedenkstätte

Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora. Seit 2001 Mit-

arbeiter bei einem DFG-Projekt. Lehrbeauftragter

an den Universitäten Bamberg und Weimar.

Veröffentlichte u.a. Offene Befunde – Ausgrabun

gen in Buchenwald. Zeitgeschichtliche Archäolo

gie und Erinnerungskultur (Goslar 2000).

Katharina Hohmann ist Künstlerin, Kuratorin und

Professorin an der Fakultät für Bildende Kunst an

der Geneva University of Art and Design, HEAD

Genève. Auslandsstipendien nach Marseille, Rom,

Istanbul, Winterthur. 2001 Mitgründung des

Studiengangs Public Art and New Artistic Stra

tegies mit Prof. Liz Bachhuber. Im Jahr 2002

Gründung des K&K. Zentrum für Kunst und Mode

zusammen mit Katharina Tietze. Lebt gegen-

wärtig in Weimar und Genf.

Malcolm Miles ist Professor für Kulturtheorie an

der University of Plymouth, wo er auch das PhD-

Programm für Kunst und Medien leitet. Außerdem

ist er Vorsitzender der Forschungsgruppe

CultureTheorySpace. Seine Forschung ist

zwischen zeitgenössischer Kunst und kritischer

Theorie anzusiedeln; sein nächstes Buch wird

eine kritische Überprüfung von Herbert Marcuses

Ästhetischen Theorien sein.

Max Welch Guerra ist Politik-Wissenschaftler,

Professor für Raumplanung und Raumfor-

schung an der Fakultät Architektur, Leiter des

Bache lorstudienganges Urbanistik und des

Promo tionsprogrammes Urban Heritage an der

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

Sylk Schneider ist Direktor des Kloßmuseums in

Thüringen und Autor von Goethes Reise nach

Brasilien (2008), sowie mehrerer Publikationen

zur Thüringer Esskultur. Er hat Volkswirtschaft,

Geographie und Romanistik in Thüringen

und Recife (Brasilien) studiert. Bei zahlreichen

Forschungsaufenthalten in Brasilien kam

er Goethes Brasilienleidenschaft auf die Spur.

Naomi Tereza Salmon ist Künstlerin und arbeitet

als Assistentin von Norbert Hinterberger am

Lehrstuhl für Freie Kunst, Fakultät Gestaltung

der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Sie leitete das

Projekt Kiosk09, das im Rahmen des praktischen

Kurses Wenn Künstler Kunst KuratierenTeil 1 – 3

und parallel zur 90-Jahrfeier des Bauhauses in

Weimar von April 2009 bis Februar 2010 stattfand.

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386 387

Impressum

KoCA Inn by UrbanDÆAn urban experiment at the Kiosk

of Contemporary Art in Weimar

Ein urbanes Experiment am Kiosk

of Contemporary Art in Weimar

Editors Herausgeber

Daniela Brasil, Theresa Dietl, Catherine Grau,

Bernhard König

This book is the documentation of the 2 week

occupation of the Kiosk of Contemporary Art

in Weimar, from July 8th till 22nd, 2009.

Diese Publikation ist die Dokumentation der zwei-

wöchigen Inbesitznahme des Kiosk of Contem-

porary Art in Weimar vom 8. bis 22. Juli 2009.

Catalogue & Project Coordination

Katalog- & Projektkoordination

Daniela Brasil

Graphic Design Gestaltung

Franziska Stübgen

Design Assistance Gestalterische Mitarbeit

Loukas Bartatilas, Esther Blodau-Konick,

Rodrigo Guerra Symmes

Editing Lektorat

Catherine Grau, Stephan Weitzel

Editing Assistance Lektorat Mitarbeit

Esther Blodau-Konick, Zoe Kreye, Carly Schmitt

English Translation Englische Übersetzung

Isabela Barbosa, Catherine Grau, Diego Mauro,

Aline Porto Lira, Daniela Reichmuth, Ícaro Vilaça

German Translation Deutsche Übersetzung

Theresa Dietl, Bernhard König, Stephan Weitzel

Illustrations Illustrationen

Esther Blodau-Konick. 187

Daniela Brasil. 2, 10,18, 26,56-57,122-133,

208-209,245, 370-375

Cacá Fonseca.188-189, 204-205

Rodrigo Guerra Symmes. 56-57, 124-127

Bernhard König.44-57

Felix Scholz.135

Photo Credits Bildnachweis

All photos UrbanDÆ except when indicated

Alle Fotos UrbanDÆ außer wenn signiert

Print Druck/Gesamtherstellung

Druckerei Schöpfel GmbH

Printed in the EU.

© 2010 authors, artists, Brasil, Dietl, Grau, König

& Revolver

All rights reserved. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any

form without written permission by the publisher.

Abdruck (auch auszugsweise) nur nach

ausdrücklicher Genehmigung durch den Verlag.

Revolver Publishing

by VVV

Immanuelkirchstr. 12

D – 10405 Berlin

Tel +49. (0)30. 61 60 92 36

Fax +49. (0)30. 61 60 92 38

[email protected]

www.revolver-books.com

ISBN 978-3-86895-076-2

Project and Organization Projekt und Organisation

UrbanDÆ Loukas Bartatilas, Esther Blodau-Konick,

Daniela Brasil, Theresa Dietl, Pedro Dultra Britto,

Carolina Fonseca, Catherine Grau, Otto Oscar

Hernandez, Bernhard König, Zoe Kreye, Carlos

Leon-Xjiménez, Sven Müller, Clara Pignaton,

Aline Porto Lira, Diego Ribeiro, Eduardo Rocha

Lima, Carly Schmitt, Ícaro Vilaça

Invited ParticipantsEingeladene TeilnehmerWorkshop Searching for Freedom

Auf der Suche nach Freiheit

Gilda Bartel, Lucian Patermann,

Basti, René, Kevin

Data Picnic Daten Picknick

Max Albrecht, Bernd Naumann

Performance Exaust It On

Gabriela Tarcha

Clothes Exchange Kleiderwechsel

Franziska Stübgen

Capoeira

Capoeira Gruppe Jena

Drumming Trommeln

Trommelgruppe Erfurt Tambour du Soleil

Spontaneous Participants Spontane TeilnehmerMagic Show Zaubershow

Manuel

Jam Workshop Marmeladenworkshop

Susi Lüttich

Gerda Bakes Waffels Gerda backt Waffeln

Gerda & Hans Peter Voigt

La Cena Colombiana

Andrea Acosta, Andrea Morales,

Elizabeth Joecker, Grace Bayer

Regular Guests Stammgäste

Titus, Elias, Nana & Olaf, Joachim, Mike …

Sponsors and PartnersFörderer und PartnerWith generous support from

Mit freundlicher Unterstützung von

Fonds-Soziokultur, DAAD, Diakoniestiftung

GmbH, Wilhelm Layher GmbH, StuKo der

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, KulturTragWerk e.V.,

Pró-Reitoria de Assistência Estudantil –

Universidade Federal da Bahia

Academic Support

Wissenschaftliche Unterstützung

Fabiana Dultra Britto, Paola Berenstein Jacques,

Max Welch Guerra, Frank Eckardt

Project Partners Projektpartner

KIOSK09, Baustelle M10, ColorViolence,

Boje e.V., Radio Lotte, Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé,

Professur Raumplanung und Raumforschung

– Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Programa de

Pós-graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo –

Universidade Federal da Bahia, Programa de

Pós-graduação em Dança - Universidade Federal

da Bahia

Thank you Vielen Dankto all participants, partners and sponsors and

an alle Teilnehmender, Partner und Sponsoren

und Maxi Kretzschmar, Teresa Huber, Elias

Wachholz, Mila Burghard, Fabian Fontain,

Christian Hädrich, Isabela Barbosa, Ann-

Kathrin Rudorf, Mike Geisse, Mike Young, Elke

Castiglione; Leonie Weber & Felix Ruffert – KoCA,

Liz Bachuber, Susanne Riese, Frau Egger & Herr

Spörl – Bauhaus-Universität Weimar; Katrin

Lausch & Herr Müller – Sozialkaufhaus Möbilé,

Bettina Rößger, Andrea Weiss & Klaus Kussauer –

Fonds Soziokultur, Frau Seeger – Kulturamt Stadt

Weimar; Daniel Joerg & Svea Geske – Radio Lotte.

388 389

Thank you

Vielen Dank an

KoCA-Inn: An urban experiment at the Kiosk of Contemporary Art in Weimar

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