gedenktafel

My last idea about refreshing Strassenbrunnen is a memorial plate with the text written with hydrochromic ink

hydrochromic material- materials that produce imagery that disappears or change in colour when exposed to liquid or aqueous solutions.

more at:
http://www.labelsandlabeling.com/scripts/publish/headlines.asp?code=SLF&key=1702&language=en&PageNo=4&pressYr=2006

The plate will memorise the events from the II World War, in which the Strassenbrunnen took a crucial part as a water supply.The "tafel will be placed under the tap of a pump and every time anyone pumps the water out of it it will reveal the hidden text...

Strassenbrunnen

I found out that the water pumps are also called Strassenbrunnen!That was the keyword to find some info about it.
A short text from the Bundesamt fuer Bevolkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe site to add the historical background:


In vielen Straßen Berlins befinden sich die berühmten "Berliner Straßenbrunnen", die auch ein Teil des typischen Berlins sind. Bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts dienten diese Brunnen ausschließlich zur Trinkwasser- und Löschwasserversorgung der Berliner Bevölkerung. Im Jahre 1856 wurde die erste öffentliche Wasserleitung in Betrieb genommen. Bald wurden die Brunnen nur noch für Löschwasserzwecke verwendet. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt gab es immerhin schon über 900 dieser Straßenbrunnen.

Trotz der Inbetriebnahme der Wasserleitung hat sich die Zahl der Brunnen in der Folgezeit noch weiter erhöht. Vor Ausbruch des 2. Weltkrieges sind in Berlin 1.065 Feuerlöschbrunnen registriert.

Nicht unerwähnt bleiben soll an dieser Stelle, dass sich diese Brunnen in hervorragender Weise in den Jahren 1943 bis 1945, als sich die Luftangriffe auf die Stadt verstärkten, bewährten. Im Jahr 1945, als 12 Tage lang anhaltender Kampf in den Straßen tobte, versorgten sich aus diesen Brunnen sowohl die in Trümmern lebende Bevölkerung (damals 2,8 Mio. Menschen) als auch die Soldaten der Streitkräfte beider Seiten mit Wasser. Unzählige Menschen haben - dank der vorhandenen Brunnen - damals überleben können.

Heute sind in Berlin 2.107 Straßenbrunnen erfasst. Davon wurden mit Mitteln des Bundes 912 erstellt bzw. hergerichtet.

In Berlin durchgeführte Versuche sowie die dort gemachten Erfahrungen mit den Straßenbrunnen führten u. a. auch zu der Erkenntnis, Brunnen verstärkt mit Handpumpen zu betreiben, soweit die Förderhöhe und die Brunnenleistung es zuließ. Diese Brunnen sind einfach im technischen Aufbau und robust in der Wartung und der mechanischen Sicherheit. Weil sie zum Betrieb kein Strom benötigen, sind sie "rund um die Uhr" betriebsbereit und für viele Menschen sogar "direkt vor der Haustür".

Historic water pumps in Berlin.Adding a new function

There are still quite a lot historic water pumps, which lost their function and are now just a monument of the past. It could be great to in a way "rehabilitate" them and adding a new sense to they existence;)
There is also one pump on my street , here in Berlin (Lubbenerstrasse, Kreuzberg).


Idea 1.
WATER DRUMS

The idea is to use water pump as an instrument. Wataer falling strikes the membrane of a "drum". A microphone/bug inside the drum receives the signal and sends via radio to a laptop. Then the sound is enforced and transformed and send back to the pump, where a speaker receives the sound



Idea 2.
WATER GAMBLING

The world is running out of drinking water and lack of it is a big HAZARD at the moment but noone cares about using it in a sustainable way. Also in the water pumps where people waste water usually just for fun (bacause they don't have to pay for it at all)
The idea is to install water-meter on the pump and hack it so it becomes a traditional gambling game- one armed bandit, when you waste a lot of water but never win.

Ceci n'est pas une pipe


Ceci est une pipe

what should not be on potsdamer platz

The fake facade seems to be like a dress for the building. And you need to wash your clothes from time to time, don't you? So my idea is to hang the fake building's washing up un the trees in front of it. And the clothes would be prints of the windows of the facade, screenprinted on material. Why not use public space to dry your stuff?

Plattenbau

Electric box by Evol,street artist from Berlin

Facades- the simulation of reality

I went to Potsdamer Platz to take a closer look at the facades on scaffoldings over there.If you look from far away you can believe that they are real buildings.



I chose my victim, the building on the right side of the Canadian embassy.It's empty windows are simply asking to project something into them.






But it's what is inside that really matters, isn't it? It's hard to believe that these facades do not cover any building, they actually cover an empty space and the whole scaffolding is built to so the Potsdamer Platz looks nicer, with no ugly holes between the buildings. So actually most of the people passing by are being convinced about the existence od unreal buildings. So that's how my victim looks like from the back

an idea for the Hauptproject-scaffolding

Facade on the St.Pauls cathedral in London

I think that the scaffoldings like this are very interesting things.There are artificial facades that cover the building works underneath and pretend that nothing has happened, that everything looks as it used to be before.
I found one good building by Potsdamer Platz which is wrapped perfectly.The photo will come soon.
My idea is to project the fictional people in the "windows" of the scaffolding, so the illusion becomes even deeper. To check if pedestrians will notice false facade people living in a facade building and also refer a bit to the voyeurism. Do you also look in the peoples windows at night to see how others live?
How many people watch reality shows which show unreal lives? Will they also want to watch unreal people on the facade?

Works of two other polish artists that correspond well with the theme of the minimal on the public space.

Pawel Althamer created "Brodno 2000".That could probably have a great socializing impact among the people who lived in that block of flats.



And Maciej Kurak who made a not-jet-grown house. The effort to make this work was maybe not minimal but surprisingly the effect was not so easy to spot by the passing people.
http://free.art.pl/precedens_art/precedens02/kurak/kurak.htm

Analogue Laptop Extension. MyPad

MyPad is a simple way to add new use to your laptop. Made of transparent, extra strong and specially contoured foil can be cut to fit the size of the screen of the laptop perfectly.
1.Its innovative use is to enable copying and drawing images (with pens, pencils) directly from the screen of a laptop. Its structure prevents from sliding and the transparency allows for enough visibility of the shining screen (especially in a quite dark room).



2.MyPad also serves as a protecting pad for the screen, when the laptop remains closed and transported. It happens that the keyboard leaves signs on the screen when a pressure is put on the laptop by accident. Apple provides a very tatty pad which is delicate and vulnerable. There are also some expensive pads to buy in specialist shop. The cost of producing one MyPad is only 1 euro!



3. The last but not least, MyPad can be a perfect mouse pad when you happen to work on a shiny desk! And you will never forget to take it with you because you always keep it in a closed laptop as a protective pad!



To order MyPad please contact me via email.Do not forget to give the exact size of your screen (in milimeters) ;P

minimal interventions in public/open space

The works of a polish artist (to start with a patriotic accent;) Dominik Lejman. He made simple video projections of animals (on the walls or floor) in a hospital for the children.Unfortunately I couldn't find any videodocumentation on the net but I had an opportunity to see it. And the children really loved the resting tiger in the hospotal corridor or flamingoes on the wall. It also helped them to forget about the illness for a moment.http://www.deutsch-polnisches-jahr.de/neu-veranstaltungen-de-details.php?id=7151

blop blog

Got another virtual reality that will steal my time from all the other nice things around.