Photo above: Katherine Ball takes care of the hand washing station.
We stayed and worked at FUB for 3 weeks – one week in April and two weeks in June. We exchanged knowledge with students from different universities and engaged with the site in a variety of ways. The Greenhouse group constructed 50 boxes for tomato plants and installed them on the scaffolding structure. They planted 35 varieties of tomatoes and designed and installed the irrigation system. We learned about water filtration with Katherine Ball, an artist resident, researcher and the master of the experimental laboratory on the site. Some participants were responsible for the dish washing station, which they redesigned so it was not only performative but also practical. Others were involved with growing mushrooms, which are not only edible but also filter the water. We planted them in bathtubs installed in the water tower; this was in itself another performative element for explaining water filtration at FUB. One group expanded on the concept of the third landscape, i.e. they supported and added to the biodiversity on the site and speculated on how and when nature would take over the man-made structures. Throughout our stay at FUB we organized Agora discussions in which the subject matter was provided by the participants and which culminated with the Thyme newspaper. One of the brainstorming highlights was no doubt the Lexicon session with Gilly Karjevsky. Other experiments included the Soundflag and the much-loved Deep Listening experience.
Design for the Living World, HFBK 