From 10 to 13 July 2025, PARA will transform one of Zurich's 1,200 fountains into a global water redistribution system. A figurine has been standing atop the historic infrastructure, watching over the drinking water that has been flowing continuously for hundreds of years. The allegory of moderation warns against overusing this common resource. PARA, on the other hand, says: Let's overuse it. Let's redistribute as much water as we can – to drier places and drier times.
✕ Die Unmöglichkeit zu Teilen (Teil 2)
Passers-by bring water from nearby wells in buckets before conveying it to the buffer tank with a hand pump. From there, it is bottled in small, medium or large bags, depending on the order. "Flight Portion to Tokyo, August twentysixtynine? It's ready. Thank you for your generous support!‘ Passers-by are asked to redistribute the water and give us their word. Either spatially, temporally or on both axes. ‘Are you going on holiday soon to a place threatened by drought? Or are you staying in Zurich? Can you store this resource, which is steadily increasing in value, for one, two or three decades? What about your grandchildren? Wouldn't it be nice if they took your portion of water, filled up back in 2025 to water the apple tree that you planted in... let's say the summer of 2085?"
After a friendly conversation with the customer, the destination of the water and a date for use are entered together and sealed in the bag. Within hours and days, the water is on its way around the globe.
After the Augustiner fountain on Zurich's Münzplatz splashed water not into its spout but all over the world for a few days, we dismantle the redistribution equipment, load it into our van and drive off... Wait. First, we pump out as much water as will fit into our overloaded rental truck and take it across the border, hidden in barrels. In Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, water levels are now at a record low, and there is a €10,000 fine for extracting water from the lake's tributaries. Continue to: The impossibility of sharing (part 3).
Credits:
By and with PARA (Peter Behrbohm, Lina Brion, Jonas Fischer, Amelie Neumann, Vanessa Amoah Opoku, Philipp Röding, Kolja Vennewald, Joy Weinberger, Bastian Sistig) Photos and videos: Peter Baracchi, Peter Behrbohm and Jonas Fischer Many thanks to: Anna Vetsch, Dominik Müller, Lily Koper, ...
This project was created at the invitation of the Commission for Art in Public Space Zurich (KiöR) and was planned for 2024-2025. The preparatory work took place as Die Unmöglichkeit zu Teilen (Teil1) (The Impossibility to Share - Part 1) as part of a residency at Joseph Beuys' studio house in Düsseldorf, funded by a grant from the Brunhilde Moll Foundation. The water bottled in Zurich was distributed all over the world, and finally our transporter, fully loaded with barrels, drove to the next stop on the journey: Die Unmöglichkeit zu Teilen (Teil 3) - (The Impossibility to Share - Part 3) at the Kunstverein Friedrichshafen.