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artists:
Peter Arlt, Benni Foerster-Baldenius, Wolfgang Grillitsch born 1960 in Linz / 1968 in Hamburg / 1966 in Klagenfurt live in Linz / Berlin / Berlin www.peterarlt.at |
project: Club of Non-Swimmers
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Sketch of the club territory |
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Photo, |
Swimming in the brook, yesterday reality, and today utopia. Industry made swimming impossible. Through the end of the (dirty) industrial age there could be a swimming renaissance in the rivers and brooks, also within cities.
Even in the immediate vicinity of the „Club of Non-Swimmers,“ people used to swim until the 1960s. At that time, this was a matter of fact. Today, bathing in this little river is considered too dangerous. There has been an enormous change of opinions concerning questions of liability, putting the self-responsibility of people in the background and burdening owners and managers of public institutions.
On an idle spot of the “Mühlgang,“ the artists installed the infrastructure of a small river bath: a small catwalk, a shower, and a partition wall to change your clothes.
Usually, the area is inaccessible. On the adjacent property, there is a fence corridor, from where you can have a close look into the bathing institution.
Especially interested people can become club members. As such, they obtain the right to enter the premises, however, they are not obligated to swim! The afternoon sun strongly heats the club territory. It will hurt that one cannot bath here!