Marcus Ahlers

Vinegar and baking-soda slurry are made to mix and cause a chemical reaction. Two identical vessels with transparent curved plastic walls stand on two steel stands. One vessel is filled with vinegar, the other with baking-soda slurry. Pumps in each container force the fluids through lengths of vinyl tubing to a vessel appropriated from a humidifier. This vessel is the top portion of a three-level tower positioned between the reservoirs holding the vinegar and baking-soda slurry. The pumps in the reservoirs are attached to the same timer, so the fluids are transported simultaneously to the central vessel, where they fizz and bubble as they mix. CO2 gas is created, and inflates two sewn plastic sacks connected to the top of the vessel. The mixed vinegar and baking-soda slurry, still fizzing, dribble down through a piece of vinyl tubing to a transparent cast plastic model of a social space.

The design of this model was developed from a part of the housing of the same humidifier which provided the upper-level mixing vessel. Another length of vinyl tubing extends from the bottom of the model of the social space downwards, allowing the fluid to dribble further down into another transparent reservoir with clear plastic walls. This reservoir sits on the floor and is also the bottom level of the three-level tower. Stainless steel threaded rods connect the levels. A pump with a float switch is in this lower reservoir, with a large diameter vinyl tube running away from the piece. When the reservoir fills with the mixed vinegar and baking-soda slurry, the pump activates and forces the fluid out. The large diameter vinyl tube leads the fluid out of the space, either through the existing plumbing infrastructure, or out a door or window.