This
installation was part of "Saftig", an exhibition created
specifically for an empty butcher shop at Weidenweg 51 in East Berlin,
Germany. The area this installation utilizes is a part of one of the
back rooms. Cold water from an existing plumbing fixture on the rear
wall is channeled through a length of vinyl tubing. The tubing runs
horizontally along the tile wall, then vertically up to the ceiling,
navigates it’s way among the duct and electrical infrastructure
beneath the ceiling and then descends down to the altered wetsuit
suspended in the middle of the space. The tubing splits numerous times
at T-junctions, creating a family-tree type branching pattern. The
diameter of the tubing decreases as it passes through the various
T-junctions until eleven small diameter vinyl tubes pierce the neoprene
skin of the altered wetsuit at specially fabricated orange plastic
ports.
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The tubing converges inside the wetsuit form and all eleven tubes emerge
from a hole at the bottom of the form. Pod-shaped in-line junctions
connect old tubing with new. The eleven tubes meander across the tan
tile floor to the adjacent wall. The tubes rise and pass horizontally
through a series of clear plexi-glass components with eleven holes arranged
in a circular fashion. These components are fastened to the white tile
wall with suction cups, and guide the eleven little tubes in an orderly
fashion through three pre-existing galvanized metal pipe clamps cemented
into the wall. The eleven tubes lead to a truncated plastic pipe that
feeds into a slightly larger iron pipe which then disappears into the
floor. The water flows out through the existing plumbing infrastructure
of the building. When the air has a high degree of humidity, the cold
water running through the vinyl tubing causes condensation to form on
the outside of the tubes. |
