E101 – Intervention in public space
June 5, 2008
E101 – Intervention in public space
Location: Bucharest, Romania
The performance has created a breach within the design and the symbolical structure of the former Boulevard of the Socialist Victory: the artesian wells deliver coloured water, which is an allusion not only to the torridity and to the rationalization of water that the meteorologists urge upon us, to the fear of infested water or of ecological disaster, but it also intimates to the ceremonious meaning of this space. The boulevard represents the spinal column in the ritualistic architecture of Bucharest, connecting Piaţa Unirii, where communist architecture acquired a bizarre festive atmosphere, sometimes even grotesque being as it is, isolated by billboards, and Casa Poporului, that has remained unchanged since 1989.
The performance suggests a contamination between the different times of recent history, an ambiguous gesture that can cause panic or joy, an attempt at reviving the tissue of the city affected by necrosis, an advertising campaign for a missing product, a question about solidarity in the torpid Romania of 2007.
POLTUR
June 5, 2008
POLITICAL TOURISM AGENCY
Visualize transition from communism to democracy.
Picture being a politician but without any responsibility.
Poltur – Government
Poltur – Opposition
Poltur – Statements
The project of a virtual traveling agency is an ironic analysis of the Romania political scene and of its reflection in the media. Our proposal of a political tourism agency is similar to the extreme sport tours or the cultural traveling packages. We address to those who wish to witness and experiment the transition from communism to democracy, the development of democracy and how the transition actually feels like. Surely all this is purely fictional and this agency is solely an art project.
“You want to see how the transition from communism to democracy is actually taking place? You want to see how it is like to be a member of the government? You want to know how it feels like to be in the opposition? You want to take part in the reconstruction of a country? Or maybe you want to fatten your wallet? Now we are offering you this opportunity: Political Tourism
Liberalism? Social Democracy? You got to be kidding! It’s Romania.”
A Project by Daniel Gontz
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