It began with eating pumpkins....the varieties of pumpkins, saving seeds, collecting seeds.
Came the idea of growing pumpkin on top of float, made out of used gas canisters.
Pumpkin vines can stretch, horizontal development. Add in the self-watering system
from the river... let the pumpkin float drift in the Danube. For the Eleonore residency in early June,
I mailed 10 varities of Pumpkins which i have been collecting in France, Brussels, Taiwan and Japan to Linz in early May.
Taro of Eleonore seeded them. By the time I arrive at Eleonore, the pumpkins have sprouted.
May 31 - Armin and I drive from Vienna to arrive at Eleonore, Linz. It is raining. Armin has brought his hokkaido pumpkin and some tomato sprouts.
June 1 - with Xav and Taro, we drive around to check in on the huge floats (12, 1000 liter plastic water tank) they are making at another inner harbor. I put together some empty plastic water bottles and attach them to Eleonore. Questions: how to best potting the pumpkin sprouts for the floats?
June 2 - the rain comes down hard.. i took a walk by the danube and went to the swimming pool/bad.
June 3 - woke up to see the water rise up high. The boat bridge to the land is under water. We have no longer land access. The water of the Danube has risen to 9 meter. Went by Ars Electronica center where firemen are pumping the water out of the futurelab.
June 4 - working out of office at Stadtwerkstatt, walking around by the danube, seeing how the firetrucks pumping water out of the basements and channel the water back to the Danube. Started talking to Xav and Taro on the design, also about what this residency means? what building floats to grow tree.to grow pumpkin means? The fact that Linz is flooded with water from Danube and we can all be floating. Schedule for building the floats is delayed, but I feel fine with this very in your face floating experiences.
June 5 - Xav called out in the morning, 'we have land', again, we see the land. The water is retreating into the river. I work up with a long nightmare - There were people. friends at my place for a conference, after the conference, they all want to stay and want to have dinner. My proposal for going to the restaurent did'nt work. I got into a panick to go shopping. Walking out to shop, I encounter fish shops with large fish all over... I told Xav about the dream, He felt that i have been cooking too much, I said, no, more about i need to go get some fish after the flood. With Taro, we went to pick up the pumpkin sprouts that have been housing at his friend Martina's. 10 varities of pumpkins sprouted - 4 from France (big pumpkin, yellow/green small, orange round), 3 from Taiwan (pale green, papaya, chestnut), butternut from Annemie of Okno, Brussels, 2 from Taro's collection, Marina-di-chiogga (Italy) and Warzen (Nepal). They are sprouting beautifully. At sunset, coast guards are here, chasing with nets an oil-soaked swan. This night Xav made the trout fish i got...and salad with pumpkin oil. I enjoyed this dinner very much.
June 6 - Land is back and muddy, water hosing time. I planted armin's hokkaido in the blue canister which is installed with some cloth strips. Hoping to suck water from the river for the plants. Work out a canister float platform with fishnet to secure them. This night Ushi and marc dusseiller came over Eleonore. We had good time.
June 7 - Took the bike by the Danube to Stadtwerkstatt for a shower. Saw trees damaged. Went off to the farmers' market at the central square. Got a forest trout and some fresh vegetables. In the afternoon, Taro and I decided to plant the pumpkin from Nepal next to Hokkaido. Taro had his book to consult on 3 families of pumpkins which details same family of pumpkins should not be grown together to avoid cross-pollination. Worked on the float with fishnet to secure. Got pulled to Marc's biohack workshop at Stadtwerkstat. It was good to get off boat for a while to sit in the cafe.... walk back to the boat by the Danube... counted 3 bridges along the way.
June 8 - A day with Xav, started with Xav took up the strip of felcloth and knitted into a panier. The afternoon, we drove to the other harbor, checking on the water and the floats. Xav and Gunter moved a telephone pole into the water to prepare working on the ship when water goes up. In the evening, Taro and Matina came back with all sorts of edibles to make a bbq which sits beutifully on top of pumpkin canister. Or should i say, the pumpkin canister rests beautifully below the bbq fire?
June 9 - spent all day making the float with 15 canister. It took more time than i planned to make it more solid. The night arrived with a refreshing thunderstorm.
June 10 - Filled the panier with soil, put 3 pumpkin sprouts in it - two pale green pumpkins from taitung and one yellow/green stripes pumpkin from bioshop in Paris. The panier sits on top of the float next to the blue canister under the bbq stand.
June 11 - Today is big float day. We drove to the house. Xav and Taro have a plan for the big float. How to tie them together, how to keep them airy. So mostly checking on pressure of the 1000 liter canister. A trip to the local hardware store where junks are treasures.
June 12 - seeds underground party day. Xav brought back a 5 kilo bag of potato, a 5 kilo bag of onion and 2.5 kilo of beef for making goulash. Taro added in a vegetarian edition. By 6pm, we had people arriving with seeds and sprouts. Bhoomesh with his self-acclaimed hottest chili pepper seeds on earth, Ferdinand with his Radichio collection, Ushi brought a butternut pumkin sprout, Wolfgang with his seed collection, Christoph of schwemmland.net brought his 3 wheel truck of vegetable farm and gave me duna vision which contains a bean seed as a symbol of biodiversity. Armin and Ash came from Vienna. The night ends with Ash playing deep sound amplified.
June 13 - Had a talk with Armin, trying to iron out a few things regarding the residency and Fields exhibition 2014. The attempt of sailing out to Danube failed as the current was too strong. Went off with Ash to Parkbad where we enjoyed swimming in a 50 meter pool. With Wolfgang's Ars Electronica guest tickets we took a swift visit to the Center. Somehow the installation feels lifeless. Found Xac at Strom where we enjoyed a quiet end of day drink before Ash took the train back to Vienna with his foldable bike.
June 14 - Xav went out at 6am for his adulthood surgery. No work on big float today. I guess I just leave it for Xav and Taro to work it through next wee. My worry would be the sprouts need to be transplanted soon. Taro presented me a black green wrinkled chili pepper from his chilli collection. Got lots of planting to do in Paris. Sandra dropped by to say goodbye. Yeah, last day on the boat, tweaking radio dial, noise from outerspace.
June 15 - Heading back to Paris. last photos of the pumpkin sprouts on the float, some new leaves. They are growing fast. Xav and I had a talk about coming back in september to see the pumpkins and floats. Maybe present UKI performance at STWST. He asked if i wanted a SWTST t-shirt from him, and which i would choose, the 7 day not washed one or the 1 day not-washed one. He and Taro had been on a bet to see if Xav can wear the same t-shirt for 2 weeks and dont smell. Train to Wien, bas to the airport where I finally ate a Wiener Schnitzel, perfectly placed on a tray.
to be continued
May 31 - Armin and I drive from Vienna to arrive at Eleonore, Linz. It is raining. Armin has brought his hokkaido pumpkin and some tomato sprouts.
June 1 - with Xav and Taro, we drive around to check in on the huge floats (12, 1000 liter plastic water tank) they are making at another inner harbor. I put together some empty plastic water bottles and attach them to Eleonore. Questions: how to best potting the pumpkin sprouts for the floats?
June 2 - the rain comes down hard.. i took a walk by the danube and went to the swimming pool/bad.
June 3 - woke up to see the water rise up high. The boat bridge to the land is under water. We have no longer land access. The water of the Danube has risen to 9 meter. Went by Ars Electronica center where firemen are pumping the water out of the futurelab.
June 4 - working out of office at Stadtwerkstatt, walking around by the danube, seeing how the firetrucks pumping water out of the basements and channel the water back to the Danube. Started talking to Xav and Taro on the design, also about what this residency means? what building floats to grow tree.to grow pumpkin means? The fact that Linz is flooded with water from Danube and we can all be floating. Schedule for building the floats is delayed, but I feel fine with this very in your face floating experiences.
June 5 - Xav called out in the morning, 'we have land', again, we see the land. The water is retreating into the river. I work up with a long nightmare - There were people. friends at my place for a conference, after the conference, they all want to stay and want to have dinner. My proposal for going to the restaurent did'nt work. I got into a panick to go shopping. Walking out to shop, I encounter fish shops with large fish all over... I told Xav about the dream, He felt that i have been cooking too much, I said, no, more about i need to go get some fish after the flood. With Taro, we went to pick up the pumpkin sprouts that have been housing at his friend Martina's. 10 varities of pumpkins sprouted - 4 from France (big pumpkin, yellow/green small, orange round), 3 from Taiwan (pale green, papaya, chestnut), butternut from Annemie of Okno, Brussels, 2 from Taro's collection, Marina-di-chiogga (Italy) and Warzen (Nepal). They are sprouting beautifully. At sunset, coast guards are here, chasing with nets an oil-soaked swan. This night Xav made the trout fish i got...and salad with pumpkin oil. I enjoyed this dinner very much.
June 6 - Land is back and muddy, water hosing time. I planted armin's hokkaido in the blue canister which is installed with some cloth strips. Hoping to suck water from the river for the plants. Work out a canister float platform with fishnet to secure them. This night Ushi and marc dusseiller came over Eleonore. We had good time.
June 7 - Took the bike by the Danube to Stadtwerkstatt for a shower. Saw trees damaged. Went off to the farmers' market at the central square. Got a forest trout and some fresh vegetables. In the afternoon, Taro and I decided to plant the pumpkin from Nepal next to Hokkaido. Taro had his book to consult on 3 families of pumpkins which details same family of pumpkins should not be grown together to avoid cross-pollination. Worked on the float with fishnet to secure. Got pulled to Marc's biohack workshop at Stadtwerkstat. It was good to get off boat for a while to sit in the cafe.... walk back to the boat by the Danube... counted 3 bridges along the way.
June 8 - A day with Xav, started with Xav took up the strip of felcloth and knitted into a panier. The afternoon, we drove to the other harbor, checking on the water and the floats. Xav and Gunter moved a telephone pole into the water to prepare working on the ship when water goes up. In the evening, Taro and Matina came back with all sorts of edibles to make a bbq which sits beutifully on top of pumpkin canister. Or should i say, the pumpkin canister rests beautifully below the bbq fire?
June 9 - spent all day making the float with 15 canister. It took more time than i planned to make it more solid. The night arrived with a refreshing thunderstorm.
June 10 - Filled the panier with soil, put 3 pumpkin sprouts in it - two pale green pumpkins from taitung and one yellow/green stripes pumpkin from bioshop in Paris. The panier sits on top of the float next to the blue canister under the bbq stand.
June 12 - seeds underground party day. Xav brought back a 5 kilo bag of potato, a 5 kilo bag of onion and 2.5 kilo of beef for making goulash. Taro added in a vegetarian edition. By 6pm, we had people arriving with seeds and sprouts. Bhoomesh with his self-acclaimed hottest chili pepper seeds on earth, Ferdinand with his Radichio collection, Ushi brought a butternut pumkin sprout, Wolfgang with his seed collection, Christoph of schwemmland.net brought his 3 wheel truck of vegetable farm and gave me duna vision which contains a bean seed as a symbol of biodiversity. Armin and Ash came from Vienna. The night ends with Ash playing deep sound amplified.
June 13 - Had a talk with Armin, trying to iron out a few things regarding the residency and Fields exhibition 2014. The attempt of sailing out to Danube failed as the current was too strong. Went off with Ash to Parkbad where we enjoyed swimming in a 50 meter pool. With Wolfgang's Ars Electronica guest tickets we took a swift visit to the Center. Somehow the installation feels lifeless. Found Xac at Strom where we enjoyed a quiet end of day drink before Ash took the train back to Vienna with his foldable bike.
June 14 - Xav went out at 6am for his adulthood surgery. No work on big float today. I guess I just leave it for Xav and Taro to work it through next wee. My worry would be the sprouts need to be transplanted soon. Taro presented me a black green wrinkled chili pepper from his chilli collection. Got lots of planting to do in Paris. Sandra dropped by to say goodbye. Yeah, last day on the boat, tweaking radio dial, noise from outerspace.
June 15 - Heading back to Paris. last photos of the pumpkin sprouts on the float, some new leaves. They are growing fast. Xav and I had a talk about coming back in september to see the pumpkins and floats. Maybe present UKI performance at STWST. He asked if i wanted a SWTST t-shirt from him, and which i would choose, the 7 day not washed one or the 1 day not-washed one. He and Taro had been on a bet to see if Xav can wear the same t-shirt for 2 weeks and dont smell. Train to Wien, bas to the airport where I finally ate a Wiener Schnitzel, perfectly placed on a tray.
to be continued
DONAUTICS / A.I.R. @ Station: Eleonore Linz
Fieldworks lab - curated by Armin Medosch
Shu Lea Cheang, June 1 - June 14, 2013
Info: now@accidental-landing.mobi
Fieldworks lab - curated by Armin Medosch
Shu Lea Cheang, June 1 - June 14, 2013
Info: now@accidental-landing.mobi
