THE
CHILDREN‘S RESEARCH SUBMARINE
AhoY !
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AHOY! Do you know where our tab water comes from? And where it goes when it leaves our homes? Have you noticed how much plastic waste is floating around in our oceans? And do you know that it’s connected to the huge amounts of plastic bottles, plastic bags and packaging that we use in our daily lives? Aquatopia is a research submarine that investigates these issues in order to find out how we can design a better way of living in this world. In this book you can find out how the submarine was built, in which wharfs it docked, which adventures it went on, and who was on board during
Index its journey. The crew observed, documented and discussed our daily usage of water and the related wastewater and garbage production, while traveling through water pipes, canals and reservoirs, rivers and lakes, water bottles and bathtubs. Furthermore, between these book pages, you can find fun and interesting ideas for researching the themes of water, plastic and garbage on your own.
A submarine made of plastic and garbage emerges Play while you build, – Learn while you play! Building a submarine and charting a journey
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Logbook Part 1 – The submarine and its rooms
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The superfast expedition boat The mini submarine The fabric bag Your own water filtering system
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Logbook Part 2 – Workshops and Expeditions
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Your expeditions
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Have fun with your Aquatopia Logbook! – Now you get to navigate the submarine...
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Glue your photo here and pick a hat you find at the end of the book
glue photos...
...from your...
...best friends!
A submarine made of plastic and garbage emerges!
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Introduction by Kinderbuero “Aquatopia – the children’s research submarine” was a project by the Kinderbuero and the Institute for Contemporary Art of the TU Graz. Together we went on an exciting yearlong journey. We created a space for children and youth to meet and to investigate their living environment. This journey was accompanied by scientists, artists, teachers, institutions such as the Kindermuseum ZOOM in Vienna, students, and many volunteers. The crew involved over 5100 kids and teenagers in questions about water and plastic waste. In
this process, the kids were able to develop an understanding of their own agency to protect the environment. In the summer of 2013, our small research center docked at the Karmeliterplatz harbor in Graz and the Museumsquartier Wharf in Vienna. Many workshops invited the young researchers to use methods in which they could formulate their own questions and search for answers in their immediate surroundings. It was enriching to grapple environmental issues with the youngest participants of our society.
Aquatopia was more than a research submarine. It became an urban attraction that enlivened its surroundings and offered a space for kids and teenagers to learn, play, discover and build friendships. We want to use this opportunity to thank the participating schools for their contribution of collecting the many plastic bottles for the submarine’s shell and for the creative design of the collection containers! Congratulation to the winners!
Dear students! We have packed everything that we experienced on our journey into this school calendar – in the hope that this interesting information about water and plastic waste can be useful in your daily lives. Enjoy your personal Aquatopia journey! Ahoy!
Katja Hausleitner Kinderbuero – the lobby for kids under 14
Play while you build Learn while you play!
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Introduction by the Institute for Contemporary Art The IZK is a department of the Architecture Faculty of the TU Graz. Here students learn art by developing projects that they build with their own hands, using diverse techniques and media. In October 2012 Aquatopia started with an artistic research on the themes of water pollution and plastic waste. More than 20 students and 12 international artists participated, following different paths of interpreting and proposing artistic interventions: the design of the rooms, of objects and of performances. Partnerships with specialists from the fields of water infrastructure, ecosystems or alternatives
to plastic production were also created throughout the project preparation and within the workshops. Our crew (mainly constituted by architecture students) collectively designed and constructed the submarine with materials scavenged from junkyards and recycling plants. The inner structure was composed of a modulated scaffolding system. The outer shell was built of disposable plastic bottles in the colors green, blue and transparent, because those are the only ones that are recycled back into bottles! These were collected at various schools and at the TU Graz and prepared and installed by school children and volunteers,
while the submarine was docked at the Karmeliterplatz in Graz. Our submarine is a space that brings art and science together, while discussing everyday themes that affect all of us. Docked in a public space to amplify the way people use the city, the submarine was open and free for all. The public was invited to meet other people, to discuss, create, relax and play! Play is very important! We believe that we can learn much more and much better when we are playing, when we are enjoying what we are doing, and when we are happy! Being curious about our own city, discovering and
researching it actively with friends, artists and scientists can be a very exciting thing to do. The city is a great place to learn about life and also about ourselves. At the same time it is a place to be critical about and to re-think our own values and attitudes. We hope you enjoy tracing the journey that Aquatopia made last year, and that with this log book you can create your own adventures in the fascinating world of water consumption and garbage production! Daniela Brasil Project concept and artistic coordination
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We build a submarine ObservatorY ArchivE and LaborATORY
BRIDGE
CANTEEN
CABIN
ENGINE ROOM
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WE PLAN A JOURNEY.... ... TO THE WATER SuPPLY from the natural fountain ELEVATED TANK Hochbeh채lter
Regenwolke rain cloud
FILTERING WELL Filterbrunnen SEEPAGE Versickerung
GROUND WATER Grundwasser
WHERE Wo DOES THEunser WATER kommt COME FROM? Wasser Her?
Sta CITYdt
undrain GreyAbwasser water and Regenwasser gelangen water are drained gemeinsam in einen through a combined Mischkanal. Wenn es viel sewer. When it rains a regnet, lot, thewird the schmutziges grey water Wasser auch into unbehandelt is drained the riverin Fl체ssebeing geleitet. without treated.
Die bis TheLeitungen pipes leading theStadt city sind are intodie hundreds Hunderteof kilometers lang. long. kilometer
Kanalisation SEWER SYSTEM
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We PLAN A JOURNEY...
... THROUGH THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
... in OUR HOUSES
Wasserzähler
WATER WasserMETER zähler
Wasserzähler
Waschmaschine
Trink wasserQualität Trink
WASHING MACHINEWaschmaschine Waschmaschine
POTABLE wasserQualität WATER
Trink wasserQualität
Wc
TOILET Wc
Wc
... to the sea!
Schwarzes Meer
Schwarzes Mee Schwarzes Meer BLACK SEA
Abwasser GREY WATERr Abwasse
Abwasser
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WELCOME ON BOARD!
This submarine is special: it floats through the city, the asphalt is our ocean and we travel through the urban environment using pipes, fountains and other waterways. Please follow the path - take your shoes off and submerge yourself in each room‘s adventure.
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BRIDGE This is the navigation hub of the submarine and the place where the expeditions begin. Here the captain’s crew stands behind steering devices or bent over nautical maps as they chart the way. Catherine Grau developed several under water exploration tools for the bridge. Visitors can borrow the devices to go on urban waterway expeditions.
IDEA: Build you own diving helmet and oxygen tank from waste paper and plastic bottles and go on a expedition in your home: search for the paths of potable water and waste water. Don’t forget to chart it on a big map!
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Archive and Laboratory This is a place for research and learning. Books, games, samples and objects are only some of the surprises available to the visitors. Here you can learn about water resources and the many places our plastic waste ends up. The materials displayed here were researched and collected by the architecture students of the Institute for Contemporary Art.
IDEA: Use this book for your research: For one week write down all the plastic waste that you throw away! Then think of ways to reduce it!
Archive and Laboratory
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Microcosmos - WATER COLLECTION
Helene Th端mmel has collected various water samples throughout Graz and other places in Austria, which she carefully analyzed under the microscope. All the living creatures found in those microcosms were documented with photography and drawing and kept in a beautiful logbook.
IDEA: Make your own water collection. Label it carefully! Borrow a microscope and draw what you see. Ask your science teacher to help you identifying what is what! By the end of the year you can check how the water samples have changed.
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Archive and Laboratory The sound diving helmet
The pitch-dark underground of the city has many mysteries. One of them is the path of rain and wastewater. The research group of seamen LUKA Murovec, Luka lipsinic and claudia Del Cid went on a diving expedition and recorded the sounds of the underground water paths of Graz, which you can hear while using this helmet. It does’nt matter how dirty the water is, it always sounds relaxing.
IdeA: Do you know how the sewage system of your city works? Ask your teacher to take the class on an excursion to the sewage system and wastewater treatment plant!
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CABIN
The room for those who dream of water Designed by Nayari Castillo and Tuuli SundÊn-Uusimäki the cabin is a portal to the magical realm of the underwater world. This is the place to stop and rethink your journey, read, rest and dream. Seven silk-screened stories about mythical and strange water creatures were displayed. The tubing octopus hanging from the ceiling was also used for communication.
It is time to tell and read stories... let yourself relax in the cushioned marine environment.
ideA: Talk to your parents, friends or teachers about water creatures. Collect their stories. Use them as inspiration to dream up your own stories. With so much garbage floating in the waters around the world, are your invented creatures able to eat it or make it disappear?
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CABIN
Great Graz Garbage Patch The colorful things swimming in Eva Ursprung‘S aquarium are not fish but samples of plastic waste collected from water bodies in Austria. Some have even made their way to the Atlantic coast after traveling through the Mur, the Danube, the Black and Mediterranean Seas. These swirling plastic pieces are fascinatingly beautiful - but in nature they can be very dangerous! Huge garbage patches of floating plastic already exist in the Pacific and Indian Ocean.
IdeA: How about not buying disposable bottles and getting a beautiful refillable one? You can also refuse disposable plastic bags when you go shopping by always carrying a reusable one with you. For a great Japanese self-design bag, see page 48.
The round aquarium is also an enlarging lens
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ObservatorY Andrea Acosta filled the observatory’s blackboardpainted walls with holes of different sizes. You can spy on the surroundings of the submarine and use the walls as a big log-book by taking chalk notes or making drawings of what you see. The periscope, built by Christian Meixner, rotates 360° to let you see the surroundings. Check out the films he made through the periscope while traveling with the submarine at www.aquatopia.at
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Crew mess Bälger
Ursula Achternkamp filled up 6 plastic balls with birds’ feathers. They can be used for sitting, doing sports or playing. They remind us of the fact that many birds die of hunger with their stomachs full of plastic, which they mistakenly eat and cannot digest.
IDEA: Research about birds and other animals who are affected by plastic pollution. Make new creatures by assembling different pieces of plastic garbage and feathers.
On a rainy day the crew mess was transformed into a waterlab where we examined water samples under the lens of a microscope.
CREW MESS
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Milieu Aquauex
Barbara RaiC has painted this room’s walls, trying to trace the water line that moves around us while the submarine dives and emerges... On one wall we can see a self-sustained, closed environment on display: an ecosystem aquarium. Everything that is produced by the plants, the fish and the water is consumed by the different elements. Nothing is discarded. Waste or by product becomes food and vice versa. This project was made with the help from zoology professor Christian Sturmbauer, and the philosopher Bozo RaiC. The crew transformed the fishing net into a cozy hammock!
Engine Room Aquator
A refurbished bike is the engine of the big propeller that moves the submarine. The GDS and Roter Keil assembled chains, tubes, water tanks and other connection pipes to form the machinery. The water is pumped from the ocean to feed a hydraulic mechanism, moving an Archimedes spiral and a water wheel. Here you can play to activate the submarine and take it to new places of discovery, while using a cable telephone to communicate with the bridge.
37 IdeA: Use plastic bottles and small wire pieces to build your own water wheel, try to connect different objects and make a complex engine. It’s great if it works, but it is also ok if it doesn‘t!
Here you can see how the engine is built!
ENGINE ROOM WATER Cycle
This sculpture by Richard Frankenberger is made out of transparent pipes and a pump that keeps the water circulating continuously. The books displayed inside remind us that the water also brings information with it.
This work is a homage to the Russian artist Dmitri A. Prigov.
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Surrounding space Urban Pond
6 bathtubs, 5 rectangular and 4 round containers displayed by G端nther Pedrotti created a small urban pond near the submarine. It alludes to domestic water consumption, and its relation to the public space.
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Surrounding space Soap Bubble Seesaw
Boos und Moss constructed a seesaw out of found objects. It activates a mechanism to make soap bubbles while you play. Yet, it is not that easy, you have to find the right rhythm, velocity and intensity to make big bubbles fly.
Building a facade of plastic bottles Many many people helped the crew to collect plastic bottles, clean them and perforate them, thread them onto old cables we found at the recycling plant, and finally install them on the faรงade of the submarine. A WARM THANKS TO EVERYONE INVOLVED!
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The crew hopes that this tour through the submarine has helped you gather some ideas for your own crew and that you can now go on your own research mission to investigate water, plastic and garbage.
The superfast expedition boat
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The Mini Submarine Inside a plastic bottle
You need:
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1 plastic bottle with the cap You need:
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1 square piece of paper (5-7cm long on each side) 1 drop of liquid detergent
Cut a triangle out of the piece of paper and cut two small slits into it (see the illustration). Fold the flap upwards. Your expedition boat is ready.
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Place the boat in a tub of water and let it swim. Now place on drop of liquid detergent on your finger and stick your finger in the water just behind the boat.
The liquid detergent diffuses the surface tension of water. As a result, your boat will be drawn to the areas with a higher surface tension.
Your superfast expedition boat will race away from your finger.
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The lid of a pen 2 paperclips
The paperclips are weights. Hang them onto the lid of the pen by poking a small hole in the lid (ask someone to help you if needed).
The air trapped in the lid will prevent it from sinking.
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If you squeeze the bottle the air bubble will shrink due to the increase in pressure and the submarine will sink.
4 When you release the bottle, it will rise back up.
Vertically insert the mini submarine into the bottle filled with water.
Once the submarine is in, seal the bottle with the cap.
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The reusable fabric bag Do it yourself knots
Each time we buy something we are given a plastic bag, which we often only use for a few minutes.
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Again, place a square piece of fabric on an even surface and place the items to transport at the center.
Here are two old Japanese instructions for making a carrying bag by knotting a piece of fabric.
Lay a square piece of fabric on an even surface. Place the items you want to carry at its center.
Take two opposite corners and knot them together. This knot will be the handle to hold.
Take each of the remaining corners and fold one knot in each one, resulting in a finished carrying bag.
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Now make a knot using two neighboring corners
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Then you knot the other two corners together and pass this knot underneath the other one.
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Your bag should look like this. This variation is especially useful for round objectS.
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Your own water filter system 1st step: Mechanical filter
You need: 4 pots with holes in the bottom
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Pebbles, sand and activated carbon
Then fill the last pot with pebbles and place it in the third pot.
1 coffee filter 1 bucket
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Place this tower of pots in a bucket that can catch the clean water.
Now, if you pour dirty water into the top of the filter, it will slowly rinse through the various layers and will be cleansed of large and small dirt particles.
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1
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Your own water filter system 2nd step: Biological filter
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Place the mechanical filter on a pedestal, so that it is higher than the plant.
Fill the third pot with sand and place it on top of the second.
Place the second pot within the first and fill it with activated carbon.
Fold up the coffee filter and place it in the first pot.
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you need: 1 potted Juncaceae plant (of the rush plant family) 1 hose
Connect the bucket that catches the mechanically cleaned water with the plant pot.
3 The roots of the plant will absorb any remaining contaminants from the water as a form of nutrition. This process takes a bit of time. In order to assure the water remains in the pot for a while, connect the hose with incoming water to a hole at the bottom of the pot and the outgoing hose at the top rim of the pot. The water is not potable, but it will be clean enough to water your plants, or to return it to the natural environment.
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Deep Sea Expedition A smooth and elastic blue cloth is our water surface. The anchor reaches the bottom of the Karmeliter Ocean. In the bridge kids get equipped with masks and oxygen tanks to dive into the unknown depth. As we go deeper and deeper, the pressure of the water gets stronger and at a certain point no more light gets through. Blindfolded we can only touch and hear what surrounds us.
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Garbage Expedition After getting equipped in the bridge, the sea boys and sea girls went on an expedition to gather all the garbage they could find on the ground. The found objects were brought to the laboratory to be analyzed. Best samples were exhibited in a small garbage museum.
Treasure Hunt Officer CATHERINE invited the children to imagine that the Karmeliterplatz was a pirate island that the submarine had docked at. They drew up a map of everything they saw around. When the map was finished, they went out to search for the hidden treasures!
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Open Workshops Every Tuesdays and Thursdays sea women Catherine, Daniela and Lola invited the children to build objects out of plastic bottles: water filter system, flower vases, binoculars, oxygen tanks... you could also make your own captain’s hats, silkscreen your clothes and draw underwater figures on the ground. Primary school Mariatrost on board!
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OPEN WORKSHOPS
Andreas Reijnder, a professional diver, visited the submarine’s cabin to share his deep-sea adventures.
Do you know how many different creatures live in water? In the submarine you could observe them under the microscope. Biology teacher WALTRAUD JÜRGENS and artist Helene Thümmel helped children identify, color in and draw various creatures.
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(NO) PLASTIC DAY
LONG LIFE Elongate your life with plastic
Students of the class “KUNSTstoff”–artistic practice1, taught by Daniela Brasil and Elisabeth Oswald, developed performances and actions around the submarine. They tried to bring attention to the theme of plastic pollution in public space.
Save the Whale Daniel Frochauer, Lukas Gosch, Paul Hlatky and Theresa Riesenhofer created a new product: a fictional and funny solution to our concerns with aging. This work criticizes the excess packaging of our fruits and vegetables by supermarkets as a way to „extend“ the freshness of those products. Ps. Don’t try this at home... It’s a joke!!
This performance by Kevin Blaickner, Alexander Herzog, Manuel Sandner and Stefan Wetscher illustrated the threats that plastic pollution poses to marine life. Manuel Sandner embodied a suffering whale, producing amazing sounds! As the public began to notice, they started to remove the plastic garbage from the pool, finally rescuing the whale.
In front of a typical cosmetic shop, the group invites customers to try their “product”!
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(NO) PLASTIC DAY
Plastic Balls
AB’GSTEMPELT Kathrin Steiner and Valentina Heiss toured the city with their bikes, offering a stamps catalogue to the children: the symbols of garbage recycling were made into stamps.
These balls are made from 300 disposable cups each, and represent the volume of plastic packaging one person throws away approximately every 2 weeks. They were rolled around by people, used to play or as hats... Looking at them you were invited to imagine: what if 10% of the plastic we produce manages to make its way to the sea... !?!
The cups were collected and assembled by Johanna Schmeizl, Michael Heil, Noel Plieger, Simon Neururer and Theresa Fink.
WORKSHOP
Those who travel in water
The rivers, lakes, seas and oceans of the world are full of garbage that has become a serious threat for all living beings. These objects were collected by Consuelo Mendez from various bodies of water across the globe and used by Nayari Castillo in her workshop “Those who travel in water�.
IDEA:
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How do you think these objects ended up in the water? Design some traps that can catch these swimming objects.
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NOTES
Further Expeditions
Design you own diving equipment and head out! www.aquatopia.at
Expedition 1
Waterways of the urban water supply
Notes
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Expedition 2
Waterways, water springs and water reservoirs
NOTES
Expedition 3 Movement on the seabed
NOTES
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Expedition 4 Full moon night walk
NOTES
Expedition 5
The water inside our body
Notes
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Expedition 6 Rain Walk
NOTES
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THANK you!! FUNDED by
Captain‘s hat
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CAPTAIN‘s hat
thank you!! WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM
in cooperation with
CREW DEEP SEA Diver Daniela Brasil purser Bernhard Seidler pilot Katja Hausleitner lieutenant Patricia Wess chief mechanic Thomas Kalcher
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nautical officer Lola Seibt radio announcer Edith Risse DOCUMENTARY CINEMATOGRAPHER Dietmar Reinbacher PROGRAMMER Andreas Untersteggaber driver Bernhard König travel journalist Andrea Acosta harpooner Barbara Raic EXPEDITION cOMMANDER Catherine Grau SIGNAL TECHNICIAN Eva Ursprung ENGINE CUSTODIAN GDS und Roter Keil BATH ATTENDANT Günther Pedrotti OPERATINg officer Richard Frankenberger SHIP’S COOK Ursula Achternkamp DREAM AGENTS Nayari Castillo, Tuuli Sundén-Uusimäki PERISCOPE ENGINEER Christian Meixner SHIP PAINTER Luka Murovec
SAILORS Anna Carolina Barreto, Arnold Verderber, Birgit Bonvecchio, Davide Barbieri, Gerald Grassl, Hannah Feichtinger, Judith Urschler, Katja Seibt, Max Kieninger, Michael Tasch, Philipp Kramer, Ramona Winkler, Rita Lopes, Robert Pirker, Peter Kanzler, Stefan Schuster, Stefan Vogler, Thomas Kain. SHIP’S BOYS and SHIP’S GIRLS Yuri, Moritz, Fati, Leo, Ali, Karo und das Zoom Museum Team.
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THANK YOU! technical assistance through THE waterworld Johann Arrer - in memorian, Werner Sprung, Isabella Plank, Werner Pirkner, Gabriele Weigelhofer. equipment donations Milanka Fritz, Alpenverein Graz Paddelgruppe and the Grazer Tauchclub Adria. donations of plastic bottles Mariella Grundauer, Renate Kandlbauer, Martina Eckhart, Martin Berger, Gabriela Pirsch, Markus Lechthaler, KF University and TU Graz students. collection of bottles and contributions to building the submarine: teachers and students of BG/BRG Kirchengasse, BG/ BRG MG Dreihackengasse, BRG Keplerstraße, Schulschwestern Eggenberg, BRG Lichtenfels, VS St. Andrä. For dreaming up the initial idea together, many thanks to Yasemin Ceylan
imprint EDITORs
Daniela Brasil Institute of Contemporary Art TU Graz www.izk.tugraz.at Kinderbüro Die Lobby für Menschen bis 14 Karmeliterplatz 2/3, 8010 Graz www.kinderbuero.at
COVER / LAYOUT
Dietmar Reinbacher english version: Patricia Wess
Photos
Aquatopia Crew except Tom Biela: S. 20, 36, 38, 39, 43; Richard Reinthaler: S. 41
ILLUSTRATIONS
Catherine Grau: S. 18, 52, 58, 67-73; Luka Murovec: S. 3,12-15, 24, 75-76; Dietmar Reinbacher: craft instructions
FONT
Dk Pisang, David Kerkhoff
Copy editor
Catherine Grau Graz, Austria © 2014 Verlag der TU Graz
A PROJECT BY
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