6. CLEAN WATER & SANITATION
Johan Rosenmunthe
Working title: Water for one
INTRODUCTION
Below is my sketch for the work. The working title is 'Water for one' and it is inspired by sacred springs and wells.
It consists of a concrete pipe with a vault and floor covered with white tiles as well as a drain. Out of the vault protrudes an amphora that releases 8 liters of water a day. Around the tiles are a series of soil layers with the embedded objects found in the ground under medieval towns.
The diameter of the concrete pipe is about 2 meters and depth about 1 meter.
In terms of materials, these are concrete, lightweight concrete, tiles, cement, fired glazed clay, soil, stone, lamp, drain grate, water pipes and electricity supply. Hidden in the plant will be a water management system.
Photo: Johan Rosenmunthe's sketch
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ARTISTIC STUDY
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Water supply and wastewater drainage are both very rich idea, violent and expensive infrastructures to distribute over long distances and through different layers of the Earth's mantle. At the same time, they are both very sensitive to external influences, even from each other. Even now, in this time, there are no quick, smart solutions to get the supplies out to remote areas - tectonic layers must be pierced by large excavators and the installations must be hermetically sealed to the surroundings. If the supplies cannot come to man, man must come to the supplies.
In the old days in Denmark - and still in large parts of the world - we went to a local well or spring outlet to fetch water back into containers. The springs probably ran almost constantly and the well felt inexhaustible. But today there is not enough for everyone, and many have to share and settle for what is absolutely necessary. 8 liters per person per day is the WHO's limit for survival, for consumption, hygiene and cooking. It may sound like a lot - at first I thought I would be able to manage with less, but then you start to count.
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"I would like my work to focus on the contrast between the constant availability of water and sanitation, which is clearly expressed in Welfare Denmark's modern bathrooms, and the cumbersome and limited access to the same supplies that other people experience. And the contrast between the pure water inside the pipes and the dirty soil outside. "
The plant therefore consists of a concrete pipe that steps out of a ground slope. At the center and bottom of the pipe is a tiled vault reminiscent of a modern bathroom. Out of the vault protrudes a handmade amphorae-shaped water tank of burnt clay. Out of the amphora runs 8 liters of water a day - it runs directly into a drain on the tiled floor at the bottom of the pipe. Around the vault are the layers of soil that water supply must pass through, with the natural elements and objects found in the ground beneath our cities. There are also lights installed at the vault so it can be found in the dark.
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Johan Rosenmunthe
I am a visual artist and work i.a. with installations, sculptural works and photography.
I have long been interested in the relationship between our industrial underground pipelines and the different layers of soil that they pierce. Both the materials of the pipelines, the archaeological aspects of water supply and wastewater drainage as well as the exchange between our modern supply roads and the surrounding soil layers are recurring interests in my work.
