Urban Evolution Performance, Weimar

Urban Evolution was a performance in public space in Weimar, Germany. Our intention was to address the phenomenon that new urban quarters lack atmosphere or "patina" due to their newness. In other words, they can't tell you a story related to their history or milieu, stories which can be appropriated, stories which give people a sense of belonging or identity. In new developments such stories have to be written first. So, we decided to playfully write a synthetic urban history, with boxes operated by individuals that would represent three different developmental steps. Prior to each step and resultant movement of the box, the individuals would mark up traces with chalk on the paving. The boxes represent phases in urban development, the movements indicate where temporary and permanent structures succeed each other, and each step was represented by different colors. The steps all leave traces behind that can be perceived by observers and users of public space (created in cooperation with Arne Löper and Javier Barona).