upon looking at the description on WATERTOALL PROJECT, it stated “
It is about art, communication and ethics, not politics.” and what interests me is this idea about “politics”. I recall once talking to someone about the political, and they said ” everything is politics”, because inherently everything we do is either a position connected to first ” economy” or sometype of demarcation that identifies us with “humanity”, and that to avoid this, in the non, is also a political act. Thus, what we believe is not a political act, no matter how small, perhaps an everyday decision, perhaps buying toothpaste, is connected to something political, then immediately becomes political- via the economic, social, environmental…etc…that there is no escape from the political. However, there are those who see levels to the political, and in this, they separate Political Acts specifically designed to address power (voting, demonstrating, writing letters to the state, voicing ideas in the media), as being THE political, and all other acts to that of the everyday or ordinary, somehow out of the reach of the political. However, the everyday is extremely political. ( the amazing 60’s….the personal is political…is true.) Thus, in dealing with the simple notion of water useage, not even waste, distribution, structure, because it is linked to so many human activities, is very political, - or perhaps socio-politcal. Further, it demands, a knowledge, and a stance. iT demands a beleif. IT demands a relations. It demands an opinion- related to, at some point, environmentalism and governmental decisions and the choice, perhaps, between the two, in terms of power. Essentially, the water situation can be seen as….lack of water = looking for water= takes away time from working= less income= poverty= economics= political. Further, when looking at the photographs in
(water reportage) they did seem to be “objective” or analyticial documentations , also poetic photos, artistic, interesting compositions, interesting color and tone and light, yet this focus on the ordinary, a water tap with running water, a stream, begged a question, and in this questioning, it seemed to
drift into the political, of asking, what IS its politcal ( yet, this could be my now, bias conscious knowledge and understanding of what is the notion of water shortage, an unescapble perspective as all water i now see fits into a category of either plentiful water, useful water, water shortage, swimming water, beautiful water, soothing water, refreshing water, in other words the relations of the water to my own needs- thus again political) Beyond this though, my first response to the photographs was that I should turn off the water fawcet in the photo. why is the water running and there are no hands, or a person in the photo. also, my response to the photos was a sensation of the environment, that is seemed dry, pale earth, emptiness……IN this, the context, was equally the meaning of the water, as the water. which brings me to two questions,…… can one look at water without context….and can one document water without out it being political.

Thursday April 17th the Cappadocia-project meeting will be led by Ulay (Uwe Laysiepen).

(…) In 2002, during his professorship for new media art at the State School of Art and Design in Karlsruhe, artist Uwe Laysiepen (Ulay) initiated the multidimensional art project WATERTOALL. At the heart of this project lies Laysiepen’s desire to visualise a range of  aspects connected with drinking water, e.g. the management and use of water, the availability of pure drinking water for people worldwide, alternative methods of collecting and distributing water, and last  but not least cultural values and rituals concerning water. (…)

Read more on: http://www.ulay.net/water_to_all/water_20.html