the nature of stuff

this project is about water and networks of interaction in the city. for the past four weeks, ive been trying to focus, narrow, and refine my intention of study.

tankers like this override/fill in the gaps/compensate for the lack of hard, planned systems of water distribution infrastructure that the city built over 100 years ago. which makes the task of focusing, narrowing, and refining a big sloppy mess. so far ive been learning that there are layers upon layers of formal and informal networks that qualify for what as a westerner, i would consider to be a fairly fixed system. it is literally a moving target.

everyday i pass things like this:


these guys are not the worst offenders. most of them are dripping at a rate that would deplete half the tank on the way from the northern suburbs to say, cuffe parade.

the city is surrounded by water, parts of it used to be water, yet most of the water that comes out of taps is sourced far outside the city limits. public storage wells have been covered over and closed off. access today is a relative term dependent on time, money, and developers interest.

"The water we seek is the fluid that drenches the inner and outer spaces of the imagination. More tangible than space, it is even more elusive for two reasons: first, because this water has a nearly unlimited ability to carry metaphors and second, because water, even more subtly than space, always possesses two sides... Water remains a chaos until a creative story interprets its seemingly equivocation as being the quivering ambiguity of life." - Ivan Illich H2O and the Waters of Forgetfulness

on a personal, and rather ironic note, everyday i have to go restock my water bottle supply because i still have not secured reliable home delivery. every other day i crush plastic bottles in my bathroom because its so noisy i cringe.