P/punti speciali
28.8.–4.9.2009




P/punti speciali wurden für den städtisch/touristischen Bereich entwickelt. Sie sind im urbanen Geschehen temporär aufgestellte Erholungpunkte um seine mitgebrachte Jause in Ruhe, bei guter Musik und vor allem in Würde verzehren zu können. Puntis sind handlich, tauchen so plötzlich auf, wie sie verschwinden. Sie haben das nötige Rüstzeug, Serviette und MP3 Player/Kopfhörer für den temporären Gebrauch und sind im Einsatz flexibel.

P/punti wurde 2008 in Venedig auf Einladung artist in residence der Emily Harvey Foundation entwickelt.

Am 4 September wird Oliver Hangl die Intervention play in Venedig durchführen. Da P/punti in ihrem Erscheinen anarchisch auftreten, wird der Ort des Geschehens in letzter Minute bekanntgegeben.




P/punti speciali

Are unofficial travel guides across delicate everyday situations in the lives of tourists. Despite the freedom to travel, certain moments can be restrictive. These restrictions can be caused by local as well as personal factors. For the explorer, a tight purse is less hindrance to the spirit of exploration than a limited personality.

Let us get to the point. It is about food in urban public space, especially in areas highly frequented by tourists. Generally speaking, consuming food in areas in public space that are not specifically organised and structured for the purpose like a sausage stand, a barbecue in a public or private zone designated or a picnic in a green area is not permissible, or even out of place. Bourgeois class-consciousness wants the right etiquettes and bourgeois business sense for the preservation of income source. As a consequence, eating – a natural process – has come to be prohibited in public space.

At the same time, global fast food venues became part of an altered dining culture. Gadgets were developed for it, so that hotdogs, pizzas, doners amongst others were offered for the quick consumption. Sweet, soft, sour drinks and the practical disposable bottle, now also refillable, belong to our everyday life and are the side effects of a phenomenon like mass tourism. The city of Venice has recently begun to counteract this side effect.

In 2008 when we were invited by the Emily Harvey Foundation to study public eating habits in Venice, we accepted without hesitation. Accommodated near the Rialto Bridge, we began our investigations in the very hub of tourism. Artists working in public space usually study their surroundings, dissect living habits and place a simple gesture or a digital sign to mark their intentions.

There are many squares in Venice and each one of them is a perfect setting for a commedia dell’arte. Why not add a small prop, a punto/speciale, or even two? Group experiences could also be included. The flexible punti are easy to install and dismantle. Meant for temporary use they invite the tourist to avail of an intimate space in the very midst of the bustle. The curtain is not raised but drawn closed here, restricting the space to the users’ needs. At the same time, it also offers them and their surroundings protection during the dishonourable act of consuming food in public so that the tramezzini, torta Nicoletta, or whatever, can be enjoyed in peace. This also adequately explains the principle of the simple structure comprising a wooden box, napkins and an MP3 player. Also the local inhabitants can use the punti which could become worthy subjects of sociological studies due to their flexibile in placement.
Our attempt in this brochure was to record the initial event that was realised in August/September 2009 as part of Lower Austria’s (Public Art) and BmUK’s additional programme at the Venice Biennial and to question the topic in a multi-layered research. We count ourselves lucky and would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the authors and all those who shared this very special experience with us. We would also like to thank the many Venetians who approved and supported our efforts, and the Emily Harvey Foundation without whose infrastructure the project would have become vastly more difficult to realise.

Even if the Puntis were planned as “sandwich niches” and “dignity zones”, as we originally called them, in order to confine a metaphoric “gnawing at Venice”, we cannot give the objects themselves a break.

There are plans to transform and place them in Peking to claim for the people of China the time lost due to the onset of capitalism.

Translation: Nita Tandon