sourceCharleroi (2011)
Within the framework of “Hotel Charleroi” – an artistic platform in Charleroi for one month – I tried to conceive a project in the city that also integrated my position as still being partly a tourist and a visitor. The idea of the project is to establish an installation on a representative place in Charleroi that also brings a touristy way of looking to mind. So the intention was to refill the upper fountain in front of the Palais des Expositions with water, after having it cleaned.
In contrast to how it might have seemed so far, I wanted to avoid an educational role as an artist (by showing the good example). As a final action, I threw my budget for the project into the water in the form of small coins.
Throwing a coin into a fountain while travelling is traditionally done as a ritual, hoping to come back to the place again.
The coins tossed in the fountain point at the imaginary people who might have passed by before me as visitors, and hence create some sort of made-up history for me. I would like to use the money as a direct material to arrange a fiction, to make an alluring gesture and thus open up a field for any kind of reaction.