Lifetime europe

—

a history-free spaceein geschichtsfreier Raum un espace non-historique

In summer 2005 Haus am Gern travelled to Leipzig on a two month residency following the invitation by the Leipzig Ar-tists Association (BBKL) to develop a project there. On 25 th Ju ly, Haus am Gern acquired allotment garden nr. 266 in plantation II belonging to the allotment garden association Anger-Crottendorf. The previous tenants had farmed this plot for thirty years (1975 – 2005). The plot’s 208 square me-ters, cultivated in three equal parts with fruit and vege-tables, flower beds and lawn, passed into the pos ses sion of Haus am Gern unchanged, including the stone ga zebo and the entire inventory (tools, furniture and deco ra tion). On completion of the purchase, Haus am Gern became a mem-ber and tenant of the allotment garden association Anger-Crottendorf.

Within the existing gazebo, Haus am Gern built a free stan-ding structure measuring 2.10 x 2.12 x 2.14 meters. The spa-ce was designed as a cleanroom according to EN ISO 14644 contamination control standard (technical consultant: Daniel Grimm, CH) and consists of an anteroom with storage for

protective clothing as well as the actual dust-free space. An air conditioning system controls the climate in the room and slight positive pressure prevents the infiltration of dust particles. Haus am Gern declared this room a “history free” space.The history free space was cleaned, certified, locked and sea led by the specialist company profi-con Contamination Control (Aschaffenburg/Leipzig) and cannot be acessed since.

Garden 266 and the history free space were looked after by Jasper and Christine Friedrich-Leye until 2007 and since then by the Holzers, a family of five from Leipzig, with the sup-port of neighboring tenant Hannes Fechtner. Allotment plot 266 with the history free space is open to the public for gui-ded visits on request (lifetimeeurope@hausamgern.ch).

—LIFETIME EUROPE is for sale. All responsibilities and duties devolve to the buyer.

1 Acleanroomisanenvironment,typicallyusedinmanufacturingorscientificresearch,thathasalowlevelofenvironmentalpollutantssuchasdust,airbornemicrobes,aerosolparticlesandchemicalvapors.Moreaccurately,acleanroomhasacontrolledlevelofcontaminationthatisspecifiedbythenumberofparticlespercubicmeterataspecifiedparticlesize.Togiveperspective,theambientairoutsideinatypicalurbanenvironmentcontains35,000,000particlespercubicmeter,0.5μmandlargerindiameter,correspondingtoanISO9cleanroom.

Theairenteringacleanroomfromoutsideisfilteredtoexcludedust,andtheairinsideisconstantlyrecirculatedthroughhighefficiencyparticulateair(HEPA)and/orultralowparticulateair(ULPA)filterstoremoveinternallygeneratedcontaminants.Staffenterandleavethroughairlocks(sometimesincludinganairshowerstage),andwearprotectiveclothingsuchashats,facemasks,gloves,bootsandcoveralls.Somecleanroomsarekeptatapositivepressuresothatifthereareanyleaks,airleaksoutofthecham­berinsteadofunfilteredaircomingin.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleanroom

Lifetime europe

a history-free space – ein geschichtsfreier Raum – un espace non-historique

SINCE 2005 INTERvENTION, IN PROGRESS

MIxED MEDIA

CLEANROOM

CLEANROOM AIR SHOWER

GAzEBO

Richharvestthankstopropercare:RenéMedickcutsbackthetrees.

VintageGDR:thegazebobeforetheerrectionofthehistoryfreespace.

GardenenthusiastHermannWaltercultivatedtheallotmentfor30years.

BeautyandVanity:–photographbyUlrikeHolzer

Oneof39’000:theallotmentwithinthesmallgardenassociationAnger­CrottendorfIIinthe

eastofLeipzig.

…ofthefirmprofi­conContaminationControl(Aschaffenburg/Leipzig)purifiestheindustrial

cleanroom.

Artists’brunchontheallotment:lefttorightAnnetteSchröter,BarbaraMeyerCesta,ErasmusSchröter,JürgenStrege.

PresentationofLIFETIMEEUROPEinthegroupexhibition“Theworldisnotenough”atStädtischesKaufhaus,Leipzig.

Aworker…

HISTOIRES SANS ESPACE

Tu verras …

C’est déjà vu.

L’art existe dans l’œil qui le regarde …

À toi de voir.

Même le regard le plus hagard n’y peut

choir là, au néant de l’histoire.

Il n’y a d’yeux que tes yeux, qui sèmement

l’art et portent le génie des lieux …

au fin fond et même au delà des cieux.

Espace sans histoire, vous avez dit !!! ou

d’histoires sans espace ???

Tout est dans l’ère imaginaire … dans

l’esprit fécond et fertile.

À toi de voir.

L’être n’a rien à voir avec l’avoir, le

pédant et le stérile.

Bang … Bang … Qui a pété le big bang ???

L’art existe dans l’œil qui le regarde …

Ainsi murmurait la Petite Grande

étoile.

ALI BOUzAROURA, WRITER

Fromparadisetotheallotmentgarden:Adam,Eve,CainandAbelaftertheexpulsion

(JuliusSchnorrofCarolsfeld,DieBibelinBildern,GeorgWiegand'sVerlag,Leipzig,1860).

oN ArCHiViNG tHe VoiD

Where nothingness describes

the world.

Empty Room

Approach this room carefully. It is empty, completely emp ty. The closer you come, the larger the temptation is to enter it: the consequences are unpredictable. Contem­plate this fact: the perfection of this room is its contain­ment of nothing. A room without a past, without a fu tu re. Without any intentions, indifferent to its own bright ness, to every grid, every kind of geomancy, to sensible ad di­tions unless they serve its hermetic hygiene. With out reac­tion to fatigue and energy, untouched by table legs, never crossed by clotheslines or even the flapping of a lost but­terfly,s wings, without a memory of points of entry, ex­change of bodily fluids, noiseless, unwounded and with out scorch marks. No confession, no treason, no sighs, no deep breaths, no prospect, neither re­birth nor resur rec tion. An abject room. Perhaps you had better walk away again. Your stay is crea­ting a precarious situation: for you and the room. See, you,re already imagining that so me thing is touching the dust­free interior walls; you,re startled even though you haven,t heard anything … It is, as if a story were trying to begin. A hopeless entangle ment, and you know it. Not in this room.

Franz Dodel, Writer, Bern

CREDITSHostBundBildenderKünstlerLeipzigBBKL(AssociationofVisualArtistsLeipzig)Location«Theworldisnotenough»,StädtischesKaufhaus

LeipzigCurators ChristineD.Hölzig,GabrielHäussler InterventionAllotmentGardenAssociationAnger­CrottendorfAnlage II,Leipzig

StudioKunstkaufhausLeipzig;GerdaViecenzAccommodationJürgenStregePhotographySimonRübesamen&NadinMariaRüfenacht

Garden 266 HermannWalter&FamilieTechnical support DanielGrimmDrywall construtionRenéMedickCleanroom servicingDu­

vernellprofi­conContaminationControlLeipzigGardening HannesFechtner;JasperandChristineFriedrich­Leye;MaxandRenateHolzerand

ChildrenSupported byAgenturfürArbeitLeipzig/BürofürInternationaleBeziehungenLeipzig;PräsenzBern,OfficeforCulturalAffairs

Leipzig;KulturraumLeipzigerRaum/KR–05;KulturstiftungSachsen,KulturStadtBern;REALImmobilienGmbHLeipzig;BeatHugi;Yvonne&

RobertHäussler;ProHelvetia;KantonBern

If we are saying that nothing exists either inside or outside, then the question

arises: inside and outside of what? Something evidently, all the same, does

exist? Or perhaps doesn't exist. In which case, why do we keep saying 'inside'

and 'outside'? No, here we have patently reached an impasse. And we our sel­

ves don't know what to say. Goodbye for now.

Daniil Kharms, “On Phenomena and Existences Nr. 2” [1934], in Incidences, trans. Neil Cornwell, London: Serpent’s Tail, 2006, p. 96

Bydefinitionacleanroomisaroomwithcontrolledcon­ditions.One lookat thedailypapersproves that theworldcannotbeacleanroom.

Incleanroomtechnologywetalkabout“contaminationcontrol.”Bythiswemeancontaminationinthesenseofimpurification–theairisprobablyonlyreallypureandclearonMt.Everest,andonlywhennohumansarepresent.

Wewillthusneverexperiencehowcleanandclearanuncontaminatedroomis,foritishumanswhocontami­nateitwiththeirpresence,theirthoughtsandtheiren­ergy.

Designinga“history­freespace”isaboldproject.Hu­manbeingsonlyexistintheirpresentemergingfromtheirpast,withalookintothehopefulfuture.Aroomwithouthistorywouldalsobearoomwithoutthephy­sicalpresenceofhumanity–probablynirvanaorpara­dise,dependingwhichversionofhistoryyouprefer.

Thetechnicalapplicationofcleanroomsextendsfromsemiconductortechnologytothefoodindustryandme­dicine.Withoutcleanrooms,microchipswouldbeun­thinkable.Withoutmicrochips,archivingdatawouldbemuchhardertorealise.Archivingdatameansthemani­festationoftheexistenceofhistory–whichmakesitevenboldertorepresenta“history­freespace”inacleanroom.Byenteringthehistory­freespace,wearecutofffromtheenvironment.Whathappensthere–evenifwecan

see it – remainsuninfluencedbyusat thatmoment.Ourhistorycontinues,thehistory“outsideonthestreet”continueswithoutus.

Theplayfulthoughtthatthecleanroomprotectstheen­vironment, but also protects the people within fromenvironmentalinfluences,mayleadusinmanydirec­tions.

Atthemomentwhenanindividualrecognisesthatthehistoryoftheworldwillcontinuetobewrittenwithouthisassistance,hebecomesawareofhisowninadequa­cy.Ifhemakeshisandtheworld’shistoryintoanintegralcomponentofthepresent,agreatdealofthemistakesexperiencedinthepastwouldnolongerberelevantforthefuture.

Manyindividualsmakeacrowd.Perhapsevenevery­one?Microchipsareproducedfaultlesslyinacleanroom.Ina“history­freespace”,afuturemightbebuiltthatattheveryleastdoesnotrepeatthemistakesofthepast.Inthisrespect,humanswouldonlyhavetolearnfromtheirhistory–andcreateacleanspaceintheirheadsandhearts,freeofthechainsofprejudice.Whataboldproject.

Daniel Grimm,

Secretary of the Swiss Society for

Cleanroom Technology.

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Gardenenthusiastandfriendlyspirit:HannesFechtnerofgarden267

Artists’brunchattheallotment:Heiner,ChristineandJasperFriederich­Leye

Planting,weeding,cutting,digging:lefttorightMax,Ulrike,Oskar,RenateandArneHolzertendtogarden266.

MatthiasWyss,GazeboLeipzig,pencilonpaper,2006 TiloSteireif,LifetimeEurope,felt­tippenonpaper,2007

BertramKober,LifetimeEurope,photograph,2007

ArtiStS iNterpretLifetime europe

oNe yeAr oN ALLotmeNt 266

Growth, bloom, harvest and decay