Airflow
The project consists of an invitation to the inhabitants and guests of the town of Korčula to turn off the air conditioners from 12 to 24 hours on 13th August and install wet sheets on the windows, which allow cooling.
The urbanism of Korčula Old Town is planned according to the wind rose. Its streets are positioned in such a way to allow wind flow which leads to a natural “ventilation” of space, and makes staying inside the city during hot summer days comfortable. The concept has been degraded throughout the centuries, thanks to interpolations, architectural interventions, and positioning ACs whose air flow affects the natural wind flow. Architecture follows the lead of urbanism. One of the possible uses for the protruding stones on the buildings’ facades is for setting up a rod on which wet sheets could be hung. This way, alongside the breeze, the damp sheets additionally cooled down the space.
The idea is to invite the inhabitants of Korčula to turn off their ACs for a while and hang wet sheets on their windows.The action is multidimensional - on the one hand it is putting the original air-cooling concept according to which the town was planned to test, even symbolically. On the other hand, the process is one which requires solidarity and organizations by residents, tourists and property owners. A discussion is thus opened about degrowth, a topic highly relevant for the current socio-political context. Flyers are distributed to the citizens and gurests og Korčula town. Flyers are designed by the artist, and contains the text:
AC off on 13th August.
We are inviting you to keep your AC off for two hours starting from noon, or to keep them off for the rest of the day. Instead, put wet sheets on your windows. The combination of the wind and wet sheets will cool your space without using any electricity.This initiative is based on the urbanism of the Town of Korčula, designed in accordance with the wind rose. The streets are positioned so as to enable an almost uninterrupted wind flow, keeping the space ventilated and making the streets pleasant during the summer. However, gradual interventions into the architecture of Korčula and the warm air of air conditioners have impaired this natural air conditioning.
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About author
Katerina Duda (1989) mastered Animated film and New Media at the Academy of Fine arts, and she mastered Sociology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb.
In her praxis she departs from the specific space; she is exploring how space and certain microlocations reflect wider social changes. She is often reflecting the topics of tourism and architecture, with an emphasis on art in context. She uses a variety of media such as social practice, actions and interventions in public space, as well as documentary film and video. Some of the exhibitions and projects in which she participated are: : Tinker, Roofer, Shower, Builder (Krov, tuš, roštilj, fuš, Gallery 90-60-90, 2021), 021 Ostrale Biennale (Dresden, 2021), Rijeka: The Yearbook of Movement (Rijeka: ljetopis kretanja, GSG, 2020), Hands, sheet, broom: a statistical chronicle (Ruke, plahte, metla: statistički ljetopis, GSG, Rijeka 2019), What are we supposed to do with an art collection? (Što će nam fundus?, GMK, 2018), Thanks, and Now Nothing Anymore (Hvala, a sad više ništa, Forum Gallery 2017), A Step for Koteks (Korak za Koteks, Gallery VN, 2017), The East is West of the West (Mediterranea 18 - Young Artists Biennale, Tirana, 2017), etc. She is the author of the short documentaries Currents (2019., Restart Laboratorij) and The Cutting (2015. Restart ŠDF). shown at international and domestic festivals.
www.katerinaduda.net
