“tasks on a tram”
Depart Triemli: enter the tram and take a seat in your favourite spot, if seat not available sit in that general area. Make yourself comfortable.
Triemli — Schaufelbergerstrasse — Heuried: allow your gaze to drift through the tram. Observe the other passengers. Pay special attention to their body language. How do the passengers hold their bodies in relation to one another?
Talwiesenstrasse: change seats in the tram. Choose a seat either beside or close to another passenger. How do the other passengers react as you sit down in this new spot? Does their body language change as you enter this shared space? Does yours?
Goldbrunnenplatz — Schmiede Wiedikon — Bahnhof Wiedikon: Does one person/a group of people interest you in particular? Observe this person/these people closely, pay special attention to their mannerisms. Are they using the tram/this space as public or private space? How do you tend to use this particular space (public/private)?
Werd: find your partner for this exercise (Allison). Take a seat next to each other.
Stauffacher — Sihlpost — Löwenplatz: Tell your partner about the person/group of people you have been observing. What is their story? Where are they going? Where did they come from? How are they feeling right now? Spontaneous, train of thought, probable, likely or fantastical…anything goes. Your partner will then tell you her story.
Bahnhofplatz/HB: Walk to a new spot in the tram. Take a seat that you normally would not choose. Why wouldn’t you normally choose this spot?
Bahnhofquai/HB: Note down at least three remarkable things that you see/that you have seen.
Stampfenbachplatz: Can you imagine a song that would be appropriate for this moment, this space? What is it? What made you think of it?
Beckenhof: If you are facing forwards, change places and take a seat facing backwards. How does this alter your experience? Does it change the way you are observing people or the city outside? Do you notice different things?
Kronenstrasse — Schaffhauserplatz: write down everything you hear as you hear it—from both inside and outside the tram—try to write quickly.
Guggachstrasse — Milchbuck — Hirschwiesenstrasse: Write down some of the words you see as you look around (both inside and outside the tram).
Berninaplatz — Salersteig — Sternen Oerlikon: Turn your attention to the city passing by. How has the city transformed throughout the journey? Is the architecture notably different? Who lives in these buildings? How do they live? Make a sketch of anything that catches your eye.
Bahnhof Oerlikon Ost: Move to a part of the tram you haven’t been so far. Take a seat. Choose a new observation point.
Felsenrainstrasse: Have you had the impulse to get off the tram at any point thus far? If so, why? When?
Seebacherplatz — Seebach:
Think about how you tend to use this particular space. What are your habits? What sort of behaviour do you believe to be acceptable/appropriate/inappropriate for this “public” space? What kinds of tools/signals do you employ when alone in this space in order to get to your destination in a desirable state/way? Consider why you use certain actions in this space. Consider how you have seen other passengers using this space throughout the journey and why they use the signals they have been using.
Arrive Seebach: meet your partner (Allison) at the back of the tram for a discussion.
Guest: Dominic Huber
Documentation: Jennifer Vogel
reART:theURBAN „City link“