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Transporting Puddle A to Puddle B

Transporting Puddle A to Puddle B
/4
    • Transporting Puddle A to Puddle B
  • 2004
  • video, color, sound
  • 10min, 53sec
Yoshinori Niwa staged this performance at Alexanderplatz, across from where the Berlin Wall stood during the Cold War. In an attempt to hint at the invisible borders that exist today, Niwa transferred water from one puddle to another using his mouth. Although the Wall had been demolished by that time, with freedom of movement established within the whole of Germany and subsequently across the Schengen countries, new borders were and still are being constantly created by wars and immigration laws. From the perspective of a Japanese artist residing in Europe, the conflict between East and West has continued to be about what national identities mean nowadays. Coming from a country where the natural border is the sea, his action denotes a transboundary shift—which, even if it goes unnoticed physically, might very well be felt mentally. W.S.