Saturday, February 25, 2012

Thalwil – Cultural City of Europe

Before I get to the main point of today’s blog, I must report on the latest progress on “What do I do with my vuvuzela?” In case, you had forgotten, these were the trumpet type instruments that were handed out at the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa. Here is a short clip just to remind you.


(Do you remember now?)

My friend, Boris Kraus, bought me one, in German colours of course. This was used to great effect in the Germany vs Argentina quarter-finals, where the Hawkers could be seen blowing the Boris vuvuzela in the Marquee in Laax. We must obviously claim some of the credit for Germany’s 4 – 0 victory.

The question that has been taxing people is what does one do with a redundant vuvuzela?

Help is at hand. We have been told that a survey was carried out in South Africa to find the most popular use for a redundant vuvuzela. The use that came out on top was as a toilet roll holder. Not to be outdone, the “Boris Kraus vuvuzela” has now come out of the cellar and takes pride of place in the toilet by the front door.

Here are some pictures as we tested this idea.


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Now on to the main article of the day.
You might think that this is the neighbours just putting out their washing to dry. The weather was pretty damp, so it took a long time. Several weeks in fact, after which one begins to suspect that it might not be washing after all, and if it is washing, then someone is going short of his or her clothes.
 
 
No. This is more Thalwil art.
 
 
The reason that I say “More” Thalwil art, is that many of you will remember the Red Bicycle (with a Capital “R” and a Capital “B”).
Here are three links from my Blog last year:




Do you remember the tears welling up in your eyes, when Grumpy broke the news that the Red Bicycle was no more? Such sadness. I am not sure whether anyone has ever written a book “Funeral for a Bicycle”, but if they haven’t, then there is clearly an opening here.

But back to Thalwil Art and the drying laundry. You will notice the shop to the right of the picture. “kultur labor” – a culture laboratory. This is a place where people carry out (humane and pain-free) experiments on Culture. Imagine that. If you ever wanted to know how to experiment on culture, then Thalwil is the place to come; the place where they tie Red Bicycles to railings and hang their washing out for six weeks.

So what are we to make of this particular experiment? Is it an illusion? Is the television satellite dish part of the art? Does the train form part of the art, as it finishes its journey into the City of Zurich? 

If the Red Bicycle explored the meaning of existence (where do I get this nonsense from?), then what significance should we place on “The Thalwil Washing”.

Is it a protest against the slavery of domestic work? Is it the opposite, perhaps, being a celebration of the liberating effects of the weekly washing. Do the shirts display patterns of Time and Space?

Perhaps this could start a trend. All towns could have washing on show in the high street, instead of putting up Christmas tree lights. There should be a national hanging out your washing day, complete with appropriate cards to be bought on Moonpig.com. “Happy Hanging out your Washing Day”.  

What next? Watch this space. How can the people of Thalwil build on these artistic triumphs? “Thalwil – Cultural City of Europe 2013”. Forget Liverpool, as the cultural centre of Europe. Come to Thalwil.

But Thalwil has got a long way to go to catch up with Minnesota. (Charlie – I haven’t heard from you for a long while, so I thought I would throw this in)

Please note that no bicycles, shirts or trousers, clothes-pegs or washing-lines have been harmed or distressed during the writing of this blog.

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