Wo sonst Touristenbusse sind
(2020)

The Covid-19 pandemic encourages the use of vacant public spaces with poetic, performative actions. It is no coincidence that the tourism hotspot Schwanenplatz in Lucerne was chosen. The contrast could not be greater. Previously, around 250 tourist cars stopped here every day, bringing hordes of tourists and turning the square into one of the world's top-selling locations for watch and luxury goods. The square has already become a political issue under the heading of overtourism. Now the buses have stopped and Thomas Zollinger and Sonja Rindlisbacher are using the vacant space to celebrate slowness, tranquillity and supposedly aimless activity. The square receives a weekly audience. A watering can full of water is poured onto the asphalt. This raises questions, amuses, provokes, feeds fantasies... it creates astonished faces, sometimes the cell phone is pulled out for a photo and short conversations arise. There are also spontaneous contributions from passers-by and joint performances with acquaintances.

The project starts on April 29, 2020 and ends, as planned in the initial concept, when the first tourist buses return to the square on July 20, 2021.

In 2020, Thomas Zollinger and Sonja Rindlisbacher are informed by the police that such performances require a permit. They dutifully obtain the permit twice and pay a relatively high fee. A dedicated exchange of letters with the authorities bears no fruit. Thomas Zollinger nevertheless decides to continue without a permit every Monday at 1:15 pm. The police do not respond and leave him alone. While Sonja Rindlisbacher performs the Asphaltgiess ritual every Tuesday at 5:15 pm in accordance with the street music information sheet.

In 2021, the two of them will once again water Schwanenplatz together every Tuesday from 5:15 pm. The tourist buses are still missing, but the square is getting busier and busier. Cars, minibuses, delivery vans, construction site installations and much more populate the square. The activities often become a dance between the elements present on the square. The two Giesskännli people seem to have almost become a fixture.