Studio 4
11.08. - 22.08.
STALKER - Lorenzo Romito, Giulia Fiocca
1° Day | 11.08.2008
Three Days Walks Diary
Starting point was the map in the oval grass in the park of the Palais Thurn und Taxis. We asked the gardener to cut the form of the Rhein River and the Bregenzer Ach out of the grass to get an idea of the area and spaces we wanted to explore. A first tour was along the Lake of Constanze to the Rheindelta. This artificial tongue is growing longer and longer since a couple of years to save Bregenz from high water. With our bikes we followed the railway track which was suddenly stopped by a big stone. People were swimming and sunbathing at the stony beach but the nearer we reached the very end of the river the less people we met. We reached the point and had a break. Water was all around us and it appeared this site doesn’t belong to any country, not Switzerland, Austria or Germany. It seems to be a neutral area with same distances to all sides. We watched people in boats, enjoyed our lunch, and came across dead seagulls and other things the water brought with it. Our first exploration tour ended with the creation of a landmark that now gives this place a certain identity. On the way back to the Palais we got lost in the periphery of Hard and Lauterach, but finally got back to our starting point, the physical map in the oval grass.
2° Day | 12.08.2008
Day 2 started with a tour full of surprises. We followed the railway tracks of the abandoned Bregenzerwaldbahn starting to look for survivals of the past in the city centre of Bregenz. While driving the bikes we suddenly came across abandoned tracks. They were occupied by nature and situated between big residential buildings. It was the starting point of our historical tour. Time has changed a lot – housing projects block out the line of the train, a station is converted into a cinema and a tunnel is now used as a cycle track. The railway tracks brought us more and more out of the city in a suburban area. The huge highway cross shows the relevance of the car in our society and the no relevance of the Bregenzerwaldbahn. We left the official cycle path and were wondering where the railway track brings us. A Turkish lady was wondering why 10 people wanted to cross her garden and an old factory and abandoned house in Kennelbach showed us some memories of the past. In Kennelbach we left our bikes and continued our tour by walking. “DANGEROUS TUNNEL IN 7.5 KM” said a sign at the beginning of the walk. No wonder why there were no other people coming across. We kept on walking looking for survivals of the past. Stones, railway sleepers and forgotten stations start to become more and more a part of the nature. Km 7.5 was an important emotional experience for some of us. We didn’t trust the tunnel that dared to collapse and passed it with a certain fear. But the path along the Bregenzer Ach kept on going, it is a fascinating aisle through the valley. After a few hours of walking the first civizilisation we reached was at a mountain camping site. Dutch, German and French people explained us the way to the nearest bus stop to get back to Kennelbach. The last bus in Doren goes at seven. We have been too late and so we hitchhiked to get back to the Palais Thurn und Taxis safely.
3° Day | 13.08.2008
The railway station in Hohenems was the starting point of day 3. After walking through a housing settlement with gardens we reached a new residential area. We walked through this private zone passed a various of wooden and natural fences and were suddenly stopped. There was no restricted path to cross this area. The gardener didn’t allow us to jump over the fence and considering we didn’t want to get hassle we left this private zone. While having a coffee at Sutterlüty we recognised this huge 3-storey building as empty and dreadful quiet. Except the supermarket in the ground floor every shop was just nothing. We were on the way to the border. The middle of a roundabout, a huge grass field, was a great place for an intervention. For a short time we were standing there as a human tower watching cars circling around us. The old Rhein is a special place. Close to the costume you can easily change the country on a natural path. Sometimes you don’t recognise in which country you are at the moment.
We chose the Swiss side at the beginning and came across a swimming bath with water from the old Rhein. The weather was cloudy. That’s why have been the only guests expect 3 people who come there every summer day since the last 30 years. We went back to Austria. People were fishing, camping or just hanging around. The police at the costume Lustenau Schmitterbrücke left when we arrived. The barrier was still open and so a lot of cars crossed the border. We did the same and continued our tour in Switzerland. After walking through fields of carrots and corn we followed the flow of the new Rhein. We reached an abandoned costume which gave us the possibility to go back in our home country without passports. Lustenau was the end of our walk. We took a bus to the station in Dornbirn which was the end of our walk 3.
