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Edition: 2004-03-07 |
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„20 Minuten“ – is a title of a free newspaper in Zurich. Not 20 minutes, but a bit more than 24 hours I spent there to join yet another exciting Swatch-Event which was partly held at the “NZZ” – “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”-headquarter. News – hot and incalculable – a bit like art. DaDa-art was the reason to go to the finance centre of Switzerland.
All began with a dinner in the Hotel Zürichberg. Unfortunately I’m not able to tell you what was severed… someone stole the menu-card from our table… should I give a reward to the person who is able to send me the menu-list or even a copy of this “document”? Well, the table was nice decorated: the place mat was also in DaDa-style. I do have an original No. 1 / 1 – very individual – because Semra Kalay, head of Swatch The Club Germany, signed my personal souvenir! Thank you very much.
Semra accompanied a coach with around 20 German members, they started in Frankfurt at 11:00 in the morning. Personally I took the train, which was for me the better alternative. So we were around 30 members from Germany and circa 170 totally. Traditional the Italian Group was the biggest one, am I right?
With 5 coaches and some private cars in a column we went from dinner to the NZZ printing. Some expected a guided tour while NZZ producing the actual newspaper, but what has this to do with art? Print is a technical production, we were in Zurich to be guest at an art-performance. Together with press-people, officials from Zurich and some VIPs the Club-Members were invited to this presentation. The warehouse and the truck-loading-zone was decorated and the place where Nick Hayek jr. together with an artists-group named “Rundumunrund” and the “Stapi” (mayor) of Zurich introduced the DaDa-Special-Swatch. A machine, producing the excerpt of time from a watch, was the theme. Open the lid, put in the watch, pray and dance around in a spiritual way, wait a moment, and you will get a blue clear liquid and silver “stones” the result – the product “time”! Ok. You understood? The same with me, but the artists don’t claim. They don’t have the intention that everyone understand what they are doing. Followed by a concert with two drummers and two e-guitars-players – inspirited by DaDa – their intention was to go on everybody nerves, they told us. Why not? Well, this music-play was only around 15 minutes, and for me not painful. To throw flour over the drums, the colleagues on the stage and the guests was only one thing that makes this concert unforgettable.
Next was two workshops where the guests were asked to do “DaDaDancing” and on the other side making a DaDa-poem: Use news-paper-articles, cut out the words, throw them in a box, close the box, shake the box, open the box, take out the pieces one by one and put them on a new paper. The words will be in a chaotic sequence – read the result LOUD! Might be as good as this report J. Meanwhile all guests became a synthetic beard, another sign of the DaDa-movement in the last century. Later on the club-members received their special, accompanied by quotations from the artists. They read the results from the workshop. Some people let the mayor of Zurich sign the package, Nick Hayek jr. also signed some of the tubes – I was too late for this signing.
At around 1:30 a.m. we drove back to the hotel "Seefeld" – with the new issue of the NZZ and a special supplement with reports and photos of the event we participated. A good idea. I like newspapers – you know? I don’t like closed hotel-bars… our mood was so good – not possible to sleep very fast. One beer… one Caipirinha, not “last orders please”, but first orders… so we (in this case only the German members, because the other groups / members were in separate hotels) went to a club near to the hotel. It was around 3:00 – 3:30 a.m. I went to bed. Other people had less sleep.
Honest Germans met the prejudice – we were accurate at the Cabaret Voltaire on Saturday morning 9:00 o’clock. Only some Swiss members were earlier – might be they have better (S)watches? As first group we got an interesting report about the DaDa-movement which was established in the Cabaret Voltaire. Also the architects which will rebuild the house till autumn held a speech. “Powered” by a brunch we went to a guided tour through Zurich, where we saw all other places the DaDa-artists lived and performed. The tour ended – you should know – at the Swatch Store Bahnhofstrasse. Buy, buy and bye. They sold the last Zurich-Specials made for their re-opening and the last Touch-Special-packages. Also in the store, but I don’t know if “buyable”, the James-Bond-Leather-Suitcase. A nice item…
Most of the German members drove back with the bus at 2:00 p.m.. Air condition in the only 3 weeks “old” Ernst Auwärter coach made by Carrier Sütrak – my new employer. It is a “must” for me to tell you this somewhere in this report!
The event was as good as my new employer. And this is a good sign. Nevertheless, work is one thing – a Swatch-Event another thing. Do I need holiday for Brussels? Will there be a “TinTin”-Event for sure? Every time the same problem – there will be some exams at my night-school. Time to end the studies. Start beginning life again. Isn’t it: Time is what you make of it?! See you soon.
If you have some (digital-)photos from the event, do not hesitate to contact me. I did not bought a new camera yet.
© & ® 2001 by NCK