Para Sites researches intersections between the river ecosystem of the Neckar and local inhabitants. The amphibious object was build for a performance during CURRENT Festival Stuttgart 2021.

For Para Sites, we researched and processed the complex implications of industry-focused interventions on the wild river Neckar. Wondering about ways to make the urban area around the river more livable for both human and non-human beings, we propose a fundamentally altered self-image of the Neckar-people as toxic beneficiaries (parasites) of the river. The common neglection of the sensitive endemic organisms of the river is illustrated by highlighting the motif of the Steinkrebs. This species of crayfish has been living it’s quiet life around the banks of the Neckar for hundreds of thousands of years, relying on natural, stony banks and pure, cool water to survive.

It is therefore severely threatened by the thoughtless canalization, chemical pollution and warming of the river caused by humans. Shifting people away from an unconsciously violent relationship with this precious body of water and its complex ecosystems towards a more sensitive attitude facing its potential livelihood is the focus of the project. The low-cost amphibious platform offers the opportunity to regain a direct, multisensoric relationship with the traumatized river from a close distance, thereby encouraging a way of recognizing it beyond the notion of the Nutzgewässer.

The Steinkrebs was presented to the public on 12.09.2021 at the industrial facility of the Neckarschleuse in Bad Cannstatt, in the framework of an Initiation.

Credits Para Sites

Artist: HP Lutsch with Marvin Flores Unger
Performer: Johanna Schneider
Stakeholder: Agency Apéro, Neckarinsel, Stadtlücken
Photos: Alexander Schultz, Nikolina Popovic, Felix Plachtzik
Performer: Johanna Schneider
Text: HP Lutsch
Special Thanks: Klingele Papierwerke