We all drink the same water
Drawing in space, painting
Perspektiven Attersee, 2022
Intervention in public space realised at the invitation of the Perspektiven Festival Attersee.
KAUFHAUS BARESCH
Attersee am Attersee
Drawing in space in 4 acts, based on a legend about Lake Attersee
16 x 2,4 x 1 m
Canvas, acrylic, powder-coated steel, hand painted steel
2022-2023
„We All Drink the Same Water“ explores the possibilities of storytelling through the invention of a fictional tale—questioning how a place is always embedded in its stories, where place is cultural and space is geographical. The work challenges the dominant Christian narratives of suffering and punishment, which are deeply woven into Austrian folklore and storytelling, particularly in rural landscapes.
Legends and myths play a crucial role in shaping the collective imagination of these regions, influencing how people perceive and relate to their environment. But what happens when we shift the narrative—moving away from linear, exclusionary thinking toward something more open, circular, and inclusive? The new tale created for this work reimagines these cultural structures, offering an alternative to inherited beliefs and the rigid moral frameworks they often impose.
During the exhibition, the invented tale was presented as a found object, deliberately obscuring its origin as an artistic creation. This strategy further challenges the mechanisms by which we assign meaning and authenticity to cultural artifacts: How do we recognize something as significant? What makes a story „real“? By blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction, the work provokes a reassessment of what is considered history, tradition, and truth.
The tale was reinterpreted in four acts, using the town’s old warehouse as a stage for a fictional play. In this space—where stories are told, performed, and passed down—the work invites the audience to engage with the malleability of narrative, questioning how collective memory and cultural identity are constructed through the stories we choose to tell.
The tale of lake attersee
Once upon a time, a small village on Lake Attersee was isolated and unhappy. Everyone had tried to get the best out of life for themselves and one was full of envy for the other what he didn‘t have himself. They didn‘t talk to their neighbor, who was so different, resentment was shared.
The water spirits of the lake, who were rumored to inhabit the lake, took notice of the people‘s plight and and decided to give them their most important gift. So they presented each of the villagers with a small white stone. Unsure what to do with these stones, the villagers asked the water spirits:
“Well, your stones are beautiful, but what use is it that each of us now have such a small stone?” The water spirits remained silent. Disappointed, the people threw their stones away.
One of the children in the village picked up some of them and looked at them. And indeed, they fitted together in a strange way. One by one, each of the villagers brought their stone.
It took days to put all the pieces together. Without people noticed, they were talking to each other again. It wasn‘t long before word spread around the country that there was a village with two special stone pillars. People came from near and far to see them and hear the story of the water spirits.