The urban intervention KOM:sitz is a pillow with the size of one parking lot. It functions as a mobile library and creates a temporary meeting-space for reading and relaxing in public space.

the new format »KOM:sitz« in action – mobile library and stage for reading sessions and contentual discussions. »I would like to invite you to accompany me on my forays, (...)« Flexen, Flâneusen writing cities, 2019

»Watching a street from time to time, perhaps with a little systematic attention. Take one's time. (...) The street: try to describe the street, what it is made of, what it is for. The people on the street. The cars.« Perec, 1990

The collection of books changing depending on the context and intention. We have read feminist texts, books about mobility, cities and urban planning processes

KOM:sitz on the way to a new parking lot during the Reeperbahnfestival on the Heiligengeistfeld in Hamburg

relaxed moment in public space

Reading session in front of the museum Deichtorhallen during the »international building forum« on the topic of mobility

Intimate moment in public space arise through this new format for encounter

Production of KOM:sitz. The interior of the pillow consists of old foam remnants, the outside is made out of old muesum banners.

KOM:sitz

KOM:sitz is taking and occupying space, is meeting and lingering together, is reading aloud to each other, is time, is questioning, is moving through the city and is public.

The mobile reading pillow KOM:sitz is an urban intervention that recaptures public spaces in the city and invites people to come together, hang out collectively, exchange ideas and – above all – reading aloud. The reading pillow creates an open, accessible and low-threshold space for knowledge exchange and transfers the functions of a small scale library to urban spaces. The huge pillow has the size of a parking lot (2.5 x 6m), which means up to 12 people instead of one car. By entering parking spaces and sitting next to the street while reading and discussing together, KOM:sitz enables a new perspective on the environment and raises questions on how we deal with public spaces in nowadays cities. The pockets integrated within the pillow offer space for up to 30 books. The book selection can be changed depending on location and intention. KOM:sitz was developed during the summer school »ex_kurs_sommer« and consists of re-used materiales like old banners from an art museum and foam remnants.

During the previous activations of KOM:sitz our book selection focussed on the perspectives of women* (women, lesbian, inter, non-binary, trans) on public spaces and on the topics of traffic, city planning and sustainability.

Category:
urban
performative intervention

Team:
flex (Jana Beckmann, Janna Nikoleit)
and morgen. (Martha Starke, Beate Kapfenberger)

Cooperation:
ex_kurs_sommer Zinnwerke HH-Wilhelmsburg

Associated services:
conception
design
realisation
performative activation

Year:
2019

Realisation period:
12.08. – 24.08.2019

Place:
Hamburg