“Tea service for a river" is a site-specific installation in the LP House for the  Organhaus Gallery in the city of Chongqing, China, hanging from ceiling to floor and displaying layers of intervened fishermen tools and cooking utensils with screen-like structures: these are fishing nets, buoys, strainers and sifters which in turn contain dark chips made out of a dried banana peel's fibers paste.

 

Banana peel fiber has been scientifical* (1) proven to absorb heavy metals (copper/lead)* (2) from any given source of water, such being the case with industrial and agricultural toxic effluents polluting waterways around the globe* (3)

 

The installation is a comment on the status quo from water on many regions and cities of the planet, where in order to access suitable water from natural sources - for drinking, household or irrigation purposes  - it is unavoidable to go through a process of water filtering and brewing  just like in the process of making a cup of tea.

In a wider sense, "Tea service for a river" is also as a plea to go beyond the established and easily available nets of information, to strain our individual opinion out of bigger frame than the one which is given upon us.

 

*(1) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ie101499e

 

*(2) heavy metals are only one kind of pollutants which could be found altogether in toxic water; others groups are bacteria, viruses, diluted drugs including synthetic hormones and chemicals in general. Against these last pollutants, other materials than banana peels have proved to be useful

 

*(3) in many developing countries access to water and/or water sanitation is usually poor with the consequent harming effect on people's health and the environment: 1,1 billion people around the globe (1/6 of humanity) lack of access to safe drinking water. 3,5 million children die each year as a consequence of drinking contaminated water.