Marjetica Potrč, Water and New Orleans

The artwork of Marjetica Potrc, the Slovenian artist whose work with New Orleans architecture firm FutureProof is in the CAC "Something from Nothing" show (a rainwater filtering system is introduced by Dan Cameron in the video above), presents an alternative to convention wisdom in the rebuilding of New Orleans. An eco-friendly shotgun house prototype, with solar panels and cistern, was shown in a gallery in Chelsea recently, and Marjetica gave a talk at the New School called Future Talk Now: Learning from New Orleans, the Western Balkans, and Acre, Brazil. In an interview with MetropolisMag.com, it's obvious that Marjetica understands New Orleans' fragile condition in relation to wetlands loss, but she is also concerned about something many New Orleanians take for granted - the availability of water. Yesterday, National Public Radio ran a piece about the leaching of 50-90 million gallons of water a day from our system of 100-year old pipes that are in desperate need of replacement; however, FEMA can only "restore to pre-storm conditions," and pre-storm, N.O. was probably leaching similar amounts of water. And, due to decreased population, the Sewerage and Water Board, millions of dollars in debt and going deeper, is not selling enough water. "Don't conserve" is their message, according to NPR, so the utility can sell enough to financially stay afloat. These conflicting approaches by city administrators, artists and actors are just a section of the confusion in our attempt to re-imagine a major city.