from A to B

from A to B

Public transport: a place for having fun. Jokes: the shape of words giving shape to images. Fleet of foot and keen of eye, jokes will split hairs in a split second. They dissolve what belongs together and join what is separate. Humour: a form of expression variously determined by culture and class, a measure of social acceptance. The project was developed for the city of Graz. The location: the busses and street cars of the municipal transport service. A few years ago, LED screens were installed in the entrance areas of all busses and street cars criss-crossing the cityscape of Graz. The commercials broadcast via these screens are meant to help passengers while away the time it takes to get from A to B. Throughout the project’s duration, these commercials will be replaced by jokes. Which jokes will be screened will depend on the time of day and the individual busses’ and street cars’ specific coordinates at a given moment. The selection will also be adjusted to the different routes; a sociogram of the public transport system might come in useful here. It is to be hoped that the fun will not only keep increasing from stop to stop but will continue and expand into offices schools, apartments, cemeteries, madhouses, hospitals, waiting rooms, etc.— wherever ticket-holders and fare-dodgers come together to discuss the news of the day.

C.M. 1994; Submitted to—and turned down by—the city of Graz, Cultural Capital of Europe 2003