Lisa Witte

Dismantling the NIMBY toilet

Reflections on an educational exercise

This month Henriette Waal’s Not-In-My-BackYard toilet was taken down. What was this curious art project and what can we learn from it?

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The Not In My Back Yard toilet on a sunny day - Anne Lakeman

Not-In-My-Backyard

The NIMBY toilet works as follows: After the toilet is used any urination is stored and fementated so they can be used to enhance fertile soil and gardens. The Not-In-My-BackYard toilet was built in 2014 for the BIO50 exhibition in Ljubljana, Slovenia. There it was placed in a communal garden with over 100 members, who each could make use of the toilet (or in other words, 'donate' to it) and it’s provided resources. The work was intended as a social experiment to try to understand the practise of sustainable living. People say they want to do the work, but will they let a project like this work? In the communal garden, the opinions started mixed, as they didn't always appreciate it. 

Public Space /Misuse

Participation with idea but the misuse has influence on how the work ends up being treated in the public space. 

Reflections

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Sources

Rosalie Bak, ‘The NIMBY toiletMediamatic.

Matevž Čelik, ‘Director's introductionBIO 50.

Ildi Horváth, ‘Henriette WaalMediamatic.

Unknown, ‘NIMBY TOILET’, BIO 50.

Henriette Waal, ‘NIMBY’, HW.