Foot Baths for All

Julia Weber

About this exposition

The artistic intervention "Foot Baths for All" (2024) emerged from an ethnographic exploration of collective forms of life on wastelands in Switzerland. Ethnographic insights regarding self-organized care, occupation, informal infrastructure, gift economies, and the shared use of water and electricity were fictionalized and recontextualized in the inner city of Zurich, in order to explore new forms of appropriation and participation in urban life. This exposition aims to share the results and experiences of this research through multiple formats: a video documentation, a how-to guide, and a text that offers insights into the ethnographic research and its translation into an artistic intervention, conceptualizing "Foot Bath Urbanism" as an artistic method for city-making from below. This project is situated in the field of artistic urban research. It is based on an expanded notion of art that moves beyond institutional contexts to intervene directly in public urban spaces through installations and performative practices, following approaches such as “New Genre Public Art”. The how-to guide is connected to instruction-based art, challenging conventional notions of authorship while emphasizing accessibility, participation, and interactivity, rooted in the conceptual art of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Fluxus movement.

type	research exposition
keywords	public art, urbanism, ethnography, intervention, artistic research
date	15/09/2025
published	06/12/2025
last modified	06/12/2025
status	published
affiliation	Zurich University of the Arts
copyright	Julia Weber & Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
language	English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3866465/3996774
doi	https://doi.org/10.22501/rc.3866465
published in	Research Catalogue
external link	https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/221246

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copyright	Julia Weber
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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copyright	Julia Weber
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copyright	Julia Weber
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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copyright	Julia Weber
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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copyright	Seaman2107
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name	Fig_12
copyright	Julia Weber
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name	Fig_13
copyright	Simone Haug
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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copyright	Studio Stucky
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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copyright	Julia Weber, Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

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copyright	Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
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name	footbath_resaerch catalogue_shelter_intro
copyright	Julia Weber, Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Foot Baths for All_shelter video_FINAL_2
copyright	Julia Weber, Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

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copyright	Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
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copyright	Mayumi Arai
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name	Shelter_4
copyright	Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
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name	Water-supply
copyright	Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
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name	Apron
copyright	Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
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name	Shoes
copyright	Mayumi Arai
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name	Line
copyright	Julia Weber
license	All rights reserved
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copyright	Julia Weber
license	All rights reserved
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name	SNF_ZHdK_Logos
copyright	SNF, ZHdK
license	All rights reserved
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name	FootBath_Poster_Print_RC
copyright	Julia Weber, Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
usages	pdf

name	Footbath_RC_how to fold poster 2
copyright	Mayumi Arai
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

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Foot Baths for All (2025)

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