in 2008, drnc was using the former cargo and smithery-ship elba. we invited groups and individuals to work with the ship and its surroundings.
the construction of two floating platforms, film screenings, a music video-shoot and the exposition balance/wellness resulted.




elba is approximately 100 years old, 27m long and 5m wide. it belonged to the now closed harbour company "Otto R. Harms" which used it as a smithery to repair their local fleet.
the wooden house was built on top of the steel body. one big workspace takes up 2/3rds of the total lengh.
freshwater has to be brought to the ship by container. electric power is available up to 3000 W. a direct link to a near internet-router was established by a radio-antenna.

situated in the free-trade-zone, this particular place is one of the harbors big open spaces. water-traffic is minimal. there is only one harbor-related company working here. the basin is gradually being swallowed by sedimentation. since there is only little commercial activity, expensive excavation is spared. the tidal hub is aproximately 3 meters in 6 hours interval.

hamburgs 'free-trade-zone' (frei-handels -zone) is a tax-free zone established 1888.
its meaning can easily be converted into an 'free-action-zone' (frei-handeln-zone) by exchanging the 's' with an 'n'. in this respect we sent out invitations to experiment with this place.

the wish to work closer to the water and be able to spend more time outside led to the construction of two floating platforms. a local company provided steel barrels that we mounted under two reused wooden transport-palletts.