HOW TO BUILD A WATER FILTER: A Tutorial from the Future

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Full project here: http://montague.lt/how-to-build-a-water-filter

A DIY water filter, nowadays’ considered a tool for “Third World Countries”, becomes a mean for resistance within developed societies, as all of the world’s water is commercialised. Deriving from my general interest in the changing definitions of nationality and citizenship, this project explores a microcosm where a major water corporation becomes part of our national identity.

My character lives in Switzerland, in a middle-class society, where in order to access national water supply citizens have to use their ID cards. His social status as a citizen is determined by his wealth and contributions to the State, and is represented by a special card extension. Black extension, for example, means a beneficiary of advanced monthly benefits for water consumption. Gold version grants unlimited access to water, along many other luxury benefits.

Every resident within a country, no matter if local or foreign citizen, gets an extension. One’s status therefore gets determined not by her nationality, but by the capital she generates. No matter whether you’re Swiss or Lithuanian, you can still get the Gold.

My character is also a Water Hacker. While in this type of society independent water filtration is considered unsafe and illegal, he is convinced that natural resources should remain a human right. Himself a beneficiary of a Black ID extension, he can afford State-provided water whenever he wants, yet his personal position forces to disobey the system. He owns a Youtube channel, where he posts DIY tutorials for water filtering and other ways to escape corporate-instigated national surveillance.