McDommelsch
A slow drink ritual
McDommelsch is a project by Spacemakers, the education vertical of STRP festival where I coached a group of 8 students in a co-creation process.
The theme 'End of Infinity' as a starting point inspired us to start a water wellness restaurant with great inspiration of Eindhoven's local river de Dommel.
Choice anxiety, speed delusion and over-excitation affect people at an increasingly younger
age: it is high time to seriously consider the psychological wellbeing of the population at
large. To this purpose McDommelsch will open its first location in a nation-wide chain of
aquatic wellness centres on April 16th, 2002, in the Eindhoven Heuvel, where people of all
ages can enjoy a revitalising deceleration.
The revolutionary treatment developed by McDommelsch has been inspired by age-old
traditions in Greek baths and Central-European spas, that honour water as an element of
relaxation and healing through communal consumption. From Japanese tea ceremonies
McDommelsch derived the intense focus that arises in a refined series of predetermined
gestures.
McDommelsch drinks and serving
Guests of McDommelsch will receive individual guidance through a purifying drinking ritual
aimed at physical and spiritual wellbeing. The ritual enhances the sensual receptivity of the
silent participants until a moment of utmost concentration allows them to discover the
beneficial qualities of locally sourced water.
McDommelsch made a very deliberate choice for Eindhoven as the location of its first
wellness centre. It is in this city that the current velocity of the river Dommel is exactly equal
to the speed at which blood flows through the human body. This coincidence will guarantee
an optimal harmonisation of human and nature, as you can now soon discover yourself.
Project by: Imke Sloos, Marieke Cuijpers, Laurie Schreuder, Imke Antens, Camille Perraut, Joshua Kremers, Eveline Pieternella, Imke Rademakers and Wisse van Barschot
Concept: Imke Sloos, Woody Veneman
Sound design: Woody Veneman
Copy: Nanne op ’t Ende
Photos: Sterre Otten, Boudewijn Bollman