comic salon
location: erlangen germany, 2024
context: pop-up furniture for art book fairs for the independent graphic novel publisher edition moderne
idea: the publisher «edition moderne» regularly shows its graphic novels at book fairs, for which they need a set of modular, easy-to-transport furniture to quickly create a beautiful appearance. the wish list includes a table for welcoming guests and signing books, an object to encourage random visitors to stop by, a large sign, a place to advertise events and display current books and some storage space, all fit into a normal car. based on the design of their bookshop, robust objects are created that can be quickly disassembled and reassembled and show off the beautiful book covers to their best advantage.
banned books
location: zurich switzerland, 2023
context: exhibition design for museum strauhof
collaboration with huber/sterzinger
idea: whether it be absolutist rulers, totalitarian regimes or chinese bureaucrats, whether it be concerned parents, strict judges or guardians of true faith – for as long as books have existed, there has been a bitter struggle over the contrast between artistic freedom and strict moral, political or religious ideas. the exhibition design plays with the fragility and transience of texts. adjustable steel columns hold fire blankets that serve both as carriers of statements and to extinguish burning books. they are joined by prefabricated concrete elements, elastic bands and magnets. together they create the scenographic setting to make banned texts accessible.
[images: zeljko gataric]
writing
location: bern switzerland, 2022
context: exhibition design for swiss national library
collaboration with melanie brandel
with participation of carolina cerchiai
idea: how will we write in the future? and what impact will that have on the texts we produce? the prelude to the space is a tunnel that encourages free writing and conveys to the visitor that the exhibition can be actively negotiated and overwritten. the show looks back at the quill and the typewriter, presents the biro and the fountain pen, and explores voice recognition and artificial intelligence. the exhibition architecture also deals with questions of cultural change and builds the entire exhibition from the material of the previous show. in order to be able to use the smaller leftovers, a pink connector is introduced, which ties the structure together.
antechamber of e.
location: komaki japan, 2022
context: spatial installation to host a sonic experience
collaboration with tomoko hojo and rahel kraft
idea: e stands for echo, equilibrium, ear, elephant, edge, einsiedlerkrebs, egg. this broad field of associations refers to a collection of short sonic pieces that the art collective hojo+kraft has put together over a number of years. in order to place the focus of this complex listening experience on the ear, the collection is given a reduced, abstract temporary home. made from existing sliding walls and black seating and lounger elements, the installation forms a calm escape in the well-frequented library and invites visitors to immerse themselves in this secluded world and share their experiences.
[images: mayu nakamura]
atelier vivant
location: thusis switzerland, 2022
context: sculpture for an exhibition curated by carole kambli
with participation of carolina cerchiai
idea: the project opens lilly keller's last place of artistic creation and life for a journey into lilly's universe – a holistic experience that gives an insight into her outstanding work and invites you to join unique dinners, happenings and discussions with female artists and thinkers. the sculpture houses an exhibition of 90 books she created over 60 years that have never been shown before. in order to stage an appropriate concentration for these originals, a fabric tunnel acts as a mobile white cube set up in the middle of her home. lilly's favorite tool is a pair of scissors, with which guests can cut their very own hole in the fabric and the cloth becomes a shared dress for the temporary community.
[images: michel gilgen]
snow
location: bern switzerland, 2022
context: exhibition design for swiss national library
idea: snow never leaves us cold, there is always a bit of magic around the corner. the first flakes fell long before we humans inhabited the earth but will there still be snow down on our street 50 years from now? the scenography of the exhibition invites visitors to experience a jump in scale. a zoomed in crystalline structure becomes the carrier for playful, scientific, poetic and artistic exhibits on the white wonder and its relation to our nature and culture.
inside/outside
location: bern switzerland, 2021
context: spatial experiment based on a book
collaboration with rahel kraft
with participation of bianca blair
idea: listening is often reduced to the ear, but it is a whole-body experience. inside/outside is a vibrant installation, an intimate dialogue between body, paper and sound. in a one-week residency, the interdisciplinary team engages with 98 instructions from the book «paradoxical creatures» by sound artist rahel kraft. «fill an empty space with paper and walk through it to breathe.» the book is at the same time script, instrument and starting point for the space-filling intervention.
[images: bettina diel]
24h beuys
location: basel switzerland, 2021
context: performance setting for kunstmuseum basel
collaboration with benjamin fischer
with participation of bianca blair
idea: the kunstmuseum basel pays homage to joseph beuys with an experimental venture. in celebration of his hundredth birthday, around thirty invited guests will gather for 24 hours to reenact and interpret ideas he championed. some of the actions refer directly to historic events, while others bear a looser relationship to his social and political concerns. a modular scenography of mattresses, ladders and clamping sets will allow the invited guests to do things that one cannot ordinarily do at the museum, like spending the night. with the help of handjet printers, the fluid spatial setting can be overwritten in real time and in this way becomes an open protocol of the night.
designers' saturday
location: langenthal switzerland, 2020
context: curation of a design biennial
collaboration with hector egger holzbau
idea: this year's theme «enough!?» provides the impetus to think about the future of design fairs. instead of exhibiting the designs individually, exhibitors are being seduced to collaborate. the contributions are deliberately linked together and merge into a continuous, atmospheric experience for the visitors. the idea of the joint gesture is transferred to the large production hall. a 67 m long double bar invites people to linger and review, deepening the merged exhibition landscape. between the parallel flanks of the bar a supply line is created along which forklift trucks drive bringing drinks and street food to the bar. this year’s edition of the designers' saturday is cancelled due to covid-19.
literature pharmacy
location: zurich switzerland, 2020
context: pop up scenography for literaturhaus zurich
collaboration with atlas studio
idea: literature and medicine have something in common – even the smallest dose can have a great effect. a vacant shop temporarily becomes a literary pharmacy, a place for short readings and immunity inducing book signings. get a prescription for a book to ease your suffering or come for a consultation with local publishers. five rotating crosses act as disco balls and mix words to create a miracle cure for body and soul. true to the motto “sometimes culture is the best medicine”.
[images 5, 8: philip frowein]
unfluencer
location: milan italy, 2019
context: appearance at salone del mobile, ventura centrale
concept by freitag x georg lendorff
idea: designers and consumers at milan design week are invited to swing by the «unfluencer – de-sinning the designer» installation to confess their moments of bad taste and irresponsible decision-making. one can take a few moments to reflect while enjoying the immersive light installation and then open up for the discussion on lousy design, negative forces, constraints and delusions with other trespassers and soulmates. on the way out, manifested learnings are stated with the help of inkjet handguns and carried away to the streets of milan.
awards: «frame award» 2020, jury prize for «exhibition of the year».
[images 4, 6, 8: claudia zalla]
instant space
location: san francisco usa, 2018
context: spatial design for «swissnex salon»
collaboration with nele dechmann, rendering specialist: federico mantl, words on walls: atlas studio
idea: a set of five large curtains hosts a program of open dialogue on societal responsibility. the space can be divided by the soft structure, creating a variety of atmospheres, from generous and open to intimate and immersive. the images printed on the curtains show different worlds, in-between, hidden and transit spaces with great impact on society, where you normally would not meet. the five prints all have unexpected material which opens up a field of narratives and interpretation.
[images 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 16: astra brinkmann, image 2: barak shrama]
caravan club
location: aarau switzerland, 2018
context: exhibition lounge for aargauer kunsthaus
idea: it’s summer and you need a refreshment – you dream of a cool pool where you sip your drink and immerse yourself into a fashion magazine. the exhibition series «caravan» celebrates its tenth birthday with a special show and offers a place where people want to take a break and stroll trough the archive of the past 10 years. the show’s motto «on the road» evokes the idea of an endless road trip, with all the desire and nostalgia attached to this american dream. the archival material is packed into a shiny pool magazine waiting to be read. waiting for you.
[images 1, 4, 5: ullmann.photography]
opening ceremony
location: zurich switzerland, 2017
context: celebrating five centuries of zurich's reformation
collaboration with barbara weber, performance: jürg kienberger, film: matthias günter
idea: how to celebrate the impact of a bygone movement on our life today? artists, thinkers, politicians and journalists are invited to discuss. temporary sculptures carry flags of current and upcoming projects, speeches are mixed with a performance. temptingly, a film reflects on the challenging process of dealing with our heritage.
[images 1-5: hanna büker, 6-8: pierluigi macor]
frisch's fiche
location: zurich switzerland, 2017
context: exhibition design for museum strauhof
collaboration with weicher umbruch
idea: an exhibition on swiss literature in the 1980’s: secret records about author max frisch form the point of departure. semitransparent membranes create a world to observe and be observed. dive into a landscape of censorship, undercover hideouts, unfounded suspicions and spies. passages of text are performed by actors, their multi-layered narrations somewhere between fact and fiction, reality and illusion.
[images 1, 3, 6-11: zeljko gataric]
anarchy - facts and fiction
location: zurich switzerland, 2016
context: exhibition design for museum strauhof
collaboration with anna haas
idea: this exhibition on anarchy displays 34 independent contributions by theorists and activists. each display is mounted on a stand of equal height. the basic modules can be connected to form larger displays. a further piece of the exhibition design is the arena. fully adjustable, it can be modified to serve all types of public debate.
[images 1, 6: zeljko gataric, 3-5, 7-9: studio bis]
model apartment
location: mels switzerland, 2014
context: commission by michael meier and marius hug architekten
collaboration with meier/franz
idea: an old textile factory is converted into fine living units. based on their drawings, the architects commission us to build a scale model of two apartments. the walk-in 1:1 models are built of industrial chipboard, supported by wooden stands.
on site, in print
location: warsaw poland and zurich switzerland, 2013
context: learning from warsaw
collaboration with kunstverein zurich, cca warsaw, roland früh and maria jeglinska
idea: we build an archive for roland früh's contribution to «learning from warsaw». a collection of printed matter and typographic scraps, found by various visitors and invited artists. six wooden pieces are stuck together to form the structure of the archive, which mingles the functions of storage and display.
copyrights: ortreport