the art of the potato
location: zurich switzerland, 2024
context: starting day for the new students at the f+f school for art and design
idea: 25 students start a new phase of their lives at the beginning of their studies and the focus of the day is on potatoes in order to put down good roots early on. first the potatoes are packed in clay, then a fire is lit, in between a farmer gives insights into potato cultivation, then the baked potatoes are eaten together and in the afternoon there is speed dating and potato printing until the aperitif. the setting creates an atmosphere that encourages people to get to know each other and exchange ideas, expectations and wishes for the upcoming time together as students.
[images: f+f]
pani puri
location: new delhi india and zurich switzerland, 2024
context: mobile kitchen for a street food dish, based on a research residence in new delhi, where nele dechmann is invited by pro helvetia
collaboration with nele dechmann
idea: there are culinary experiences that you don't easily forget. imagine biting into a hollow crispy-fried little ball and what happens is an explosion of fresh herbs, sour and sweet tamarind and the spiciness of green chili, all with a unique consistency and intensity. but enough food blogging, let's get into our kitchen and try to make this magical dish and bring it to the streets of zurich. in order to crash parties and happenings as flexibly as possible, a small cart is welded together and hand-painted, the shapes and colors inspired by the many walks through the streets of delhi.
that’s all folks
location: zurich switzerland, 2024
context: scenography for the farewell festival of schauspielhaus zurich
idea: it's time to say goodbye at the schauspielhaus, as the artistic directors and many allies are breaking new ground. a farewell festival brings the productions closest to the heart back on stage and invites friends and guests to celebrate the happy end together. as a space-forming element, the title of the final publication «theater is dead, long live theater» is built from rough-sawn wood and creates niches and retreats to see friends again, reminisce and discuss future plans together. take care dear era at the schauspielhaus, we will miss you guys.
friendly creatures
location: zurich switzerland, 2023
context: spatial design for schiffbau-fest, hosted by schauspielhaus, moods and lasalle
idea: for 36 hours a vast amount of space should become a common party location to celebrate a house shared by different institutions. to do justice to the short appearance and the large volume, working with air seemed to be best way to meet this challenge. using silver foil, simple fans and some spray cans, alien allies are created to mingle with the guests. the friendly creatures sit down at tables, squeeze between furniture and appear on ping-pong tables and on stages, becoming a connecting element between different spaces. to utilise any remaining unused foil, we offer a workshop for children to build their own designed creatures as helium balloons to take home.
color snake
location: bern switzerland, 2023
context: festival center for auawirleben theater festival
with participation of jacky haller
idea: take many meters of fabric, a fire extinguisher, a few buckets of paint, a pinch of courage and coincidentally a lot of joy and turn it into a festival center that invites people to drink, eat and linger. inspired by this year's theme «birth right» and the associated opportunities, expectations, privileges and obstacles that every new life brings with it, the scenography starts with a white canvas. on opening night, the space, including the tables, sofas and lights, is covered in splashes of paint and the colors randomly overlay and blend into a common atmospheric experience.
[images: nathalie jufer]
ball bath
location: zurich switzerland, 2022
context: spatial intervention for schiffbau day at zurich schauspielhaus
with participation of carolina cerchiai
idea: the schauspielhaus opens its doors and invites you to wander through its production spaces and experience how theater is created. to frame the day, the foyer is stripped of all furniture and instead 120 gymnastics balls roll into the industrial hall and fill it with bouncing and smiling people of all ages. during an instant construction workshop, visitors can help build an oversized marble run and use it to transport more balls into the crowd. the sea of balls that is constantly being rearranged calls into question classic forms of engaging with each other and awakens the urge to play.
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]
the private matters
location: bern switzerland, 2022
context: festival center for auawirleben theater festival
with participation of carolina cerchiai
idea: the auawirleben theater festival celebrates its 40th anniversary under the festival theme «the private matters». the festival center in the heart of the city is home to a restaurant, a disco, and an art pavilion. constructed from rough sawn wood, the structures are festively draped with colorful curtains. the most private of all curtains are shower curtains, and here they hang in an edition especially designed for the festival. by opening and closing the curtains, new spatial settings are created, moving between public and private. after the festival, visitors and friends are invited to shift a shower curtain into their private living space.
[images: nathalie jufer]
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.
spectral
location: zurich switzerland, 2021
context: light installation for the «long night of churches»
collaboration with viktoras kuka zemeckas and clemens kuratle
idea: who woudn’t dream of one day filling a room with rainbows? based on a sound composition built with noises and voices recorded in everyday church life, it just seemed perfect to manifest diversity and plurality with the help of some rainbows. here's the deal: find a spacious room, plunge it into darkness and let some haze float inside. then bring a strong light source and direct it through mirrors across the room onto a prism. open your eyes and enjoy the magic as you immerse yourself in the sensual experience.
infinity
location: zurich switzerland, 2021
context: sculpture for design biennale zurich
collaboration with hector egger holzbau
idea: in the middle of an almost 200-year-old tree population stands a sculpture that focuses on the flexibility and progressiveness of wood as a material to shape ambitious dreams and to meet challenging demands. the walk-in sculpture has been realized in a lively exchange on construction and expression possibilities of wood with the know-how of one of the most exciting high-tech timber construction companies in switzerland. walking on and around the three-dimensional, infinite loop opens up various perspectives on the sculpture and in the park. the shape is driven by the desire to invite us all to think and act in cycles.
[images: goran basic]
table ronde
location: basel switzerland, 2020
context: spatial installation for season opening for theater basel
idea: the new directorship of theater basel invites guests to the season opening hosting participants at a 110 meter long table. the table reaches out of the theater, winds its way over staircases and through entrances, and finds its end again at its beginning in a circular gesture. the table is a meeting place for the neighborhood and a utopian catwalk for pleasurable theater moments with a temporary community. invitingly it offers a common basis with bread and soup and connects the inside of the building with the outside of the square.
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]
white desert
location: zurich switzerland, 2020
context: experimental laboratory on future education at the f+f school for art and design
collaboration with talaya schmid and roland roos
idea: based on the thesis that two of three kids who are born today will eventually work in jobs that do not yet exist, a future school model is developed to be tested during two weeks with a hundred students. as covid-19 hits the world just at that time, the experiment takes the exceptional situation as an amplifier to break up the existing hierarchies and structures. students work from one hundred home-satellites on new perspectives for their thinking and acting, while they play back their output to the headquarters in the closed school. in the exclusion zone, a memorial for the crisis arises, a collective space where social concepts, responsibility and ownership is renegotiated. a project radio broadcasts the state of mind of the hundred to the rest of the school.
[images: goran basic]
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]
material
location: zurich switzerland, 2018
context: furniture design for an independent bookshop, flexible to take to events like the «materialschau» at haus konstruktiv
idea: the spatial setting for the bookshop started with the idea to recycle pieces of a bygone exhibition. two years after the opening, there was the request to complement the existing furniture with a newly designed additional element. four needs were to be fulfilled with one simple furniture item: to be a stackable shelf, a display, a transport box and a stool. the created design, starting with 45 identical pieces in the initial set, is as convertible as the bookshop itself – always ready for new adventures.
[images 1, 5, 6, 11-13: material]
jubilee centre
location: zurich switzerland, 2018
context: festival centre for zh-reformation
idea: the discovery of an archival pearl delivers the starting point for the idea to turn the site into a temporary bakery. it is however to celebrate the history of the building, rather than the lord’s supper, that bread rolls are baked in a wood-fired oven in the foyer of the venue. every snack is wrapped in a flyer printed on-site using a replica of a gutenberg press. scientists, historians and writers are drawing up the flyer content, with each of the five sheets designed by a different team of graphic designers. for once, the packaging won’t land straight in the waste bin, but will provide long-term food for thought.
[images: goran basic]
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]
reformation
location: zurich switzerland, 2017
context: celebrating five centuries of zurich's reformation
collaboration with theres indermaur, graphic design: gregor huber, ivan sterzinger, newspaper: fabrikzeitung
idea: 500 years ago, the reformer zwingli started preaching in zurich for a profound change in society. one of his close allies was froschauer, the forerunner on letterpress printing in zurich. for this anniversary, a temporary printing house enables visitors to print a special edition of posters reflecting zurich's metaphysical realm.
[images 1-6, 8, 11: goran basic, 7, 9-10: christian altorfer]
how to waste time
location: zurich switzerland, 2016
context: performance platform for manifesta 11 parallel events
collaboration with kunstverein zurich, museum strauhof and atlas studio
idea: a temporary stage built in the financial heart of the city, inspired by the stock exchange platforms of times past. artists whose practice transcends the classic exhibition format perform, act, read and discuss on the stage-like structure. the project is an exploration of work ethic, non-monetary values and the economic nightmare of wasting time.
[images 1, 3-5: goran basic]
bollard factory
location: freiburg germany, 2014
context: festival, politik im freien theater
collaboration with meier/franz
idea: we build a temporary concrete casting factory. our aim: to reproduce the original freiburg bollard.
fellow enthusiasts assist us in casting the 520kg piece of street furniture.
sympathisers and opponents are invited to the factory – object of discussion is the humble bollard, and its role in perceptions of public space.
[images 1-7: gunnar meier, 8-9: maurice korbel]
grand prix neumarkt
location: zurich switzerland, 2014
context: praxis neumarkt - glückliche tage, theater neumarkt and das magazin
idea: a weekend of activities, organised by the theater neumarkt: «happiness is a practice». the theater has invited artists and thinkers to engage the public by sharing their personal views. we believe that happiness is… a soap box rally down the bumpy pavement of the old town.
activate saanen
location: saanen switzerland, 2012
context: site study for saanen
idea: the mountain village of saanen has recently undergone numerous significant changes, such as the pedestrianisation of the village centre. we open a «kiosk of complaints» for saanen's inhabitants, to facilitate discussions about the future of the village. we collect villagers' utopias and grievances. we organise a joint dinner and seat everybody around the 2x7m table.
30 jahre sind genug [boat building workshop]
location: zurich switzerland, 2012
context: 30 jahre rote fabrik
collaboration with meier/franz and florian stirnemann
idea: the «rote fabrik», zurich's cultural centre by the lake, turns 30. in celebration, the entire building is barricaded. however, to those in the know, the building can be accessed through secret entrances and by unusual paths - for example by boat. we help potential burglars to construct a prefab vessel and sneak in by floating across the lake.
[images 1,4: gunnar meier]
the merging engine
location: mazama usa, 2011
context: mazama art residency
idea: in the outskirts of mazama, we experiment with an «exercise in frustration». we make people build with irregular shapes which neither fit nor stand. we provoke and cause vexation, merging individuals through collective action and emotion.
link: mazamaresidency.org
street golf korea
location: manan-gu, south korea, 2010
context: seoksu art project residency
collaboration with riikka tauriainen
idea: the korean neighbourhood of manan-gu is a type of urban space in jeopardy: soon it is to be demolished and replaced by high rise residential towers. our golf course incorporates found architecture like small bumps, pipes and curves in the street, and takes the golfer on a walk through the small alleys to experience the potential of an organically grown city.
kaukasische ping pong fabrik
location: zurich switzerland, 2008-2009
context: independently managed space for happenings and interventions
collaboration with riikka tauriainen and michael meier
idea: for two years we have run a space known as «kaukasische ping pong fabrik» [caucasian ping pong factory] . we develop the recurring evening of the «video kitchen» which quite literally is a melting pot for our ideas. we also organise a grand prix, build a sauna and a sauna-cinema and expand our minds with countless discussions.
copyrights: ortreport