FERNWEH - Longing for distant Places

‘teil-nehmen’ (to participate) – this is how the sequence of words in the site-specific work begins. A total of 28 words adorned the glass façade of the Aargauer Kunsthaus, forming a poetic choreography that could certainly be interpreted as an invitation.

The separable verbs, consisting of a root verb and a prefix, could be read and combined both horizontally and vertically. In this way, Wiederkehr created a synthesis of language and architecture. The struts of the window façade served both as linguistic markers and as hyphens between the words.

These were frequently used action words describing everyday activities: ‘ab-lenken’ (to distract), ‘auf-wachen’ (to wake up), ‘nach-denken’ (to reflect) and ‘ein-atmen’ (to inhale) – the poetic sequence of words functioned as an ephemeral monument capturing a longing for distance, freedom and transformation.

The sequence ended with the verb ‘an-legen’ (to arrive), which here refers to a ferry arriving in the harbour, also the central motif of the accompanying poster. Placed in bright yellow and pink on the stands of the Kunsthaus, the ferry became a symbol of transitions between worlds and cultures – and of the associated linguistic, cultural and geographical characteristics and challenges.