For her solo exhibition at the Kunsthalle Wil, Olivia Wiederkehr has explored Hannah Arendt's essay ‘The Freedom to Be Free.’ In it, the great political theorist Arendt describes freedom as a space that we humans must actively shape. How can these philosophical ideas be translated into material to make freedom physically tangible? In her exhibition, Olivia Wiederkehr develops her own conceptual strategies and material forms, drawing visitors into this thought process with an atmospheric installation.

Written in angular white letters, NONO shines directly onto the street. Anyone passing this room-filling light sculpture in front of the Kunsthalle entrance and entering the building is confronted with a long ramp made of rolled acoustic mats covered with mirror foil. The entire room is bathed in green light: the artist has covered all the windows with foil so that no natural light can enter the exhibition space. On the wall behind, the words ‘yes yes yes’ glow in warm yellow. Sunlight streams through the skylight and its light pink and light blue tinted window panes. The rays refract on the floor in the mirror foil and dance in pink and blue on the white walls. Light, colour and writing merge into a first impression. The eye and the mind first have to get used to the atmospheric colour scheme – surreal yet pleasantly calm, the room triggers an unfamiliar feeling that initially defies association. I take a step forward to catch a glimpse of the gallery on the first floor from the ground floor. A cardboard diving platform, boldly protruding over the railing, points directly to the acoustic mats below. A leap into the unknown? The title refers to the unique ability of humans to create something. Creation as a conscious act: yes, I want that, just as much as no, I don't want that. For her, the diving platform is a central element that connects the different levels of her installation and translates Arendt's ideas into a symbolic form, as an emblem of a conscious decision and the associated leap into an initially unknown future in order to set something in motion that was not there before.

In an interview (only in German) with curator Sonja Rüegg, she talks about the room-filling, atmospheric installation, the title and the mental leaps that led to the springboard, and why the reflections and distortions of the long, flexible mirror track occupy the space diagonally.