«Balance»: out of gratitude
In November 2019, I started a series inspired by gratitude. Welcome to a short story about the balance between idea and implementation, gratitude and fear.
Waiting for my morning train, I watched the people around me: all on their way to their destination. Eyes fixed on the smartphone, newspaper, coffee mug in hand. How good, I thought, that we all have a goal; how amazing my train is on time; how many people cooperate to make this happen. Gratitude came up – and an inkling: how little it takes to tip everything over when so many things play together.
«Balance» was born as an idea. We are all experts in tilting. In my head, figures grew on a slanted stele. One looks over the edge with interest; the other takes a selfie; the third one plays with the headwind.
In February, the first group of four had grown in the wood; see video and photos «Sculpting live». In May 2020, the first lockdown took us by surprise: the station as empty as the whole city, toilet paper in short supply, Equilibrium a daily act of reorientation. In the meantime, eight sculptures have been created, which are on show for the first time in a solo exhibition at visarte Zurich.
«Balance» remains a challenge of being human, and we never run out of imponderables. Erich Kästner put these lines in his «Lyric Medicine Cabinet»:
«Will it get better
Will it get worse
we ask every year.
But let us be clear:
Life is always
life-threatening.»
