That Which Changes

An unit of information that triggers change as metaphor of conversion process

Urtica’s statement:

Environment: The University—a vivid intellectual activity is taking place hidden behind the monotony of (former military) red—brick barracks. There is no differentiation in architecture, no overt representation of cultural identity… but in the future an incubator should be built, a high—tech building as a real—space embodiment of cultural information.

Site of intervention: A wall of Kunstraum, as a unit of the university. The wall, used as a sediment of meaning, refers to the photograph which document the process of removing the traces of the former military barracks (1995), i.e., covering a military sign with paint (see book “Branding the Campus” page 11). Urtica’s intervention implies superseding the traces of the former military barracks (2008) by creating a new sign on the wall. The method (painting on the wall) and the symbolic representation of the massage “that which changes”, are used as a metaphors for a new creation related to the institution building process, identity transformation, and a Butterfly effect^*1 that it might cause. “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Kunstraum set off a tornado at University?”

^*1 The Butterfly Effect, a concept introduced by Edward Norton Lorenz (meteorologist, mathematician, founder of chaos theory) by question “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” refers to the phenomenon that even a small changes in the initial state can cause huge effect in the final state of a dynamical system.