For a moment, exiting the everyday-life
The chitchat with a colleague on the way to lunch
The hurry to catch the tram
The hectic rush to the supermarket
The ever imposing advert panels
Grey concrete
Dogs, prams, cyclists dashing down rows of cars and runners
dein fluchtort [German for your ‘hideaway’, or ‘refuge’] is a temporary structure conceived and crafted by the artist katharinajej, installed at Venloerstraße in Ehrenfeld, Rudolphplatz, Wiener Platz, Deutz, Chlodwigplatz, Schildergasse and Kalker Hauptstraße ind Cologne, during seven afternoons in the summer 2017.
A made-up retreat, it is built entirely in order to be stumbled upon along our perfunctory routes through the city. dein fluchtort is a walk-in sculpture, offering pedestrians for a moment, or longer, to escape, to disappear and break away from their own everyday-lives. dein fluchtort is like a cave, an interior space offering and enabling feelings of security, a space that invites to pause and contemplate amidst the city’s hustle and bustle. Up to two individuals can simultaneously rest, do nothing, listen to the outside world and just linger for a while inside this dark space, which exempts from any obligations to purchase or abide by the regimes of good order, discipline and ‘funtainment’. dein fluchtort is, however, not only a hideout in the middle of the city. As other people are also invited to enter, it turns into a place of encounter, allowing strangers to coexist and share the space and their experience within.
dein fluchtort was presented in association with ‘Fluchten’, an arts project initiated by the Arbeitskreis Migration des Diözesan-Caritasverbandes für das Erzbistum Köln. For further information please visit www.fluchten.eu.
dein fluchtort visitor impressions:
'To bury one's head in the sand, or, to disappear from the world. To be inside on the outside.
A feeling of security and shelter.'
'An auditory "Where's Wally picture".'
'As I eventually crawl in, I face the heat and strong smell of humans. Gasping for air, I let myself sink
into this soft darkness. Relaxation, gently letting go of everything. To slowly allow my sense of smell
to return and process various bits of information. The ambient noises of the street are turning
into a discomforting static. As another stranger comes crawling in from outside, a new smell arrives.
We are silent at first and then start talking about the sense of hearing and the sounds of the city
versus the natural sounds of the countryside - and that Cologne is our home.´
'Especially as the tent was very dark inside, I kept on thinking "What do you see when you turn
out the light? I can't tell You but I know it's mine. '
'I get out of the tent and feel like I just woke up, hatched, been given birth, deeply relaxed.'
Press Release Kölner Stadtanzeiger
Supported by
Fotos von katharinajej und Jo Schwartz
