I oversee the curatorial direction and project management of public art commissions. This includes developing curatorial concepts, selecting and presenting artists, supporting the jury process, coordinating site visits and drafting the final project report.
In Switzerland, cantons, cities and municipalities often allocate a portion of construction budgets to the integration of art. This practice, known as "Kunst und Bau" (or "art in architecture"), is usually implemented through a structured selection process.
On the former freight yard site along Hohlstrasse in Zurich, a school building for 650 students was planned and constructed as an annex of the Kantonsschule Wiedikon. Commissioned by the Building Department of the Canton of Zurich, I accompanied the project as an external expert.
The art commission focused on artists working with research-based approaches and engaging with ecological themes, natural materials and scientific processes. I developed the curatorial framework, proposed suitable artistic positions, introduced them to the jury and accompanied the entire selection process.
The chosen work, Freiläufer (2024) by Jan Vorisek, is an 18-meter-tall orange windmill pump, deliberately stripped of its original function. It was delivered without the pumping mechanism. What remains is its sculptural essence – a familiar, industrially produced object recontextualized as an open visual marker within the urban environment.
Freiläufer responds to wind, weather and light. It turns in the wind, but neither generates electricity nor pumps water. Its apparent passivity is intentional and becomes a conceptual stance. The work addresses issues such as energy, resource use, functionalism and collective exhaustion, and invites viewers to pause and become more aware of their surroundings.
Photos: Cedric Mussano & Gina Folly. Courtesy of the Building Department of the Canton of Zurich.
