Part 1: 30 March – 10 April 2022 (12 days)
Part 2: 26 Nov – 3rd Dec 2022 (8 days)
Part 3: 9 May – 21 May (11 days)
My secondment with Transparadiso was split into three. The first trip involved an introduction to the interpapillary practice of Transparadiso and a trip to Chemnitz (2025 City Culture) where I was able to develop a proposal for Barbara Holub’s flagship project WE PARAPOM. As part of the research, I was invited to join city walks, screenings, plantings and talks that Holub had curated in Chemnitz. These events and activities gave me a deeper insight into the potential for developing an art project that could address some of the issues facing Chemnitz. I developed a proposal ‘The Chemnitz Pavilion’ in the period leading up to the second trip. The proposal was accepted by Holub and received funding (production costs only) from the City of Culture. I worked with participants (residents from the city) to develop a series of co-designed location-based stickers. The Chemnitz Pavilion stands as three distinct figures: The Pavilion, The Stickerbook and The City Guide. Put simply, we can describe the Pavilion as a conceptual construct, the stickerbook as a material output and the city guide as a supplementary addition.
It is clear to anyone that visits Chemnitz that a particular proliferation of stickers is in operation. Moreover, there is a battle between these mobile and ephemeral modes of communication. Throughout my time in Chemnitz, I encountered oppositional ideological messages played out through the constant stickering and re-stickering of shared public space. In short, the Chemnitz Pavilion aims to emancipate the sticker from the type of use that serves the ideological interests of political extremism. Through the secondment I explored the question of how the sticker has the potential to create a sense of spatial belonging for communities and individuals that inhabit the city.