Ceremonial "switching on" of the light installation by TIM ETCHELLS at the Kunstverein Braunschweig:
Wednesday, 29.09.2021, 7.30 pm

In view of the early classicist façades, the contrast with a contemporary light installation is both appealing and complex in terms of monument protection. The challenge here is to find a sensitive form of implementation that can do justice to both - the protection of the ancient building and the presence of the contemporary institution.

The artist Tim Etchells succeeds in precisely this balancing act. With him, who presented his work in Braunschweig both in a solo exhibition in spring 2017 at the Kunstverein and as part of the Lichtparcours 2020, an artist of international renown could be won for the light art project. He has developed an idea especially for the Kunstverein Braunschweig and the local conditions, which emphasises the doubling of the two coach house buildings flanking the villa by repeating them (humorously). Along an imaginary mirror axis, which is characteristic of the architecture of the ensemble, he writes the word combination "DOUBLE SEEING" in neon letters.

Thanks to the simple play on words that is characteristic of Tim Etchells, the work can be grasped as a light installation as you pass or drive by, it sticks and also invites many variations and associations: Am I seeing double right now? The words? The writing? The buildings? Am I deceiving myself? Am I drunk? Isn't it always about seeing twice? In the sense of the second, more intense look that follows a first, fleeting one? And: isn't this second look the one that helps us to (better) understand things, life, art?

The installation by Tim Etchells was made possible by: