(un)finished

2021

The art project "(UN)FINISHED" deals with the past and present of St. Matthew's Church in Berlin's Kulturforum: Inside the church, it visualizes the history of the church's changing surroundings over time on a temporary printed carpet. On the outside, on the tower of St. Matthew's Church, it gives this visualization a title: "(UN)FINISHED" - with a reference to the processual and still open development of the Kulturforum, currently through the construction of the Museum of the 20th Century. 

In the immediate vicinity of the construction site of the Museum of the 20th Century, the light sign on the tower is also a public commentary on the debate surrounding the museum currently under construction: on the one hand, it gives the church building increased visibility, which was at times called into question and hotly debated with the construction of the Museum of the 20th Century (obstruction of the visual axis from Potsdamer Platz, disruption of the overall ensemble of listed buildings). On the other hand, the light sign contradicts the theory often put forward in the public debate that the new museum "completes" the Kulturforum. The light sign on the church tower sends a visible signal into the public space in favor of a lasting visibility of St. Matthew's Church and in favor of a development process of the Kulturforum that continues to be conceived as open.

The light sign is an integral part of the overall installation of the "(UN)FINSHED" art project as part of "Utopie Kulturforum": The interior and exterior of the church belong together and comment on each other. Without the light sign on the church tower, the work would be incomplete because the connection between the historical location of the church in the interior of the church and the outward-facing urban sign would no longer be apparent. The aim of this work is not only for the church to engage with its history internally, but also to stimulate discussion externally as part of the "Utopie Kulturforum" project.

The art project "(UN)FINISHED" acts as a bridge to the present within the framework of "Utopie Kulturforum": while the "Utopie Kulturforum" project shows the historical lines of development of the Kulturforum on the one hand, the project is also concerned with connecting these historical lines with the present and its current developments. Without this contemporary element, the project would exhaust itself in a historical description and would not be able to unfold the tension that is decisive for the "Utopie Kulturforum" project.