On the multi-lane Leipziger Straße between Spittelmarkt and Charlottenstraße, motorized traffic becomes a barrier for pedestrians. Crossing the road directly is dangerous beyond the few traffic lights. Not far from Jerusalemer Straße, they are diverted underground through an outdated pedestrian tunnel. This tunnel is at the center of the three-part installation:
Above ground, the underpass is made visible on the central reservation by chalk markings. This marking will fade and be refreshed over the course of rübermachen, changing color in the process.
The underground area will be acoustically stimulated. A sound collage alienates the inhospitable atmosphere in the tunnel and offers fleeting associations with other environments and one’s own memories. As if from the roar of a world receiver, individual sounds and meanings crystallize and disappear again.
Right next to it is a large-format digital advertising board. Its changing images are visible from afar in both directions of travel on Leipziger Strasse. Between the usual 10-second advertisements, five cinemagrams will be shown over the six-month duration of rübermachen, referring to the sound installation in the tunnel.
In the midst of clear advertising messages and news, ambiguous terms describe a movement 180 times a day: unterwandern [undermine/wander underneath], übergehen [bypass/pass over], auffliegen [revealed/be blown], untergehen [pass underneath/go under], überlaufen [overrun/overflow].
Who will bypass whom, what has been undermined or overrun and who or what could go under or be revealed ultimately remains open.
