Munich invites you to an art walk: “A Space Called Public – Hopefully Public”

Summer, sun, holidays – time to relax and take in new impressions, to reconsider and, if necessary, correct familiar perspectives. Ever since everyday life has made a period of reflection called a holiday or vacation advisable, people have been traveling to foreign places and unknown countries for this purpose.

However, there have always been, and still are, people who spend this recreational time in their hometown, either voluntarily or due to (financial) circumstances. They go there in search of relaxation and new experiences.

Today, cities and municipalities are doing a lot to offer their citizens both, such as the city of Munich, which this summer invites visitors to an exciting art walk through the city, with artworks by 17 different artists that can be viewed throughout the city center area.

It began at the end of January 2013 with a solitary plinth that suddenly appeared, freshly concreted, in front of the venerable equestrian statue of Elector Maximilian I on Wittelsbacherplatz .

The architecture matches the base of the Elector well, but the second base stands empty, and at temperatures only slightly above freezing under a rather unpleasant rain, it simply looks desolate.

This plinth has a purpose, and it can even draw on tradition: The plinth is the first harbinger of an art project called “A Space Called Public – Hopefully Public”, an “artistic summer entertainment” in which international artists will temporarily transform this public space.

This plinth also has a very famous model: It was created as an exact replica of the “Fourth Plinth” , the empty fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square, the city’s largest public square, which is pretty much in the center of London and is considered by most Londoners to be “the center of London”.

Trafalgar Square has been a meeting place since the Middle Ages, and the model for the Munich pedestal has stood there since 1841. Even then, there were financial difficulties in public planning – this pedestal was originally intended to house an equestrian statue of the recently deceased King William IV, but the money ran out and the pedestal remained empty.

Since William IV had only reigned for a few years before dying of consumption (he had inherited the throne from his brother at the age of 65) and was also very quickly replaced in the public consciousness by his glorious successor Victoria as a less than royal ruler with rough seaman manners, the pedestal remained empty.

For a very long time it remained empty; they simply couldn't agree on which monarch or military hero should have his memorial there.

It was only about a century and a half later (1999) that the Royal Society of Arts an idea: They launched the “Fourth Plinth Project” , in which contemporary artists used the plinth to exhibit their works; “Ecce Homo” by Mark Wallinger, “Regardless of History” by Bill Woodrow and the “Untitled Monument” by Rachel Whiteread could be admired until 2001.

After that, the dispute over its use continued; the plinth was occasionally misused for advertising stunts, until the public was asked, who voted in favor of more contemporary art.

In September 2005, Marc Quinn started with “Alison Lapper pregnant”, followed by a colorful glass sculpture by Thomas Schütte (“Model for a Hotel”, 2007), Antony Gormley made the visitors of the square the art themselves in his Living Art project “One & Other” in 2009, Yinka Shonibare placed a giant ship in a bottle, “Nelson's Ship in a Bottle”, on the fourth plinth, which was replaced in spring 2012 by a child on a rocking horse, the “Powerless Structures Fig. 101” by the artists Elmgreen and Dragset .

The rocking horse on the plinth in London will be replaced on July 25, 2013 by Katharina Fritsch , but the Norwegian artist duo Elmgreen and Dragset establish the connection to the Munich plinth, for which they are responsible in the summer of 2013, as well as for around 20 other artworks by various international artists, which they brought to the city as curators of the Munich art project.

Until September, the artists will be exploring the question of the significance of urban spaces in the age of social networks, traveling across Munich's city center, over bridges and fountains, and in parks and squares.

Our plinth was chosen to be the first. Starting in March, the artists Li Li Ren and Stephen Hall of the “4th Plinth Munich” and will place changing artworks on it.

Throughout the summer, artworks by Iván Argote & Pauline Bastard, Han Chong, the curators Elmgreen & Dragset themselves, Funda, Helin Alas & Robert Keil, Martin Kippenberger, Ragnar Kjartansson, Alexander Laner, Namill, Henrik Olesen, Kirsten Pieroth, Ed Ruscha, David Shrigley, Sissel Tolaas, Tatiana Trouvé and Peter Weibel will continue to be on display.

During your Munich city walk, you'll find art in the Rathausgalerie Kunsthalle at Marienplatz. There's also art at the Viktualienmarkt (on the north side of the Schrannenhalle), at Odeonsplatz, between the Jutierhalle and Tonnenhalle (Dachauer Straße), and at Wittelsbacherplatz (our pedestal!).

You can also find art in the Marienhof, at Gärtnerplatz, in the Hotel Deutsche Eiche in Reichenbachstraße, at Isartorplatz, at Lenbachplatz and at Promenadeplatz, in the passage Sparkassenstraße/Falkenturmstraße, in front of St. Stephan and in front of the Schäfflerhof Maffeistraße.

To put it more succinctly: you're almost guaranteed to stumble upon a work of art somewhere while walking through Munich's city center . In addition, there are bus tours departing from the Rathausgalerie (City Hall Gallery) until the end of June, as well as special event days along the Wine Route, in the outer districts, and along the Isar River.

Nothing will be revealed about the artworks themselves yet, except that from the end of May our base will become an exclusive micro-property (with roof terrace and small garden) which can be occupied on a trial basis.

If you would like to plan your walk in advance, or know exactly which works of art to expect, you can find www.aspacecalledpublic.de detailed information about artists and artworks, all times and all addresses

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