Schilderwald / Forest of Road Signs

Architect, designer, and independent artist Stefan Wewerka created an extremely diverse oeuvre; above all, he made his mark as a “brilliant deformer of the everyday.” He is probably most well known for two works: his translucent pavilion on the banks of the Aasee in Münster (originally his contribution to Documenta in Kassel); and his deformed rubbery-looking chair, which defies its material qualities and bends beyond a half circle from the leg to the back rest. Likewise, the Forest of Road Signs also uses everyday objects, as it features standard traffic signs that can literally be found on every street corner. These ten sign posts were used in Stefan Wewerka’s Forest of Road Signs performance at the Lembruck Museum in Duisburg and then transferred to the Skulpturenhof at the Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten. The signs don’t stand upright, but instead lean so far that they are almost parallel to the sloping ground beneath them. The signs themselves, some of which are attached to the poles in pairs, are lined up at intervals of roughly one meter. This positioning already makes clear that this is not about their functionality, but a humorous artistic installation that reinterprets the commands drawn on them as graphic elements.