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Architects: Studio Morison
- Area: 200 m²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:Rainer Viertlböck
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Manufacturers: Mehler, Osram
Text description provided by the architects. For their 25-year anniversary, the Munich street magazine BISS presents a pavilion at Wittelsbacherplatz in the heart of Munich. Studio Morison have created the work I Will Be With You, Whatever that is displayed around the equestrian statue of Maximilian I (1573–1651) in the centre of the square. BISS is a journal venture, assisting citizens in social difficulties to help themselves. The magazine is sold by poor, ill and homeless people. The association relies on work as key to integration and has 51 of its c. 100 vendors permanently employed.
“The centre piece of the anniversary is the sculpture I Will Be With You, Whatever. For BISS this work, and its title, signifies supporting poor, ill and homeless people and helping them to overcome severe life crises. The promise, to not leave someone alone, also holds true in the reverse: poor people will always remind us through their presence, that an equitable society must create the basis of existence for all people.” Karin Lohr, BISS Chief executive.
In its form I Will Be With You, Whatever is based on a simple rectangle that takes its refined forms solely through the process of folding. The sculpture created in this manner resembles a fairground carousal or a candy. It is a gift by BISS to the people of Munich thanking them for 25 years of support. At the same time, it is a sign for the preservation of public space as a meeting place for all inhabitants of the city.
“I Will Be With You, Whatever operates particularly with public space. With its four entrances the sculpture invites entry and exploration. It thereby follows the historical function of pavilions. While they traditionally played an important role in the creation of squares, parks and gardens as places of gathering, they matter only very rarely in contemporary city design. I Will Be With You, Whatever transforms a public space where usually very few people come to meet, gather or rest. Following this idea, the pavilion will always be open to the public.” Ivan Morison, artist.
Inside the pavilion stands the equestrian statue of Maximilian I that is deliberately only partially obscured. Observed from the brink of the square, only the head and raised hand of the rider protrudes from the sculpture. Depending on light conditions, the statue is either concealed or revealed.
Behind Studio Morison are Ivan Morison and Heather Peak Morison who have cooperated since 2003. Their artistic practice transcends the division between art, architecture and theatre. Central to their work is the involvement with spaces of human coexistence and with the communities that exist or may exist there.
With I Will Be With You, Whatever, the Wittelsbacherplatz is being transformed into a place of exchange and encounter, a location of festivities as well as of contemplation. A manifold accompanying programme invites everybody to sing, listen, see, debate, play, move and celebrate together. It tackles questions of social (in)equality as well as our role within public space.
