Jana Gunstheimer: dingenunner, dingenauf

A conically undulating, rectangular surface stands at ground level in view of the banks of the Mulde river that flows through Zwickau. The exterior is made up of a skilfully crafted slate covering. Depending on the incidence of light and the time of day, a slogan shimmers silver-grey to deep black in the moving arrangement of the slate tiles: "schlechte Laune" can be read in Fraktur script with a round "s" at the beginning. The artist Jana Gunstheimer, who was born in Zwickau in 1974 and now works and teaches in Jena, integrates this saying as a sculpturally translated form of the alienation effect that Bertolt Brecht developed as a stylistic device for his epic theatre. Audience and actors alike are literally supposed to fall out of their roles and open themselves up to the message of the literary-artistic material in an irritated way. Both questioning and flirtatious, Gunstheimer's sculpture invites us to take a stand: "Are you in a bad mood?"

In her work, the Villa Massimo scholarship holder thematises regional cultural heritage that developed from her collaboration with a Saxon master roofer, as many houses and parts of their façades in the Erzgebirge are covered and clad with slate.

These are not only a symbol and expression of a traditional craft with a wealth of knowledge that has been handed down over the centuries, but also bear witness to a strong creative will that has been passed down in the past in a lively canon of ornaments and symbols in carvings, façade decorations, bobbin lace letters and samplers. On the other hand, the artist alludes to the current problem of identity-destroying classism, which has become established in the media as the cliché of the "bad-tempered Saxon". Based on everyday sayings and wishes that were embroidered on linen cloths in the tradition of Erzgebirge cloth makers, Gunstheimer places her sculpture in public space with the appearance of a curved cloth: decorated with a spell in the tradition of the Zwickau weavers, it conveys the positive message: "Stay in a good mood!"

(Text: Alexander Ochs / Ulrike Pennewitz)