Art in public space is always connected to particular social and historical contexts in the work of Bert Theis (Luxembourg, 1952). Despite his sophisticated esthetics and conceptual statement, his interventions have always a functional character: the Potemkin Lock pavilion at the Venice Biennial in 1995 allowed exhausted visitors to rest in a white ambiance with music using the voice of Marcel Duchamp and the Philosophical Platform at Skulpturen Projekte Munster in 1997 could be as well used as a bicycle stop or a stage for tango dancers.
His proposal for the Outdoor Gallery in Gdansk combines functionality, esthetics and social reflection. The bridge in Torunska Street has an old balustrade which Bert Theis would replace by a new especially designed one which contains inscriptions: the useful becomes also meaningful and beautiful. “Ślepi urbaniści” (Blind Architects) and “Korore architekty” refer to the social pressure on the present time inhabitants of Lower Town due to the gentrification of the area. Does the urbanistic and architectural transformation of the site take in consideration all the social and historical complexity of the area and what will be the consequences of the dramatic changes in process? By suggesting that decisions are often taken according to short-term economical logics, Bert Theis’ work introduces a series of questionings and thoughts that will evolve in time and accompany the further developments, adding continuously new layers of meaning, like it happens with what in German is called Denkmal (site for thinking). The balustrade by Bert Theis will be used by all walkers on the bridge and will be read and discovered progressively by more and more of the old and new inhabitants: it is a piece for the present and the future of the bridge.