New European Bauhaus Prizes 2024

Identify the award category for which this project is being submitted

Reconnecting with nature

Project title

BYCATCH

Full Project Title

BYCATCH - we need soft borders

Please provide a short, catchy description of your project to be used in communication towards the public.

This public artwork investigates
permeable borders between human and non-human agents. Intertwined phenomena like pollution,
shifting landmasses and the rise of the sea level juxtapose human-made strategies of defence and (self-)
destruction. The modular floating landscape offers participants an immersive experience while reflecting: what is a soft, hard or porous border? How can those boundaries be crossed, relocated or removed? And what
bycatch are we willing to accept in the process?

Where was your project implemented? For projects with an international geographical scope (i.e., in partnership, or cooperation, with one or more EU Member States, Western Balkans and/or Ukraine), please select the ‘international geographical scope’ option

International Geographical scope (i.e., in partnership, or cooperation, with one or more EU Member States, Western Balkans and/or Ukraine)

Member State(s), Western Balkans and/or Ukraine

Denmark, Germany

Please indicate how partners across borders cooperate in the following two dimensions: joint development and implementation (e.g., how the project is co-designed with international partners, explain the role of each partner in the different phases in each location where the project or concept is implemented).

BYCATCH is a traveling public artwork.
2022 it was exhibited in Kolding, Fredericia and Haderslev in Denmark as well as Biesenthal and Berlin in Germany. 2023 it was exhibited in Vejen and Vejle in DK and it is currently installed in Heringsdorf on the German side of the Pomeranian island Usedom. The artwork was developed by Abie Franklin (1995 Jerusalem, IL) and Daniel Hölzl (1994 Schwaz, AT) in their Berlin Studios and produced by two German Companies. It was funded by the Danish Government.

Is your project located in one of the regions facing more intensively socio-economic challenges and at the core of the actions of EU’s cohesion policy, identified in Map 1 of Annex 1 and Table 1 of Annex 2 of the Guide to Applicants?

Is your project located in one of the territories affected the most by the socio-economic costs resulting from the climate transition and supported by EU’s Just Transition Fund, identified in Map 2 of Annex 1 and Table 2 of Annex 2 of the Guide to Applicants?

Yes

Please indicate which territory(s)

Denmark- Sydjylland

Does your project address mainly urban or rural issues?

It addresses urban-rural linkages

Does your project refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?

It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)

Is your project fully completed

Yes

Please indicate the date your project was completed

2022-08-26

Has your project benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?

Has your project won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?

Are you interested in participating in the 'Special Recognition for Ukraine's Reconstruction and Recovery Efforts' prizes?

Please indicate on whose behalf you are submitting the application

As an individual partnership with other persons/organisation(s)

Please provide a summary of your project, outlining the overall aim, target group(s), specific objective(s) and achieved outcomes in the context of the respective category you apply for

We began working on BYCATCH more than two years ago, and the further we go the larger the project seems to grow. We aimed to create an embodied experience that makes the topics of sustainability, structural changes and the interface between humanity and their surroundings more approachable. Our original target group were the citizens of three Danish cities: Kolding, Fredericia and Haderslev. The objective of the commission by the Danish municipal government in 2022 was to bring art and sustainable topics into the public sphere while creating spaces for unique encounters in the community. As two other Danish cities (Vejle and Vejen) invited us to show BYCATCH again in 2023 we outcomes speak for themselves. Within the region, it has had a profound effect on the way that people reconnect with nature, especially within the urban environment. BYCATCH is intended to be an interface between humans and nature. It highlights the effects we have on each other and the environment. The question of balance is key here, as one person moves, their movement affects the other person's stability, as do the wind, waves, tides and boats in the vicinity. The main focus for us was to create a sensibility for these interactions, and in this sense, BYCATCH also became a social experiment about the accountability we take for each other and our environment.

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words.

Interface

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words

Sustainability

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words

Changing perspectives

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words

Climate change

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words

Unintended consequences (Bycatch)

Please describe the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context

Our objectives were to make a project that can be shown internationally for many years to come, produce it regionally and shorten supply chains. Counterintuitively, the forms are made of a special recyclable PVC polymer. While producing the project we were faced with the decision of which material to use. Produced locally in northern Germany, the company GEO. die Luferwerker advised us to use this particular material for its long-lasting qualities. Alternatively, we could have chosen a different material which would have been more sustainable for the first round of installations but sustainability is not a zero-sum game. Looking into the future we hope to use BYCATCH for some decades to come. In this case, PVC was the best way forward to ensure sustainable production without the need for constant renewal. Working directly with GEO ensured direct supply chains and reduced unnecessary transportation costs. The bonus in the way the work is made is its efficient transportation, set-up, and modularity. Fitting all in the back of a medium-sized van, the project can be transported with relative ease and a small scale time. Kind of like a clown car. The modularity of the work allows for near-infinite constellations, ensuring its long-lasting character and adaptability to various locations.

Please describe the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context

Aesthetically speaking our aims were straightforward, create a unique visual experience through modular interchangeability and using the iconesque form of the tetrapod. The quality of the experience lies in the unique perspective that people gain within their usual environment, the melting of boundaries within the landscape and the communal aspect of interacting through the interface of BYCATCH. Thousands of visitors spent a prolonged period in the installation. The types of interactions varied depending on the amount of people, age, time of day and temperature. Of course, for kids it was a giant playground, but after a while they began to appreciate the interconnectivity within the sculpture and started to lay in contemplation, soaking the sun's rays, looking back at the landscape from which they came. The real quality lay in these moments of being nestled within the work, feeling the gentle lull of wind and waves and the caress of the net. We believe our project sets an example in how we can approach complex topics by crafting embodied experiences that enable a sensibilization for different types of symbiotic relations.

Please describe the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context

The project aimed to be as inclusive as possible. There were no fees to interact with the works and no age limitations. The work also created an inclusive space within the communities. A space to come together as a community. While it was accessible to people with visual impairments and mental disabilities people with reduced mobility and the elderly had less access. However, when viewed from afar, the sculpture takes on a kinetic nature when interacting with people or natural forces. Creating a more contemplative experience that lasted for a longer period. It is important to note that there each time we installed the work there were also public discussions and a side programme daily. Here we invited performers, activists and theorists to use BYCACTH as a platform for these discussions and communal activations.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project. Please describe their role and level of involvement.

By now BYCATCH has been shown in 8 locations across Denmark and Germany. It has impacted the public discourse and facilitated the creation of communal spaces. At each location, we worked with local NGOs and municipalities to tie in the project as a platform for climate actions like waste collection, workshops on sustainability and inclusive formats. Additionally, each location required us to interact with the community and decide on the placement of the sculpture.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the project. Please describe their role and level of involvement. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was

The project was a commission from the Danish municipal government from the get-go. Without their support and trust, we would have never had the chance to create a project on this scale, especially as we are a young team (both artists under 30). The close-knit collaboration created an added value to each location by addressing the context and problems collaboratively. Locally speaking each installation required volunteers and skilled workers to aid in the set-up, regionally the municipality was involved. Without them, the project would have never come to fruition as it did. We have not found stakeholders on the national or European level yet. This is part of the reason we are applying for this prize.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your project. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was

We come from the discipline of an expanded view of sculpture and installation, having both studied fine art at Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee in the sculpture and painting departments. Our knowledge and skills came in the design stage through 3d modelling and sketching of different modular combinations. To realise the project, we collaborated with the material engineer Eric Vogler who specialises in inflatables and productions with artists. He helped us to reflect on what forms and materials were possible and how to reduce costs and increase the sustainability of the project. He was our liaison to the producer of the work - GEO. die Luftwerke. They made prototypes which we then tested for durability and finish and after our feedback, we started with the final production. The process was very similar to the nets, except that we used a different regional producer HUCK. Working regionally in the design stage was very helpful in this aspect, we were able to cut down on time and materials by working directly with the producers and our engineer. The implementation stage was a learning-by-doing. Working with 30 interlocking sculptures in an aquatic terrain is not easy to predict. By now we have found ways of knowing how to use BYCATCH to interact with different surroundings, but this has proven to be a skillset of its own and an example of team effort.

Please highlight the innovative character of the project, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the project

The project has an innovative character in the experiences that it offers its participants. It opens up new territory within the known environment to change our relation to the environment as a whole. Working with top-of-the-line regional producers, the project stands out both in scale and intention. For us this is the most important part, how can we innovate how we reach people and change mindsets about our relation to the natural world? For us the ability to experience art as an interface between humanity and nature is a realm still mostly unexplored, but through this project we have seen a great response to how these interactions can facilitate processes within society on a large scale. And this is the core of the innovation that we want to see.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your project.

Our methodology came from ideas of social plastic, sculpture in the expanded field and posthumanist studies. We used a human-centred design approach to create streamlined interactions. Working as a duo we split the responsibilities and workload while creating short pathways between all parts of the projects to ensure direct communication.

Please describe which elements of your project could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and context. This may involve for example aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings etc.

Due to its modular nature, BYCATCH can be reiterated in any type of environment in near-infinite constellations. The project still has massive potential to be used in other applications too. As a screen for projections, as a climate tracking station, a recontextualisation of places of conflict and historical landmarks. All of these are in planning. After showing in 5 cities in Denmark (Kolding, Vejle, Frederica, Haderslev and Vejen) the project will now begin to tour both Europe (till now has been shown in Berlin, Usedom and Biesenthal) and hopefully internationally as well. We wish to use BYCATCH as a catalyst for processes in each new place it goes, finding new contexts through its minimalist maximalist experience.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addresses by providing local solutions

The work addresses the challenges of arbitrariness of borders, sea level rise, global warming, sustainability, systemic change, and climate resilience. It works as an advocate for these challenges by creating awareness and places of gathering in shifting times.

Please give information on the results, outcomes and impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for. This includes also benefits from the project for direct and indirect beneficiaries

The results speak for themselves, at the end of each location, BYCATCH has been invited to a new place. It has facilitated discussions on the local, regional and national levels both in Denmark and Germany about how humanity unsuccessfully attempts to defend itself from the natural world. These attempts have the side effect of expediting that which they wish to avoid - climate catastrophe. By rethinking resilience as a soft border, BYCATCH has created direct benefits in the local and regional spheres and indirect benefits through the creation of an innovative approach to public art and the expansion of the human experience.

Please provide documents showing the results, outcomes and impacts of your project

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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

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