As part of the Triennale Bad Ragartz 2018 sculpture, Simon Beer presents the work; "Who never gets away never returns home".
Based on two perspectives, which on the one hand are based on an old film with the title: "The prodigal son" with Luis Trenker as the main actor and on the other hand, the constant "migration" of the mountain population to the cities, this project deals with the problem in the form of a site-specific sculpture.
In the film "The Lost Son", a somewhat frustrated mountain guide leaves his village and his love to make his fortune in New York. The more he distances himself from his village, the more he feels drawn back, until at the end of the film he returns to his homeland and marries his old love. The title of this work is taken from a quotation in the film.
The emigration of the mountain villages is still an explosive topic today, which empties the valleys and takes away the roots of the people. One has to leave the valley in the hope of a better, happier and more successful life. It's easy to forget that you're not only leaving your home village, but also a bit of the "paradise" in which you've already been a part of it. It is only in the urban surroundings of the supposed paradise that the advantages of one's homeland become apparent. But mostly it is unfortunate life circumstances, professional career or other reasons that make a return difficult or even impossible.
Bad Ragaz is not a mountain village in the true sense, but it symbolizes the mountain regions with their villages, not least through the history of Heidi. If the village hadn't made a career as a spa resort in the 19th century, it probably wouldn't have more than 5000 inhabitants today, but rather a demography similar to that of the neighbouring municipality of Pfäfers, which today has fewer inhabitants than in 1830.
The 13.5 meter high and eight ton heavy buoy, which as "objét trouvé" has made a journey over 1200 kilometers from the west coast of the Atlantic to Bad Ragaz, receives as original signal of the marine orientation (Bad Ragaz is known to be on the Rhine), a new meaningful function as a marker for the Arcadian regions of the homeland.
The work "Who never leaves, never returns home" will symbolically point the way back to "paradise" for those who have left. And for those who live on the spot, the sculpture will remind them that paradise is not always to be found in the distance. |
Situation with Giessensee and mountains in the background.
Objéts trouvé, originally signaling special dangers in the southwest Atlantic.
Special transport over 1200 kilometres from Verdon-sur-Mer (France) to Bad Ragaz (Switzerland). |
