Andrea Wolfensberger
Between Yes, I do and Certainly not!, 2022–24

4-part sculpture ensemble: corrugated cardboard, shellac, pigment
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen

The starting point for the 4-part sculpture ensemble *Between Yes, I Do and Certainly Not!*, which Swiss artist Andrea Wolfensberger designed as part of the Morsbroich Workshop for the historic Hall of Mirrors at the Museum Morsbroich, is the location itself—its character, its unique qualities, its significance, and the diverse ways in which people use it.

The Hall of Mirrors was built at the end of the 19th century as part of an expansion project, serving as a representative salon in the French Rococo style for the social—and especially musical—entertainment of the court nobility. Today, the hall serves both the museum and the city of Leverkusen as a venue for a wide variety of events and formats. Exhibition openings, artist talks, lectures, performances, and award ceremonies take place here; concerts and readings are held here, weddings are celebrated, photo shoots are staged, and political debates are conducted. Here, people dream and engage in realpolitik, love and argue; here, visions are born and dreams are shattered. The Spiegelsaal is a theater stage where contemporary comedies, dramas, and tragedies are performed—a stage of polyphony.

When words are spoken aloud, sound waves are generated in the air. Sound waves take on physical forms. These invisible and ephemeral sound images form the starting point for Andrea Wolfensberger’s sculptural ensemble. It is human voices that give the objects their form—voices that say “yes” and voices that say “no.” To this end, residents of Leverkusen were asked to speak a clear “yes” and a clear “no” into a microphone. The artist used a digital program to translate these digital voice recordings visually into lines and curves that represent the volume and duration of the spoken words. When set in motion, these voice curves form surfaces—abstract landscapes with hills and valleys, gorges, and cliffs. They form the basis for the construction of the sculptures.

Depending on the viewer’s vantage point, the structure of the chosen material—corrugated cardboard—allows for glimpses through it, appearing at times transparent and light, at other times solid and opaque. As a material, corrugated cardboard symbolizes transience; it is vulnerable and has a limited lifespan. Corrugated cardboard is not used to erect monuments, but rather to create moments.

In addition to their strong sculptural presence in the space, three of the four objects can also be used as furniture depending on the occasion: as a wedding altar where couples exchange vows, as a lectern, and as a discussion table for speeches and rebuttals. Only one of the four elements functions as a purely sculptural installation, contrasting the historical ambience of the Hall of Mirrors with a contemporary polyphony—a polyphony that invites visitors to raise their own voices, listen closely, look carefully, and sit down together at a table.

Andrea Wolfensberger (born 1961 in Zurich) lives and works in Waldenburg (CH). After studying at the École Supérieure d’Art Visuel in Geneva, she has exhibited in numerous shows in Switzerland, Germany, and France since the mid-1980s and has created works in public spaces and as art in architecture.