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enVIAcrusis #2   //   Art_Action  //   Barcelona, 2007

The Sagrada Familia fascinates through its uniqueness and sheer magnitude. The central leitmotif of my Art action on location, was the question what can one expect from a visit to this monumental sacral building.

I chose the celtic cross, a cross of the early christians, as a form to elaborate on the portraits. Longitudinal and transversal bars are of equal length, they mark a definite center - the ego. As "I" we are unique, distinctive in our identities. Furthermore, the cross carries more formal aspects in itself: the dimension of the vertical and the horizontal, "standing" and "lying", tension and relaxation. In this regard, the cross is a symbol of the incarnate man, between heaven and earth.

I started on 30th April 2007. In the first phase, I took 31 pictures of visitors; in front of the temple or the adjacent park. The second part of the action took place on 16th May: 31 photographs had been converted into black and white prints. I transformed the prints on location into three-dimensional Celtic crosses. Subsequently I attached them to the knee-high dividing wall in the middle of the staircase leading to the south portal of the Sagrada Familia. The facade of this portal is called the "Side of birth": My 31 crosses now formed a line pointing to the opening of this portal, thus suggesting the idea of these "folded humans on display" being transported into the sacred space of the church - only to be "freed" at the rear of the temple - "the Side of Death of Christ".

The resulting installation space visualizes the basic idea that we must all go our own way, regardless of lives burdens. As unbearable it may seem to us, at times we actually are capable of ignoring them. And yet, they do exist - there is no escape. Everyone has to carry one's own cross - like Jesus. Each individual life: like a pendulum's movement between contraction and relaxation, between giving off one's activity and feeling one's own center.

The trail of the crosses, starting from the "side of birth" of the Sagrada Familia: WE…"en VIA crucis" - from the very beginning… and WE... following the trail of the crosses by going to go THROUGH the other (rear-)side of the temple: experiencing death - daily - in realizing that each moment on this journey is precious - and only to be experienced once.