Vergangenheit im Vorgarten — Epistemic Design (EXPOSE)

This work operates as an EXPOSE action within epistemic design, staging spatial relations that make the symbolic and cognitive life of military relics perceptible.

The now obsolete remnants of Cold War-era defence strategies aimed at protecting national neutrality are treated as “monuments trouvés”: objects whose meaning shifts when their function collapses.
Drawing on the architectural axes of the Forum Schlossplatz, the layout follows metaphorical “lines of fire” to articulate a visitor journey that is not merely informative, but relational.
The scenography supports the curatorial proposition by turning the museum into a narrative environment in which history, memory, and aesthetic significance can be encountered as layered conditions rather than facts.
Through archival material and contemporary artworks, the exhibition exposes intersections of history, memory, and aesthetic value embedded in these once-functional military relics.
With Frédéric Dedelley, Anna Froelicher, Simon Graf, Barbara Kiener, Lithic Alliance, Bertilla Spinas, Gabi Vogt, Florian Wegelin.
Curated by Barbara Ruf and Soenke Gau.
The exhibition is part of a research project supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and led by Simon Graf at the Zurich University for the Arts.