A World To Work With

Models play an important role in artistic production. Many larger projects are first created on a small scale before they are realized in the size they are intended. This is mostly for pragmatic reasons. Many constraints that exist in reality are undermined in the model. In this way, ideas and thought experiments that cannot be easily realized due to size, cost, safety risks, or other limitations can be vividly put up for disposition. Models are used for experimentation in the studio, but also as a form of presentation for communicating ideas. It is therefore no coincidence that the aesthetics of the model-like, especially since the Neo-avantgardes, has itself become a field of interest for artistic reflection. Model railroad layouts can be understood as a representation of an – often romantically transfigured – idea of reality. One example are the Modellbahnautomaten of the Düsseldorf company Werner Ehret, which have been present in many entrance halls of German train stations for more than 50 years now. Despite their outdated technology and increasing disappearance from public spaces, they are still places of longing in many children’s and adults‘ hearts. Under the motto A World To Work With, twelve artists have been invited to engage with this world, to use it, to question it and to change it. The exhibition was made possible by the kind support of the company Werner Ehret & Co. KG. Funded by Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf and Kunst- und Kulturstiftung Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf.