In pursuit of happiness
On a journey through seven rooms, happiness becomes visible in this pavilion. But what do you need to be happy, and what does life actually depend on? If you are open to these questions, you may find answers.
To be happy! Who does not want that. Happiness is a goal in life. Happiness motivates people to act. One wants to make one's own happiness - and not simply have it. However, the exhibition Happy End does not want to define happiness, but to offer options that life has in store. It wants to sharpen the visitor's senses for his or her own happiness and also help him or her in the search for it.
Happiness, acoustically reproduced
Seven rooms invite visitors to leave the beaten track for a short while and embark on a course of surprises. The first is a darkened listening room. It opens the visitor's senses with the help of everyday sounds that acoustically reproduce moments of happiness - a voice in love, a morning atmosphere, people on the beach... In the second - bright - room, objects that Schweizer provided for this installation recall past moments of happiness during childhood: a school bag with fur, a music box, a pine cone. Some are like floating balloons to be pulled down on strings at eye level, some are lost in the heaven of childhood, far away and unreachable.
Shards bring...
...luck! In the third room, visitors are given a plate. Guided by a whispering voice, they move through a tunnel of plexiglas and up a staircase to a drop zone where they can smash the porcelain. A way to get rid of pent-up frustrations and aggression so that happiness can take its place again. The fourth room is dedicated to success. Those who dare step into the limelight and sit on the saddle of the golden calf. No one stays on top. But that is not what matters. The important thing is to dare to do something and not to be afraid of failure.
Out into happiness
It's dark in the fifth room. Every ten seconds a flash of lightning illuminates the scene to the beat of a time announcement. As the light fades, so do the shadows left on the walls by the visitors. 20 Swiss emergency call pillars can be found in the sixth room. They promise help on the way to happiness and, at the push of a button, transform into singing comforters. The songs are sung by Swiss people of all ages. They are recordings made especially for this exhibition on the occasion of street interviews.
Finally, the seventh room leads to the happy end. A wide slide transports the track seekers of happiness back into the world - onto the Expo grounds. On the seat of their trousers, to be sure, but also richer in some perspectives.
Arteplage
Biel-Bienne
Visitor capacity per day
7'875
Total visitors
1'116'480
Partner
Zurich Financial Services (new: Zurich Insurance Group), Zurich www.zurich.ch
Project Management Zurich Financial Services
Christian Merk
Daniela Bucher
Concept, scenography
Triad Berlin Projektgesellschaft GmbH (new: NeoNext Berlin GmbH) (Lutz Engelke, Nikolaus Hafermaas), Berlin, Germany www.neonext.de
Architecture, design author
Triad Berlin Projektgesellschaft GmbH (new: NeoNext Berlin GmbH) (Lutz Engelke, Nikolaus Hafermaas), Berlin, Germany www.neonext.de ;
Karl Karau Architekten, Berlin (Karl Karau, Germany www.kk-architekten.de
Klaus Hollenbeck, Cologne, Germany www.maier-hollenbeck.de
Ingo Plato, Cologne, Germany www.resd.de
Music composition, sound design
Alexander Ameskamp www.alexander-ameskamp.de
Media contact Zurich Financial Services
Daniel Fleuti, Zurich Financial Services, Zurich
Evelyn Schmid, c-matrix group ag, Baar www.cmatrix.ch
Coaching Expo.02
Pidu Russek (Head)
Karin Hilzinger
Operations Management
André Alesch-Steffen (Operations Manager)
Isabelle Nüssli (Event Manager)
Isabelle Sailer Frei (Communication)
VIP Support
Isabel Linder
Photos: Press kit Happy End; © Jürg Frei; © Andreas Mosimann; © Simon Richard; © Christoph Steudler; © Philipp Zanatta
