The Gallery raises Awareness of Public Spaces

Interview with Ursula Achternkamp and Tom Gräbe

How did the DRIVE THRU Gallery come about?

Ursula Achternkamp: Even before the start of the IBA, the city of Ascher- leben had identified the busy through road as a problem zone and sought contact with the Bauhaus. A team of architects, artists and planners worked with the municipal authorities on the development of unconven- tional solutions. One of these became the DRIVE THRU Gallery.

The through road is an interface in the cityscape …

Ursula Achternkamp: This road cuts through the cityscape, but it’s not necessarily a passive separating layer. The ring road around the renovated old town plays an active role: it is permeable, and it has many superim- posed functions. As does the course of the river Eine, which has been transformed as a public space. The ring road is like functional underwear, where the fabric is both protective and breathable. Where FC Bayern striker Arjen Robben and Paris’s fashion designers made long johns presentable, Aschersleben’s approach to the undervalued through road is the same: it doesn’t have to be a “passion killer”. Impartial confronta- tion is the only answer, and art is a good training ground for that.

The Gallery begins in the road Hinter dem Zoll …

Ursula Achternkamp: Vacant properties were demolished and multifunc- tional media walls were erected. These form a permeable demarcation of space, which plays both a dividing and connecting role – that is a challenge for artists. The first exhibit was of graffiti art by the youth of Aschersleben. The response was very positive. Subsequent works, for instance those by Christopher Winter, were more polarising. It keeps things lively.

There was collaboration with the broadcaster radio hbw. What does a radio station have to do with a gallery?

Tom Gräbe: Radio offers itself as a forum and podium for all kinds of initiatives and can inform the public about our work. We made several reports about the DRIVE THRU Gallery. We are currently working on a film project, and we have actively contributed to workshops and events such as the literary reading, “Auf Achse” (On the road) and the “Frittiersalon” (French-fry salon).

And the “Sound Workshop” …

Tom Gräbe: Together with young people from the town’s youth clubs, we used a microphone to “collect” from the road sounds associated with mobility and movement. With this sound-based intervention and a video we also designed and found a new role for a car park.

Ursula Achternkamp: That was within the scope of the theme “Auto- Mobility”, where our work focuses on the mobility, services and facili- ties of drive-ins and on sensitization to the sounds of mobility.

And the “collected” sounds were processed …?

Tom Gräbe: … into music. We archived the aural building blocks and mixed new sounds and samples from these. In this way, we captured the sound of the road, turned that into something constructive and returned it to the urban environment …

… and that could be heard on the radio?

Ursula Achternkamp: Yes, on radio hbw, on the car radio and at the festival for the State Garden Exhibition. Various musicians, including Tom, performed in a small mobile home, the “Sozialpalastmobil” (mobile social palace). What happened in the mobile home was filmed and transmitted live on the body of the caravan. An interplay of inside and outside.

Does art factor in the future of the city?

Ursula Achternkamp: At the moment, it is a topical factor in the con- temporary exchange in the city, about the city’s options.

Tom Gräbe: The Gallery introduced the city to things, which would have been inconceivable before. People came from outside the town with ideas for artistic interventions. It’s an exciting time for Aschersleben. Friction generates ideas.

Will the Gallery have a life beyond the IBA? Ursula Achternkamp: We are in contact with AKKU, an extremely active association for art and culture, so that work can progress. However, it will need support, especially with funding. So far, the Art Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt has contributed generously. I’m a strong believer in the conservation of momentum …