Train / Lineament

History of the work

Walking to the main entrance of the Zentrum Paul Klee at Monument im Fruchtland 3, you pass “Zug / Lineament”, a work in concrete made in 2013 by the artist duo Lutz & Guggisberg. A photo on Wikimedia Commons shows the Gurten, Bern's local mountain, in the background. We have not found an explanation of the title in the accessible sources.

The Zentrum Paul Klee was built to designs by Renzo Piano and opened on 20 June 2005. It was founded by the surgeon Maurice Edmond Müller. It holds around 40 per cent of Paul Klee's work, some 4,000 paintings, watercolours and drawings, along with archive material. The building with its three hills lies close to the Schosshalde cemetery where Paul Klee is buried; according to the museum, around 10,000 cubic metres of concrete went into it.

Behind the name Lutz & Guggisberg are Andres Lutz, born in Wettingen in 1968, and Anders Guggisberg. According to the Swiss art lexicon SIKART they have worked together since 1996; it began with an exhibition in Zurich. Lutz had previously attended the F+F school in Zurich, Guggisberg the Schule für Gestaltung in Zurich. Both are also active in music and cabaret. The duo received the Federal Art Scholarship several times, plus prizes in St. Gallen (Manor, 2002), Thun (Prix Meuly, 2005) and Vorarlberg (2007). Survey exhibitions followed in Esslingen, Birmingham, Essen and Paris.

SIKART describes their installations as full of storytelling and with a leaning towards the encyclopaedic. One example is the “Bibliothek” (Library) of 2001: plywood books with blurbs that cannot be opened. Works by the duo are held by the Museum für Kommunikation in Bern and the Kunsthaus Zürich, among others. If you pause on the way to the entrance, you can look past the concrete work towards the Gurten.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · SIKART: Lutz & Guggisberg (Andreas Baur) · SIKART: Andres Lutz · Wikipedia (de): Zentrum Paul Klee · Wikipedia (en): Zentrum Paul Klee · Zentrum Paul Klee: Architektur · Wikimedia Commons: Betonplastik Zug / Lineament (Lutz & Guggisberg 2013)