MITTENDRIN (IN THE MIDST – A Chair Somewhere)

In the second corona spring 2021, the question arose for the artist group SceneDeluxe: What if the third dimension – height – were taken into consideration for maintaining distance? Their answer to this was an unconventional public installation called “MITTENDRIN – Ein Stuhl im Irgendwo” (‘IN THE MIDST – A Chair Somewhere’), For MITTENDRIN, they positioned a high chair on a popular square in Lübeck. Up at a sitting height of 1.83 metres there were noise-cancelling headphones with a sound box. Whoever dared could climb up and take a seat to enjoy a very special audiovisual experience.

Lübeck authors wrote exclusive short columns for the event, which took place for the first time in August 2021 at four different locations in Lübeck. The content of the audio pieces referred to the respective location where the audio highchair was set up – and therefore also to the “view” for the listeners. For example, at the Travemünde dog beach the actor peter Grünig recounted youth memories of the columnist Maximilian Buddenbohm with the story “Einer hatte eine Gitarre dabei” (‘One had a Guitar with him’), the artist Nicola Reinitzer read “Krähenfüße und Krähenflügel” (‘Crow’s Feet and Crow’s Wings’) by HannaH Rau and at the DIY market Sigrid Dettlof (Theater Combinale) uncompromisingly revealed the complex and arduous decisionmaking process for or against the acquisition of a 10-metre extendable aluminium ladder (“Wohlfühlzone Baumarkt” / ‘Building Market Wellness Zone’, author: Majka Gerke).

It was an unusual platform for the Lübeck authors, readers and listeners, to be continued in 2022. High above everyday life and at the same time “in the midst” of things.