"This wall belongs to Andreas Marti"

The Dieselwall art project was developed with the support of the City of Zurich as a means of renovating the Hardau district. This international project by the fashion label is intended to promote art in public spaces.

The jury, headed by Wilbert Das -Creative Director of Diesel-, was made up of Philipp Lämmlin from the Alltag agency in St. Gallen, Daniela Hardmeier, art historian at the Museum zur Allerheiligen (All Saints’ Museum) in Schaffhausen, Daniel Strolz, architect and designer within the City of Zurich Department of Structural Engineering, and Lorenz Gianfreda "Lopetz", graphic designer at Büro Destruct in Berne. Choosing from more than 380 entries from all over the world, they had to select an art work to enhance the rear wall of the Zic-Zac Letzigrund restaurant for a whole year from 15 May 2008. They unanimously voted for Andreas Marti, who was born in Zurich in 1967.

"The "Bag Bellows Break" project impressed us by its simple approach and by the way it related to its location. Artist Andreas Marti was the only entrant who responded to the surroundings and integrated the mural with the building", said Daniela Hardmeier. As the narrative describes, the wall represents the perimeter, folded in on itself, of a square which might have existed here at one time. By reducing the graphic to a white background and black lines, the mural gives an almost paper-like impression, and the skilfully added folds give a fluid image of how the buildings have been pushed into one another. Even after seeing the image many times, viewers are always able to find something new within it. These were some of the things that fascinated the jury and resulted in their unanimous vote to make it the winner.
City councillor Kathrin Martelli welcomes the idea of new art work in public spaces. "Painting on building frontages is an established tradition in this part of the district, as many old archive pictures show." The reconstruction of this urban property by the Department of Structural Engineering was arranged to coincide with the Dieselwall project as part of the frontage restoration. The restoration project was coordinated by AMA Ackerknecht Minder Architects in Zurich.

The finished art work will be presented to the press on 15 May 2008, in the presence of city councillor Kathrin Martelli, the artist himself, and the members of the jury.

We are pleased to invite you to the press event as part of the Diesel wall presentation at the Zic-Zac Letzi, Herdernstrasse 56, 8004 Zurich on 15 May 2008 at 17.30. Please give us notification of attendance by 6 May 2008 at diesel@prfact.ch

If you need any further information, please contact the Diesel PR agency:
PRfact AG (Marc Schlittler), Mühle Tiefenbrunnen, Seefeldstr. 233, 8008 Zurich,
Tel. 043 322 01 10, Fax 043 322 01 14, marc@prfact.ch