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Replica. Two temporary time-based site-specific architectural scale installations and associated long-exposure photographs: (1) Slapende Meermin (Martelarenplein, Leuven, Belgium, 2008) commissioned by STUK Kunstencentrum, realised by the artist in collaboration with R.Bau Ltd (South Tyneside), Newcastle College UK, and Wonen en Werken, Leuven, and presented as part of the STUKSTART festival; (2) Le terme (Piazza Oberdan, Milan, 2008), co-funded by Galleria Ciocca Arte Contemporanea and Arts Council England. Collaborators included Politecnico di Milano, ASSAB-One Milan and Spazio Oberdan. Construction of the work was sponsored by UK and Italian construction companies (r.Bau Ltd, Layher and Gasbeton). The installation featured prominently on Ultra Fragola Web TV Channel and in a full-page article in La Repubblica (16/10/2008, p.14). Long exposure photographs were shown in subsequent exhibitions: Wolfgang Weileder, Projects 2002-2008, (solo show), ASSAB One, Milan, 2008; Le Terme e La Sirena, (solo show), Ciocca Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 2009; and To The Demon King’s Castle, of course, Workplace Gallery, Gateshead, UK, 2009. See: http://www.wolfgangweileder.com/installation/le_terme.html and http://www.wolfgangweileder.com/installation/slapende_meermin.html

The research intention of the ‘Replica’ project was to use contemporary construction processes to engage directly with the historical and spatial parameters of two European city squares, Piazza Oberdan in Milan (Italy) and Martelarenplein in Leuven (Belgium). The aim was to raise questions about the relationship between contemporary public art and historical architecture, the uses of public spaces, and the interaction between artist, participant and audience.

Both works took as their point of departure largely forgotten historical buildings located in or beneath public squares. Slapende meermin recreated the façade of a four-story house situated at the northern end of Martelarenplein in Leuven, whereas Le terme is developed from Diurno Venezea, a derelict 1920s subterranean public bathhouse beneath Piazza Oberdan in Milan.

The applied methodology was to turn and/or to mirror the existing architecture and reconstruct it as a temporary installation in the centre of the public squares. The façade of the Leuven building was rotated 900 so as to appear like physical manifestations of its shadow. The subterranean structure of the Milan bathhouse was mirrored on the surface and rebuilt on the piazza above, appearing like a physical reflection of itself.

The allusion to the shadow/mirror image within the permanent and prominent context of the squares highlights the tension between temporality and the presumed permanence of architectural structures. Through a performative and temporary gesture, the construction of the monumental became an event, an experience in flux that encouraged the public to engage with the architectural heritage of their cities.

Both events were recorded using long exposure analogue photography and an innovative digital image recording technology developed by Weileder. The resulting ‘time-lapse’ images were exhibited as large-scale prints.

Both projects are discussed in ’Continuum’, a monograph on Weileder published internationally by Kerber Verlag (Bielefeld/Berlin).