Mirror, mirror... (Spieglein, Spieglein...)

Competition for Public Art, New Primary School Naumburger Ring, 12627 Berlin; 2023

Material: 6 mm steel, lasercut; colour coated

Children experience the start of their school life as a profound transition — a threshold between worlds, marking both an ending and a beginning. They take pride in leaving behind an old, “childlike” universe and become aware that something new is unfolding, something that will transform their position in relation not only to the “younger ones” but also to the adult world.My project engages with this moment of transformation — the passage from a familiar, contained, and predictable childhood realm into a world of new possibilities, openness, and, inevitably, uncertainty.

As a counterpoint to the architecture’s factory-like aesthetic, I introduce comic-inspired elements in the form of speech bubbles that function as playful commentaries distributed throughout the building. Some hang from the ceiling, others emerge from the walls or “hide” behind columns — inviting constant discovery and surprise. Within these speech bubbles, one can discern motifs drawn from the traditional canon of Central European fairy tales: a group of domestic animals standing atop one another, a girl facing a wolf, a boy seated before a richly set table, a princess with a frog… Yet the sense of recognition falters. The familiar scenes are populated not by their original protagonists but by the “heroes” of contemporary childhood — Harry Potter, SpongeBob, Bibi Blocksberg, Pippi Longstocking, and Maya the Bee. They interact with everyday artefacts of the modern world: smartphones, rollerblades, shopping carts, PET bottles. Their encounters unfold in new constellations that subtly subvert the logic of the traditional narratives.

Fairy tales and stories have long served as vital instruments for children to develop imagination, creativity, and empathy. Contemporary heroes, by contrast, are tangible companions navigating the complexities of daily life. What kind of lives might the protagonists of traditional fairy tales lead today, after the adventures we know so well? How would those formative experiences shape their future existence? Would Hänsel Potter and Gretel Blocksberg attend school to overcome fear and poverty once and for all? Could SpongeBob, in his pursuit of happiness, resist the lure of the smartphone? Might Snow White draw upon the technical knowledge shared by her seven mining-savvy dwarfs? Would the princess, after her encounter with an enchanted frog, become an advocate for the protection of endangered amphibians? Could Star Money (Sterntaler) even inspire new directions in astrobiology? My “images” attempt to balance between the archetypal structures of the fairy-tale world — with its clear dichotomies of good and evil, right and wrong — and the increasingly complex realities that children face as they embark upon their educational journey and beyond.

Wolf von Waldow, 2023