Bjørn Melhus
Tower to the People
SOS – Save Our Souls
30.04.–02.05.2021, 21–22 Uhr
Nordturm Frankfurter Tor, 10243 Berlin
A Light Art Intervention by Bjørn Melhus for Gallery Weekend Berlin 2021
It has become quieter and quieter around the arts and culture scene in the past 14 months, and a sense of lethargy and exhaustion seems to be spreading.
The initiative “Tower to the People”, consisting of the artist Bjørn Melhus, the Ebensperger gallery and the Art Brand LOQI, would like to invite you and call for the joint action Save Our Souls – Rettet unsere Seelen.
On the three evenings of Gallery Weekend Berlin – 30 April, 1 May and 2 May – an emergency SOS signal will be sent by switching on and off the lights in the north tower of the Frankfurter Tor between 9 and 10 pm. The emergency signal SOS, otherwise used in shipping, will be morsed into the city space. The premises are provided by the Berlin Art Brand LOQI.
The light flashing in the tower invites all Berliners to join in by flicking their light switches from their apartments. Whether in the form of the Morse Code — three times short — three times long — three times short — or just by simply switching on and switching off the room light.
Two weeks after the action “Lichterfenster”, where the pandemic victims and their relatives were commemorated, Save Our Souls is to become a collective cry of distress for mental health and an expression of mutual compassion. In a time when depression and other mental illnesses have massively increased and the lack of art and culture is drying up our souls, the SOS signal is intended to set a common, peaceful, and above all safe sign of hope for all those affected.
SOS – Save Our Souls is the prelude of a series of light art installations by the initiative “Tower to the People”.
