Four promises, four construction site signs, four neighbourhood walks. In his project “Promises / Versprechen”, artist Maximilian Erbacher focuses on four Munich neighbourhoods. Inspired by the titles published on construction site signs for new developments, he asks whether the promises and wishful thinking associated with names such as “Alpenglühen” (“Alpine Glow”) or “Sternenhimmel” (“Starry Sky”) also have an impact on the development of a neighbourhood and how its inhabitants shape it.
In his four-part project, Maximilian Erbacher places large wooden displays in Trudering, Obersendling, Aubing and Am Hart, as they are erected before the development of new building areas. A walking tour of the area, developed by Erbacher specifically for each location, leads to these sites, accompanied by local residents whose stories open up a different perspective on the familiar neighbourhood.
All the text messages on the large displays are original slogans from the jargon of internationally operating real estate companies, which Erbacher noticed during an artist-in-residence stay in Bangalore in 2014. Munich and Bangalore are cities with disproportionately high population growth, triggered by a similarly high density of companies in the IT, biotechnology, aerospace and defence technology sectors, as well as excellent universities, which have led to an expansion and densification of the urban area. The pressure on the (new) population to earn enough money to afford to live in these cities is correspondingly high. Access to and maintenance of housing is thus becoming a luxury good. With his billboards, the artist wants to draw attention to this problem.
Maximilian Erbacher, born in 1970 in Rosenheim, lives and works in Munich.
