Kunstspaziergänge
Julian Daniel and Linus Bröcker

In the urban space of Zurich there are more than 1350 sculptures, fountains, and reliefs. Some are monuments, dedicated to a person; Some commemorate a historic event, most are a work of art. Some seem to be random, whilst others are famous. Yet we don’t recognise them.
We pass by, not knowing their past, or why they were erected in the first place. We don’t question their existence.
Perhaps, because they are large in number, the art works become ubiquitous to a point where we do not recognise them consciously. Robert Musil states in 1935: “The most striking thing about monuments is that you don’t notice them. There is nothing in the world that is as invisible as monuments.” As technology evolves this phenomenon becomes more evident.
Art in urban space competes on two layers with the progress of technology. On the one hand, In the physical urban space: technological hardware demands more and more capacity. On the other hand, in the space of attention. Not only is evermore time spent in the digital realm, but technology determines what we see in the physical reality. As Paul Virilio puts it "It is no longer the eye or the retina that does the work of seeing
but the post-organic optical capacities of the auto-electronic machine (…] "
This physical map is an attempt to give art in public space new focus. Six topics are visualised in six walks through the city of Zürich and try to raise critical questions within
the context of art in public space. It could serve as a first starting point to navigate the complex relations between art, architecture, urban fabric and bureaucracy.