us and them in its physicallity

As I was spending a month and a half in a previously unfamiliar environment— Norway—I decided to respond to my immediate surroundings with this work, which I ultimately placed into this very context as part of the final installation.

In the two weeks I have spent in Norway so far, I have observed a noticeably lower presence of fences or enclosures that would demarcate private property. I perceive this as a very positive aspect, especially in contrast to my experience in the Czech Republic and generally in Central Europe, where even the smallest piece of private land tends to be marked, fenced off, and thus alienated from anyone not explicitly welcomed by the owner. In this practice of defining and claiming space, the fence plays a central role.

The meanings and uses of fences, however, are diverse. Beyond private spaces such as gardens or homes, fences are also used as barriers at borders, airports, prisons, animal enclosures, or as migration blockades.

What all these types of fences have in common is a paradoxical or even unethical dimension: while they may serve as protection for some, they function as barriers for others. For some, a fence represents safety and control; for others, it is an obstacle or denial of access. It is a physical object that clearly divides space into “us” and “them.”

With my installation, which works with the familiar element of the fence or enclosure, I aim to challenge this division—this decision about who is inside and who is outside, who is welcome and who decides.

I created five different fences, arranged in such a way that they do not define a specific enclosed space, but instead emphasize the absurdity of the frequent tendency to privatize or physically mark off what is “mine.”

I covered the wooden fences with glued newspaper sheets and painted them white—a process I often use in other works and found fitting here as well. Newspapers, as a very physical medium of information that can shape readers' opinions across the political spectrum, were torn and rearranged into entirely new combinations, which I then used to wrap the wood. This act serves as a kind of redefinition—of both the fence and the newspaper. The familiar object is thus presented in a new light, opening up room for varied interpretations and metaphors. Painting the fences white sterilizes them in a way that shifts their function away from that of a barrier, transforming them instead into aesthetic objects meant to provoke dialogue about the themes described above.

The five types of fences, each distinct in form, reflect the idea that there is a tension and dialogue between them. I deliberately avoided a unified appearance, which could itself be interpreted as another kind of boundary. Rather than creating a dichotomy of inside and outside, the installation resists such division and invites reflection.

5 objects approx. 1 × 2,2m, wooden stick, papier maché, acrylic paint

May 2025