Lenkgeschichten: Zwischen Blech und Herz

With her sound installation, Lenkgeschichten: Zwischen Blech und Herz (engl. Steering Stories: Between Metal and Heart) artist Jasmin Schädler creates a temporary social space in the urban fabric of Stuttgart's city center. This is where the so-called “poser scene” gathers on weekend evenings: The street in front of the Württembergischer Kunstverein serves as an informal turnaround: cars circle, engines roar, people stop, smoke, talk, meet. This place, also known as “Tin Tinder”, is an expression of an often-overlooked everyday culture beyond the realm of official representation. 
A family car, wrapped in shimmering hologram foil, serves as a social resonance space: soft, shiny, it ignites conversation, bringing different car biographies together: interviews with locals form the acoustic basis of the work, supplemented by real encounters. The outcome is a place for exchange, remembrance and collective reflection on the future of the automobile in an automobile-fixated world. 

Acknowledgements:
My sincere thanks go to Jenny Rösch from Atelier Schulze in Schorndorf for the wonderful and tireless support with the wrapping, to Rühle Motors and Tino in Schorndorf for the use of the workshop, as well as to the team at Werkstatt Christian Rühle — Dominik Büchsenstein and Niko — for their dedicated efforts around the car. My thanks also go to Angela for the wonderful car and all the stories, to my dad Rupert Schädler for his incredible help during the joint wrapping process, to the Current team — especially Marcela Majchrzak, and Sara Dahme for connecting me with many other car enthusiasts and their stories and thoughts, to Jana Hotz for her amazing support in conducting late-night interviews, to my "lava and jet team" Helen Weber, Ui-Kyung Lee, and Julian Siffert for the initial engagement with the topic back in 2020, to Manuel Petersen for sharing his research and the warning sound he designed, to Manuel Bopp for the insights into his research on vehicle acoustics, to Johana Gómez for helping to find exciting interview partners, and — for stories and thoughts — my thanks also go to Martin Wolf & team from Autohaus Wolf, Fabian, Susi Pollak, Yasin, Helena, Chiara, Tim, Marcel, Tina, and many more.