Artworks by Tobias 
Rehberger

Two neon works that, at first glance, appear to be advertisements in urban space—and that is precisely the point. Concepts from completely different spheres of life collide: procrastination, participation, and the inner psychological world during dinner. Rehberger uses the aesthetics and language of advertising to open up space for his own unique thoughts.

• Neon Art in Typography and the Aesthetics of Urban Advertising
• Text fragments that evoke mental states and everyday culture

Location: Colonnades

Here, too: neon, typography, advertising copy—but this time in the ice cream shop’s window. The term “Recreation Area” evokes relaxation, a designated open space, a sign hanging somewhere where you really just want to unwind. Rehberger plays with this double meaning—right in the midst of everyday life, right in the middle of the spa gardens.

• Neon artwork in the window of the ice cream shop in the Colonnades
• Part of a series on urban advertising concepts in public spaces

Right next to Ui. Ja Gelato—the ice cream created specifically for the exhibition

Two freestanding sculptures that capture something that is, in fact, impossible to grasp: smoke. Created using 3D printing and illuminated from within, they appear both fragile and precise—frozen clouds that could vanish at any moment. Rehberger used freely available 3D models circulating on the internet as templates, which he transformed into these luminous forms.

• Sculptures produced using 3D printing, lighted from within
• Templates: freely available 3D models from the internet, transformed and adapted
• A play on transience and form—smoke as a frozen moment

Location: Kurgarten

A clown—but not a harmless one. The oversized portrait bust of the artist himself is incorporated into a 3D-printed fountain: eyes closed, mouth open, an expression somewhere between laughter and tears. Water drips from his nose into a basin—an endless, self-sustaining cycle. On the back of his head is a second face, like the Roman god Janus: both beginning and end at the same time.

• Ambiguous facial expression, somewhere between irony and tragedy, laughter and tears
• Two faces—a reference to Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings

Location: Trinkhalle

The exhibition concludes with two works that complement each other well: at the top, the neon piece 24/7—a term from business jargon signifying uninterrupted availability, around the clock, seven days a week. Below it is another cloud sculpture from the Rauch series, as fragile and luminous as the others—and yet a quiet counterpoint to the constant presence of the neon above it.

• 24/7: Neon work featuring a term from business jargon—availability as a permanent state
• Rauch 250: another 3D-printed, internally illuminated cloud sculpture
• Together, they form a quiet pair of contrasts: continuous operation and transience

Location: Pavilion