On the occasion of the last event in front of the caravan at the Migros Museum, Esther Eppstein will show an exclusive compilation of videos from the message salon videoclub, the collection of VHS videotapes in the caravan. The selected videos have a direct connection to Esther Eppstein, message salon, and the active time in the caravan from 1998 to 2000.
Followed by a talk with Etienne Eisele, Noah Merzbacher, and Sophie Nadler (in German)
Etienne Eisele, Noah Merzbacher, and Sophie Nadler were born in Zurich during the time when “message salon Wohnwagen (1998-2000)” was stationed in Appenzell, Zurich, and Fribourg. During the pandemic, Esther Eppstein met the three friends in 2020 during a joint art action in Kulti Wetzikon and a casual friendship ensues. They met here and there in the Zurich art scene, talked and discussed art, making art, and the life of an artist; on walks, at art exhibitions and vernissages, at parties, or over coffee. On the occasion of the Prix Meret Oppenheim 2021, Esther Eppstein asked Noah Merzbacher to write the laudatio and deliver it at the award ceremony in Basel.
Message salon Wohnwagen is an artwork and a documentation of Esther Eppstein’s art practice, message salon, as well as of the Zurich art scene of the 1990s, starting from message salon as a circle of friends, art space, network, scene and platform. The caravan was purchased by the Migros Museum in 2001 as a self-contained artwork for its collection.
Message salon Wohnwagen is also a time capsule, with a changing perspective over time. In the discussion in front of the caravan, Esther Eppstein is interested in the thoughts of the generation that experiences the caravan as an artwork in the museum without ever having been part of it. How does message salon Wohnwagen and Esther Eppstein’s art practice affect the younger generation? Are there connections, overlaps, inspiration, or criticism?
Noah Merzbacher, born in 1999 in Zurich, is studying fine arts and art theory at the University of London Goldsmiths. In addition to an artistic practice that deals mainly with text/image languages, Noah Merzbacher writes texts between philosophy and pop-poetics.
Sophie Nadler, born in 2000 in Zurich, and Etienne Eisele, born in 1999 in Zurich, have been working in a collective since 2021. Their artistic practice moves at the trans-disciplinary interfaces between fine arts, theater, and film. Sophie Nadler and Etienne Eisele are studying fine arts and education at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and are currently on a semester abroad at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
message salon videoclub, selected by Esther Eppstein
Campingplatz Migros Museum, Thursday 11. Mai
1. 1000$ man. Davix/Fleck, 1999
2. der message salon Werbeblock. message salon videoclub, Zürich 1997
3. Köppl/Zacek Dokumentation Performances ’98. Köppl/Zacek, 1999
4. Sony Appenzell. message salon Ferienkolonie Appenzell. Serge Pinkus, 1998
5. Auftritt in der Badewanne im Migros Museum Zürich. Susann Walder, 1997
6. Petit déjeuner. Kerim Seiler in Fribourg. pac / message salon. Pac, Fribourg 2000
7. Treppstein— die Videos 1995-97. Treppstein cool, Treppstein ensemble, Treppstein the Soundtrack. Music Kay Zee, Stini Arn&Jenny Schrider. Treppstein, Zürich 1999
8. San Dance Company. Fatboy Slim „praise you“. San Keller, Glattzentrum Wallisellen, 1999
9. Mutant.®13. GuliGuli im rosa Cyberkäfig. Davix, Luzern, 1994
10. -30°. Davix, Luzern, 1994
11. Yes Appizöll. Frequenz. message salon Ferienkolonie Appenzell. Stini Arn und Nicoletta Wartmann, 1998
12. Ethnotape. Video message salon Ferienkolonie Appenzell. Selina Trepp, 1998
13. Privat Blend. Installation Pfingstweidstrasse, Zürich 1999. Taylor /Trepp, USA, 2000
14. Ein Camping lang message salon. Esther Eppstein, Zürich, 1999