WILD BUNCH
Created for the exhibition Troep curated by Edith Doove (ChezKit, Pantin, Paris, 2021), WILD BUNCH introduced the linguistic methodology that would later expand into WÖRZBAU. Its title compresses the English word words into a Germanic construction inspired by Kurt Schwitters’ Merzbau, proposing language as an evolving structure built through accumulation rather than narrative.
Forty texts, each originating from the name of a wild plant, were organised into four coloured groups and screen-printed onto tissue paper. The installation drew upon two familiar cultural references: the florist’s wrapping used to gather an eclectic bunch of flowers, and the freely distributed prayer papers found in temples. In both instances, paper functions as a vehicle for offering, exchange and circulation.
Originally intended as a work to be taken away, WILD BUNCH imagined language as something capable of travelling beyond the gallery. The economics of production prevented the printing of several hundred copies, leaving the stacks intact and revealing the tension between artistic generosity and material reality.
Neither poem nor print edition, WILD BUNCH treats typography as a physical medium. Colour attracts the viewer before language is discovered, while tissue paper introduces fragility, impermanence and touch. These principles became the conceptual foundations of the larger WÖRZBAU project.
“The paper is not simply the support, it holds the meaning”