Yves Mettler :
It works better when it’s broken

With exacting research and very dry humour the young Swiss artist Yves Mettler casts an unexpected light on the utopian promises of the urban present. A kind of guiding principle was sought for the Krems Art Mile with its numerous museums, galleries and art institutions, a label that points and says "art inside". It was clear that nobody came close to the master in this respect, Thomas ‘Bananensprayer’ Baumgärtel. Although Yves Mettler almost did. A household object was to be positioned in front of every building along the route — tables, chairs, a coffee percolator, a record player, a lamp. Everything a little grubby, damaged and so unusable, which is why the stuff has been put in front of the door for collection. Mettler wanted to apply a bronze casting technique that caused a sensation around 1900 as Wiener Bronzen. Although these 'Kremser Bronzen' would have been produced in the same sizes as the originals to raise the perennial issue of the ownership and maintenance of public space. Yves Mettler would like to awaken an interest in the conditions that exist locally, problematic and contentious issues. He makes thought processes visible, and gives them a concrete language of their own. He arranges the various elements of his work — which ranges from site-specific interventions, performances, texts and lectures to collaborations with artists around the world — to form a poetic ensemble that addresses the relationship between cultural identity, heritage and material resources on different levels.
It is a shame, though, that Mettler's sovereign winning project It works better when it's broken will never be able to present a challenge to the Bananensprayer.