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Custom Made
Even though the woodshop had to move in order to allow for a new air conditioning system and thus for improved air in the exhibition spaces, and though it is now only half of its size of before the renovation works, it is still the place where the voluminous pedestals, vitrines, frames and tables for the displays within the exhibition and collection halls are fabricated. We receive many a small order, wish or suggestion on the fly from the different departments of the museum, and fulfill them during peak times with the assistance of Jürg Schmoll. Our way of working is uncomplicated and saves on administrative red tape. More often than not, our team successfully fabricates the requested objects in a timely manner and according to specifications. The actual work in the woodshop represents only a part of our work load. We spend about a quarter of our time in the Bührle Hall helping install exhibitions. The moving of the walls during tight work schedules demands utmost concentration from all those involved. Sometimes artists will even have their works fabricated in the Kunsthaus woodshop, as did Olafur Eliasson last summer for his seven meter mirror channel for the exhibitions “The Expanded Eye.”
We do not only help install the large exhibition, but also work on the smaller ones in the spaces of the collection and in the cabinet on the ground floor. That can be quite demanding too.
The wood shop is part of the technical services department. At times we also assist our colleagues of the Art Handling department with the hanging of heavy paintings or the installing of sculptures.
During the early, late and weekend shifts we are responsible for the alarms in the museum as well as the technical infrastructure in the exhibition spaces. During some off-times we also handle the telephone switchboard and tend to the external storage of the non-art related museum inventory.
The breaks when all the staff of technical services meet are important and of great personal value. That is when we get to sit down and discuss organizational or technical issues. But often and with just as much pleasure we simply discuss art and world issues.
To work in a woodshop is physically intense, and so after work we are often quite knocked out. There is not much energy left for sport, fitness or our own creative art endeavors. But hopefully the energy we put into our jobs makes the viewing experience of the museum visitors of the collection and the temporary exhibits even more pleasurable.
