Eliane Bertschi Presents Cracks on a Cell Phone with Love Letters at Swamp Sacrifices II

Cracks on a Cell Phone with Love Letters — About the Work

In her textile installation, Bertschi traces an imaginative encounter between two mystical figures rooted in Brussels folklore: Kludde and the Nekker. Known for their shape-shifting abilities, the two beings reveal themselves in the midst of geotechnical disturbances caused by the construction of new underground subway lines. Through cracks splitting the concrete and pillars sinking into the softened earth, a connection begins to form—perhaps a love story, perhaps a political argument, or something more ambiguous, more entangled.

Cracks on a Cell Phone with Love Letters weaves and unravels this encounter through a constellation of textile banners. Reminiscent of comic-style speech bubbles or the symbolic attributes carried by saints in medieval religious art, these banners act as conveyors of words, messages, and identities. Historically crafted from cotton or meticulously woven silk, such banners once represented the essence of their carriers. In Bertschi’s installation, they become fluid and porous, liquefying the identities and narratives of Kludde and Nekker as they drift between myth, intimacy, and urban transformation.

Credits

Cracks on a Cell Phone with Love Letters
a textile installation by Eliane Bertschi

• Support Typefaces: Lydia Perret
• Photo credits: Jan Locus