Arnold and Clemens von Wedemeyer
win art-in-architecture competition
at Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen

Arnold von Wedemeyer and Clemens von Wedemeyer have won the “Art in Architecture” competition held by the Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen (MGKSiegen). Their work, “Spirit of Things”, transforms the large LED wall above the museum’s main entrance into a digital playground. Mailbox, bush or tree: objects in public space become virtual game characters, controlled by the movements of passers-by on the square at Unteres Schloss Real-time weather data carries the lighting and weather moods of the square into the interactive real-time simulation.The work is to be realised in summer 2027 to coincide with the reopening of the MGKSiegen, and will be funded as part of the extension project.
The competition’s goal was to consolidate the local citizens’ sense of connection to the museum and its planned extension. To this end, a key role was to be played by the project’s visibility and engagement with the building and its location at Unteres Schloss. The call for entries therefore specified artistic proposals whose conceptual framework would specifically incorporate dynamic programming and flexible use of the screen as a contemporary interpretation of “art in architecture”. Following a preliminary selection, five international artists and collectives were invited to participate: in addition to Arnold and Clemens von Wedemeyer, Daniel Canogar, Cao Fei, Laure Prouvost, and the duo Rasa Šmite and Raitis Šmits took part in the competition.
The entry “Spirit of Things” by artists Duo Arnold and Clemens von Wedemeyer was selected unanimously by the jury, chaired by Thomas Thiel, director of MGKSiegen.  The jury was particularly impressed by the way that the project proposal brings together the architecture, the historic surroundings, and its viewers. The artwork’s provision for social interaction and its playful element—which directly involves even non-visitors and public space in front of the museum—were seen as decisive.

The artists

Arnold von Wedemeyer operates at the intersection of art and computer science. Amongst other things, his video works and media installations explore the extent to which our perception of reality can be manipulated by digital processes. His works are featured in national and international exhibitions and collections. He has taught at Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and Kassel Art Academy. Arnold von Wedemeyer lives and works in Berlin.

Clemens von Wedemeyer is an artist and filmmaker. His video installations and short films often address history, group dynamics, and critical engagement with media and technology. He has exhibited at dOCUMENTA (13) and skulptur projekte münster 07, amongst others, and has produced site-specific works that engage with public space in a critical manner. He heads the “Expanded Cinema” program at the Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig, and lives in Berlin.

Members of the prize jury 

Dr. Ulrike Groos, director, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart
Sabine Himmelsbach, director, Haus der elektronischen Künste Basel (HeK)
Prof. Dr. Christian Spies, president of the Peter Paul Rubens-Stiftung 
Thomas Thiel, director, MGKSiegen

Background to the extension

The planned expansion, designed by the architectural firm Kleihues + Kleihues, will increase the museum’s usable floor space by a total of 900 square meters across three floors. To accommodate the needs of our growing collection, a modern museum storage facility will be created on the ground floor. An event space suitable for a variety of uses will be built on the middle level. Meanwhile, the top-floor exhibition space will be expanded to include an 11-meter-high atrium with a skylight. The new building, which features a pyramid-shaped slate roof rising to a height of 18 meters and so aligning with the ridge of the existing building, already provided us with a clear sense of its dimensions during the topping-out ceremony and a tour of the shell.

The expansion, with planned construction costs totaling 11.8 million euros, is being financed by public funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia—each contributing 5.4 million euros—as well as 1 million euros from the Siegen-Wittgenstein district. The university city of Siegen is granting the MGKSiegen the right to use the municipal property and the existing building free of charge as part of an already extended cooperation agreement. The Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen gGmbH is the construction project client. The exceptionally generous private commitment of our patron Barbara Lambrecht-Schadeberg is particularly noteworthy; she agreed in advance to cover the entire planning costs for the expansion and to secure the future of the MGKSiegen with an endowment contribution to complement the public grants.

Construction is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2027, when it should be possible to move the artworks into the new storage facility and exhibition space. In addition, work on the existing building and in the areas currently closed to the public will be completed, and an exhibition will be organized to mark the opening of the expansion.

The extension of the Museum of Contemporary Art Siegen is being funded by:The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, pursuant to a resolution of the German Bundestag
The Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Siegen-Wittgestein District
Peter Paul Rubens Foundation
University City of Siegen
Realized by Kleihues + Kleihues Architects  

Renovation projects in existing buildings are funded by
Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe
Peter Paul Rubens Foundation

Cultural Partner
WDR3

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