Wanderlust is a group exhibition that explores the themes of walking, journeys, and pilgrimages. Inspired by the High Line as an ambulatory space experienced most naturally in motion, Wanderlust extends the tradition of Conceptual art wherein the act of walking served as an inspiration for many artists who explored life both in the urban context and in an ambivalent confrontation with nature.
On the High Line, itself an urban promenade that combines nature and architecture, the act of walking is both celebrated and taken for granted. Wanderlust invites viewers to remember the many implications of the journeys and walks they take every day, placing them within a secular tradition that expands beyond art into both everyday life and our shared cultural histories.
Valentin Carron (b. 1977, Switzerland) manipulates the vernacular decorative languages of his native Valais, Switzerland to form sculptural objects that are strangely familiar. For the High Line, Carron presents Wall Bell, a tocsin—or alarm bell—inspired by hand bells common in Switzerland and installed against a wall on the High Line, with a rope for visitors to ring it. Referencing an ancient, analog mode of communication, the bell suggests congregation, an apt symbol for the High Line, a site of assembly for millions of neighborhood residents, other New Yorkers, and visitors.