Mi sono perso | Venezia
Intervention during the opening days of the art biennale in venice 2019
In previous projects, Ruth Baettig has performed as an anonymous “white figure” in public spaces, creating a dialogue with artworks, historical monuments, and landscapes. Her work explores the tension between the social and the artistic, merging historical references with fictional elements. Through this blending, she crafts a dimension where humor becomes a vehicle for existential fragility.
During the opening days of La Biennale di Venezia 2019, Baettig staged an intervention by floating a neon sign through the canals of Venice. The sign read “Mi sono perso” – I am lost. This was the last in a series of public interventions featuring this Italian phrase, which speaks to both moments of crisis and poetic serendipity. Where her earlier interventions engaged directly with specific artworks, this gesture established a dialogue with the art world itself – a conversation that might well bear the subtitle: May You Live in Interesting Times.
The ephemeral glow of the phrase in the Venetian night disrupts the habitual gaze, creating a fleeting yet collective memory. “Mi sono perso” becomes a call to embrace uncertainty and the need for self-reinvention.
The project was supported by the Casimir Eigensatz Stiftung, the Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft der Stadt Luzern, and the FUKA-Fonds. Thank you!
