Free Solo (2019–25)
Performance, installation
154 pieces, acrylic paint on polyurethane, magnesium powder, plywood, 500 × 900 cm (installation dimensions variable)

For Free Solo, Günyol & Kunt created molds from details of numerous statues and memorials in Frankfurt, Istanbul, Çanakkale, and Karlsruhe using silicon. Replicas, which are reminiscent of climbing grips, were cast from these molds. The resultant installation is like a climbing wall—but its origin is not in sport, it is from a collective impulse. Memorials are not only viewed or revered, but are also climbed during protests and celebrations.

This physical act—the aspiration to transcend your own existence, to move up and get closer to the symbolic power of these places—forms the center of the work. The work invites us to question the relationship between body, space, and power—and shows how history can be literally scaled.

Stefanie Patruno, Ratatataa, exhibition catalogue, Kehrer Verlag 2025

Installation view; Ratatataa exhibition at Kunstmuseum Karlsruhe

Cover Photo: Anne-Sophie Stolz