mutabor

In the fairy tale "caliph stork", wilhelm hauff tells the story of a miraculous transformation. By means of a powder and a magic spell, the caliph of baghdad and his grand vizier take on the form of storks. Because they forget to follow the rule of not laughing, their punishment is to forget the magic spell. Only with the help of an indian princess can they rediscover the magic word which turns them back into human beings.It is mutabor - which translated means: you will be transformed.

Lucia Dellefant writes mutabor on the colourfully glowing circular object placed in a garden. Children can clamber over it, they can use it as a seat and they can gather here in a circle as if in a small theatre and tell each other fairy tales. They can also experience a perception of themselves in an act of playful self-contemplation. Whoever looks through the coloured glass sees themselves reflected and estranged on the reflecting floor of the object. However, those who look through the letters of the magic word see their faces distinctly and clearly in the mirror.
The magic word transforms the hazy image of the viewer into a more distinct image of him or herself. With mutabor, Lucia Dellefant is continuing to explore the themes with which she was occupied in earlier works: employing writing, constructing works of art that also have a practical value as they can be sat upon, the inclusion of the viewer,the question of the i, the encouragement to be oneself and the acknowledgement of the possibility of transformation.  

mutabor                   2005
45 x 200 x 200  steel/glas
children´s day-care centre munich
a project within QUIVID