One Way Home
Baltensperger + Siepert, 2017
Digital Video, 08:06
With One Way Home, Baltensperger + Siepert have attempted a personal approach to the troublesome concept of “heimat.” They embark on a fictitious journey and explore the longing that lies behind the nostalgic fiction of past and belonging through dialogue.
Their point of departure is the long-distance bus station in Zurich. Before holidays, in particular, it’s a place where one can observe how people who have chosen Zurich as their place of residence make journeys to their former homes.
The anticipatory joy at the prospect of seeing relatives and friends again is written on their faces, as is their longing for the idea of homeland.
In this work, Baltensperger + Siepert focus on their personal failure to create and maintain their own homeland utopia. In a multipart work cycle, they undertake a journey in order to understand this longing. At the end, they themselves mount the bus toward the Balkans in order to—perhaps—find their homeland.
