Display board plan Print on PVC sheet: 820x170 cm, 2020
Digitally processed pencil drawing, based on Wolfgang Frey's plan of the display board of Stuttgart Central Station.
Frey's technical drawing functions as carrier of his own narrative: passages from his articles in the MIBA (magazine for miniature railways) 2003 and 2005 are set in place of and in the same color as train routes marked on the display board. Descriptions of the beginning of his modelmaking activities, of the relocation to the basement at Schwabstrasse as well as details of his handicraft work condense into a summary of his 'life's work'. Printed in original size of the control panel the drawing is presented in its place in the Frey basement.
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From 1992 until his death, the railway employee Wolfgang Frey (1960 - 2012) used the 450 m2 mezzanine floor of a subway station to construct a unique model railway system of the Stuttgart main station and its branch stations. In order to control this huge system, he also created a 1: 1 replica of his workplace in the Stuttgart main signal tower, including electronic control consoles and the huge control panel.
After Frey's death, the system was sold and opened to the public in a private museum. www.stellwerk-s.de. Due to a lack of space, only parts could be transferred. So all structures- except the display board - remained in the modelmaking cellar.
Digitally processed pencil drawing, based on Wolfgang Frey's plan of the display board of Stuttgart Central Station.
Frey's technical drawing functions as carrier of his own narrative: passages from his articles in the MIBA (magazine for miniature railways) 2003 and 2005 are set in place of and in the same color as train routes marked on the display board. Descriptions of the beginning of his modelmaking activities, of the relocation to the basement at Schwabstrasse as well as details of his handicraft work condense into a summary of his 'life's work'. Printed in original size of the control panel the drawing is presented in its place in the Frey basement.
————
From 1992 until his death, the railway employee Wolfgang Frey (1960 - 2012) used the 450 m2 mezzanine floor of a subway station to construct a unique model railway system of the Stuttgart main station and its branch stations. In order to control this huge system, he also created a 1: 1 replica of his workplace in the Stuttgart main signal tower, including electronic control consoles and the huge control panel.
After Frey's death, the system was sold and opened to the public in a private museum. www.stellwerk-s.de. Due to a lack of space, only parts could be transferred. So all structures- except the display board - remained in the modelmaking cellar.
There the artist group SOUP (Stuttgart Observatory of Urban Phenomena) works with parts that have been left behind and other traces of Frey's life. Regularly other artists are invited to realize projects that deal with this extraordinary place and the stories it contains. www.begleitbuero.de/das-wolfgang-frey-projekt/
