Thanks to “La Friche des rails” in France, which is a project that’s beautifying a less aesthetic part of its host city, the Berlin brothers Christoph and Florin Schmidt have taken their iconic retro-futuristicwolves to the otherwise charming city of Annecy.. In a 3 year government-funded project aiming to improve the urban environment of the region, the LOW BROS as they are also known, were called in to make a mega mural in the picturesque place also referred to as “Le Bassin” (an artificially created water basin). On a blank walled hangar, their magical mural came to life, with a focus as they put it, “the human longing for control and availability”. But what does that mean? The mural looks at the human desire to constantly minimize coincidences and risks. A logical progress a reader may think, but the LOW BROS are asking us to consider if we lose more than we gain in this unexciting quest for control. Is the journey more exhilarating than the final destination of possessing something?
La Friche des rails
While some think deeply about this message, others are fulfilled visually with the other aspects of the mural. Visually, we see three variations of the teen wolf character, positioned centrally while other elements and images challenge the spatial depth we see, and remind us of the push and pull between analog and digital, which the LOW BROS are famous for. Is it the future? Or is it the recent past? In today’s accelerated world, it is hard to know. The perfectly painted geometric wolves with their vibrant Montana GOLD and BLACK can colors, partially float in a pool of symbols. All with those unique LOW BROS aesthetics.
The human longing for control and availability
Reminding us of the push between analog and digital
Regardless of if the viewer looks at the mural philosophically, or simply for visual appreciation, it offers something for everyone and helps bring the community interaction back into the urban landscape. See for yourself here
Images by Juliette Travers, Anne-Laure Chemin & Marc Domage