A.i.R. Story
berøre / berüere
Madeleine M. Karlstrøm × Philipp Zünd · A.i.R. Story
The Encounter
Madeleine and I studied at ArtCenter at the same time, in different classes. We knew each other in passing. When we met again at an exhibition in Vevey in early summer, we met as artists: she was showing her photographs, and I my “Love Evolve” triptych.
Her images and her book drew me in. She spoke about her grandfather, Ulf Aas and about looking closely, noticing a moment and capturing it. As we talked, I felt a connection to my own work. That led to a spontaneous invitation: come to Liechtenstein. Let’s do an A.i.R. Session in my Letterpress Studio.
Reflection: “Photography is something I cannot not do.”
That sentence of Madeleine’s stayed with me. Photography had fascinated her from an early age, ever since her experiences in her mother’s darkroom. But what lay behind that inner urge? What was she seeking when she picked up her camera?
We spoke about expectations, finding one’s own truth, uncertainty and the willingness to be vulnerable. About how creative work can allow us to grow, slowly and sometimes almost imperceptibly.
Madeleine captures moments that invite us to look more closely. Her photographs leave open what we are looking at: something near or far, a detail or an entire landscape. She wants to stir something in us, subtly, without telling us what to feel.
“I really want to touch someone with my art.”
Distillation
Manifestation
We arranged the two words in a circle. “berøre” and “berüere” connect, touch and carry the movement onwards.
We printed the circle in white on translucent paper. Two printed sheets lie one on top of the other, like two sensitive layers of skin. Each lets the other show through, and they physically touch. The encounter takes on a tactile, sensory form.
Beneath them, on a third sheet, lies the question:
Hva berører deg?
What touches you?
At first, we wanted to add words describing all the things that can touch people. But after a brief reflection, we left those words out. The question was meant to leave room for what viewers bring to it themselves.
Mutual Resonance
For Madeleine, this process was new. At the A.i.R. PROOF — an event at the Letterpress Studio where each collaborative work is presented to an audience for the first time — she described how challenging it had been to find words for her visual world. That was precisely where she found value:
“…it makes you reflect, even on a deeper level.”
What she expresses through her images became accessible in a different way through conversation.
I take away from our encounter the understanding that even a simple thought may need time. “Touching” was there from the start. Yet it was only through our search that I came to understand more fully what this word means to Madeleine — and how much it also drives my own work. The detour gave depth to what had seemed self-evident.
Beyond the Session
Since those days, one thought has stayed with me: what touches us can also point to what we are missing, what we long for, and what we ourselves want to bring into the world.
Madeleine’s photographs touched me at first sight. I told her so. That led to an invitation, conversations together, and eventually a limited letterpress edition.
Creative action begins right there: noticing that something resonates within us, and trusting that feeling enough to take the next step. Then acting on it.
What touches you — and what would you like to create from it?
