Remember the GOLDEN FIELD brightly standing in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens.  A lot of people standing around, paying very close attention to what will happen. The artist examines his artwork intently from all sides, then takes a chainsaw from a bag on the ground nearby. His saw’s engine howling loudly, he starts to saw up the picture, first lengthwise into strips, and then those strips into smaller pieces.  He does all this with great care and deliberation, almost delicately.

VIDEO Muthesius and the saw´s enging howling loudly

When the ceremony is over, small golden rectangles remain, frayed at the edges. Muthesius gently places these next to one another, then contemplates them calmly.

Watching this, thoughts come unbidden, such as: nothing in life is permanent. Not even the supposedly perfect, such as nature or cultural heritage sites. Everywhere neglect, disrespect and destructive forces threaten that which is precious. The values of our society in Europe are also suffering. We look on as freedom and human rights are abandoned, democracy and peace endangered. Our society is splintering apart, just like the pieces of the Golden Field; in the light of such slogans as “our country first”, solidarity and compassion are just as much in danger as civil courage and social commitment.  The Golden Field sawn to pieces at Athens, the cradle of democracy, makes us think: What can we do, you or I?

The intervention of Berlin artist Winfried Muthesius at Syntagma Square is the prelude to further interventions in historical places such as Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, London, Paris, Warsaw and Vienna.