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Fabian Schöneich
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We sat in an Izakaya in Tokyo on a Friday night and every time Fabian wanted to order a single thing (beer, shōchū, yakitori) he got two of the same. He said hitotsu (Japanese for one thing), and got futatsu (2) all the time. It was mysterious. And then we sat in one of those micro bars, usually around the stations, where 4 to 5 people can squeeze in and we drank, I don’t know, maybe Chilean white wine. And then we met in front of Kunsthalle Basel where he works. But that was before the micro bar, was it? And in-between we were riding home in a friend’s car and we had to stop, not because of Fabian, because somebody who always has to got to the toilet wanted to take pictures of the floor tiles in a public toilet between Zurich and Basel. It makes absolutely sense to take pictures of toilet walls. A girl once told me in Berlin in the Soho House I should take a picture of the wallpaper in the men’s toilets. What looks like harmless leaves are actually hidden vaginas painted into the leaves (maybe everybody in Berlin knows this, but not everybody is in Berlin). Fabian always wears those impeccable suits and he always takes pictures of the artists who are exhibiting in the Kunsthalle Basel (there are usually no hidden vaginas in the pictures). They have to stand in front of the Tinguely Fountain and they try to smile for whatever reason because I am sure Fabian would not ask them to smile. He takes an attitude of confronting you with whatever he thinks is confronting you.

Miriam Laura Leonardi
People

Miriam worked for a company that produces mirrored bathroom cabinets, when I first met her in Basel already some months ago. Miriam is somebody who likes these breaks and the experience to dive into corporate worlds for a couple of days. During these days as a hostess presenting mirrors, scanning tickets at a packaging and innovation fair or representing an insurance, she gathers the nicest and weirdest stories. People cry because their boyfriend wasn’t nice to them, construction people make the cheapest jokes when the try to bring you and the bathroom mirror together or she finds a company printing your name on a flash light. I was lucky to receive one of them. These temporary jobs are not the only things that change on an almost regular basis. Before she moved to Zurich she resided in Paris, Mexico-City, L.A. for a couple of months and again is planning to move away to see other things, eat other food – she loves food by the way – and also to engage with other languages, which is a key element in her artistic work. Writing, filming or recording audio, Miriam is always concerned about these little details you can catch by watching, simply watching what happens around you.

People
Fabian Schöneich