To be able to prepare yourself for the the outter world in which demanding clients demand high quality for their money. To be able to instill joy, humanity and friendship in your trade, you need the trust and guidance of a sibling to be able to flourish.
Johannes and Pius had had these seven years of brotherhood and were about to part from each other. They were already masters of their trade, as carpenters, and I felt that it was not as good as a separation as it would merit. It is quite rare in the trade to see young craftsmen support each other in such a way, and I wanted to make sure that they realized how meaningful their proces was for themselves and other craftsman that would like to have to level of support they had given each other.
So we agreed to make a table, high in the austrian Alps, in the mountain farm of the Nigsch family. I asked them to put all the appreciation they had build up for each other into the work, while we practised several techniques that involved reconciliation. We found that if we let go of projections on the other, we find ourselves again, and our feelings and thoughts become peaceful again. And, as this table would be presented at the exhibiton, in which the Jewish history of Vienna would be healed, we would also like to heal a part of the collective negative energy that tradespeople projected onto the Jewish people in the 1930s. We also dreamed about tradespeople being able to learn about their biographies, like opera-singers or actors, so that their thoughts and feelings could not be abused by political parties with bad intentions.
Because if you learn to think and feel for yourself, you are not to be indoctrinated so easily. The great thing about Johannes and Pius is that they live true to their word, as their fathers had. It is a quality that still lives in the mountains, that if a word is given, one follows through.
Lastly, the courage that we all showed in making this table was also inspired by the Jewish families that came to Vienna for the exhibition, and dared to look at their dark past, to be able to heal. I felt that Pius and Johannes were inspired by this, to overcome whatever was hurting between them.
To symbolize the break between the two friends and colleagues, we first broke the table in half. After that, we mended the table with a natural glue. You can still observe the breaking lines, which gives the table a unique touch. Under the workshop, we heard the cows mooing, and we did most of the work by hand. Observing our daily coffee breaks with fresh cow milk, we overlooked the beautiful valley of the Grosswalsertal, while philosphizing about how to proceed.
One very important aspect was the fact that the table would be left untreated as we installed it in the cafe ALT WIEN in the old town of Vienna. The idea behind this was that all the guests would leave their mark on it, as our marks on the world are not to be erased, but we can mend the marks and especially the breaks that we inflict on each other.
THANK YOU PIUS KAUFMANN und JOHANNES NIGSCH
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