In September 2024, artist Folke Köbberling initiated the art project “Mash & Heal” at three locations in Munich’s urban area. Large-scale replicas of SUVs were made from a compostable composite material and placed in the city center. As a critical commentary on the dominance of the automobile and the sealing of the city’s surfaces, the sculptures also served as indicators of the use of public space in Munich. At the three locations – Europaplatz, the corner of Herzog-Wilhelm-Straße and Kreuzstraße, and the corner of Schleißheimerstraße and Dachauer Straße – they were used in different ways: They served as shelter, experienced vandalism, or were cared for and preserved by neighbors.
These three car replicas, made from compostable composite material, will be brought together for the conclusion of the art project—shortly before the IAA Mobility 2025 car show and the premiere of BMW’s newest SUV—in two processions through Munich’s streets. They will be united into a new, green sculpture and ceremonially laid to rest.
“Mash & Heal” addresses the growing pressure that increasingly large and numerous cars exert on our public space. Given that cities are becoming more and more sealed and congested, Folke Köbberling transforms the SUVs into sustainable sculptures that aim to reclaim urban space for people.
Folke Köbberling, born 1969, lives and works in Berlin.
Program
26 September 2024, 6 p.m.: Opening
Opening remark by the representative of the Lord Mayor of the City of Munich; Anton Biebl, Head of the Department of Arts and Culture of the City of Munich; Public Art München
Schleißheimestraße 6
27 September 2024, 6 p.m.: Talk “Mash & Heal / out of the comfort zone! Who owns the parking space?”
with Henriette Kuhrt, Vanessa Carlow, Luise Rellensmann, Lars Mentrup
VerhandelBar, Sandstr. 47a
7 September 2025: Final performance schedule
from 11:00 a.m. – Europaplatz
from 11:30 a.m. – Sendlinger Tor
1:30 p.m. – Burial at Schleißheimerstraße 6
Eulogy: Tom Biburger; sound installation: Boris Jöns; music: Express Brassband
2:30 p.m. – Refreshments
Accompanying program
MASH & HEAL, Talk I “The Boiling Asphalt”
5 September 2025, 7:30 p.m., Pavillon 333 / Pinakothek der Moderne
Artistic intervention meets climate debate: In the discussion “The Boiling Asphalt,” Elisabeth Endres (TU Braunschweig), Felix Lüdicke (TU Munich), Rafael Stutz (TU Munich), and Folke Köbberling will speak about heat stress, surface sealing, and the future of urban spaces. Moderator: Elke Falat.
The starting point is Köbberling’s earlier unsealing actions, as well as her artistic work MASH & HEAL, which—with its compostable SUV sculptures—questions the dominance of cars in public space and offers new impulses for unsealing and design. The conversation will explore how artistic, architectural, and urban planning perspectives can work hand in hand to make cities more climate-resilient and move toward concrete action.
MASH & HEAL, Talk II “The Healing”
6 September 2025, 7:30 p.m., Pavillon 333 / Pinakothek der Moderne
Does art have an impact? A discussion with curator Adrienne Goehler, architect, artist and scientist Natalija Miodragovic, and artists Egill Sabjjoernsson, Augusta Oddsdottir, and Folke Köbberling.
Moderator: Dr. Christine Fuchs, artist, curator, and art therapist.
The discussion will focus on the artistic stance and practical actions of the MASH & HEAL project. Topics include the role of material choice and processing—its origins, symbolism, and impact—as well as the question of how art can respond to the relationship between consumption, resources, and responsibility. Another focus will be on the possible “aesthetics of sustainability”: How can ecological and social sensitivity be made visible and tangible in artistic form? What can artistic research contribute to social transformation?
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