Hannah Weinberger at Fitzpatrick

wedidntwanttoleave.live is an interactive sound experience by Basel-based artist Hannah Weinberger, and an exhibition taking place over the course of four days in thirteen host sites around the world.

Entering the website, visitors activate an ambient composition through the step counter sensors on their smartphone devices, each new participant adding layer upon layer to the live collaboration across time zones. The physical spaces si- multaneously host the collective experience, where visitors access the website through a designated QR-code on site to contribute to the rhythmic pulse.

The sonar algorithm only comes alive with the presence of a visitor to the website, otherwise remaining dormant, placing the viewer in the position of both active performer and passive receiver. Audience participation is accentuated by the installations in each physical site, filming visitors as they move through a seemingly infinite projection, while the sound grows in volume with the exchange of vibrations and the movement of bodies through space.

The project was initially conceived for Weinberger’s solo exhibition at the Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva in autumn 2019, under the technical direction of Rocket Science. This new adaptation marks the inaugural exhibition of Fitzpatrick Gallery, and is produced by The Performance Agency, a curatorial platform and production studio that unites artists to create site-specific live experiences. The project is supported by ProHelvetia, Kanton Basel-Stadt, and the Guggenheim Stiftung.

Special thanks to all the host sites. Without their generous support and collaborative spirit, this project could not have been realized.

HANNAH WEINBERGER is a Swiss artist born in 1988. She lives and works in Basel and holds a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Fine Arts in Zurich. She has presented solo exhibitions at: Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva; Villa Merkel, Esslingen; Kunstverein Braunschweig; Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe; Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin; Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Hamburg; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge; Kunsthaus Bregenz; Kunsthalle Freiburg; Swiss Institute, New York; and Kunsthalle Base. Her work has been presented internationally at such institutions as: Bundeskunsthalle Bonn; Fridericianum, Kassel; Copenhagen Contemporary; Okayama Art Summit; Migros Museum, Zürich; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam ; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen; Kunstverein München, Munich; Kunsthaus Glarus et. al. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors in- cluding: Georg und Josi Guggenheim Prize (2016), Swiss Art Award (2019), and the first Swiss Emerging Artist Prize (2018) of Société Générale Private Banking Switzerland.