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Along the Lines ist eine künstlerische Projektinitiative der freischaffenden Künstlerin und Kuratorin Natalia Irina Roman, in Kooperation u. a. mit der Deutschen Bahn (Location Partner), dem Hauptstadtkulturfonds (100 % Finanzierungspartner für 2018 und 2019), Berliner S-Bahn Museum und Historischen S-Bahn e. V. (Forschungsprojektpartner). Die Stellwerke der Deutschen Bahn verlieren immer mehr ihre Funktion als Streckenposten und bleiben meistens ungenutzt, da sie sich zu nahe an den Gleisen befinden. 2018 würde zum ersten Mal eine künstlerische Arbeitsmethode von ihr erfolgreich getestet, die die Transformation und die Neuaktivierung der Stellwerke erlaubt. Die Stellwerke und andere stillgelegte Orte der Bahn bieten ein unerforschtes Potenzial für Kunst entlang der Berliner S-Bahn und U-Bahn Gleise.
Züge haben schon immer Faszination erregt. Sie formen unseren Alltag und spielen eine große Rolle dabei, wie wir mit dem Phänomen Zeit umgehen. Pendler*innen und Gelegenheitsnutzer*innen des Berliner Schienennetzes nehmen nur selten die Umwelt war, die sie tagtäglich während der Bahnfahrt umgibt. Beim Zugfahren sind Zeit und Raum Übergangsphänomene. Für gewöhnlich sieht man nur das zu erreichende Ziel.
Installation von Natalia Irina Roman, S-Bahn Tempelhof | Along the Lines 2018
Along the Lines wirft neues Licht auf dieses modern Phänomen und rückt die Reisezeit zurück in den Fokus des Bahnreisens. Along the Lines haucht mittels Kunst stillgelegten Bahnorten wieder Leben ein – von schlafenden Orten zu Orten für Kunst – und hebt so das Potenzial der Gebäude hervor.
Hier geht’s zur Presse über Along the Lines.
Projektpartner
Hauptstadtkulturfonds (2018-9), Deutsche Bahn AG, Bauhaus University Weimar, Berliner S-Bahn Museum, Historische S-Bahn e. V., berliner-stellwerke.de, DB mindbox, toscana-tempelhof.de
Umfrage
Im Rahmen der Initiative führen wir ebenfalls eine kurze Umfrage zur Wahrnehmung der Stellwerke in der Öffentlichkeit und ihrer Nutzungsmöglichkeiten durch. Bitte unterstützen Sie die Initiative, indem Sie die folgenden Fragen beantworten. Sie helfen damit bei der Entwicklung neuer Nutzungskonzepte der Gebäude. Herzlichen Dank!
Zur Umfrage
Art Tracks: A panel discussion exploring art interventions along railway tracks in NYC
All aboard as we delve into the artistic possibilities of New York City’s railway system! The tradition of art in train stations runs deep in the city. This panel will focus on new formats of art in train stations and along railroad tracks and explore emerging opportunities for independent artists.
For more information see here. The panel is organized in cooperation with Goethe-Institut New York, starting Thursday, April 25, 6pm at 30 Irving Place, New York. For a free registration please follow this link.
MULTIMEDIA WORKS // RADIO INDUSTRY 2023
From August 28th to September 10th passengers on the S-Bahn 3 and RE trains at Erkner station are invited to experience a light installation, created by the talented Sascha Bachmann, within the historic former railway tower. This enchanting experience is part of the Radio Industry Festival, initiated by the visionary minds at Woltersdorfer Kabinett
. The festival takes place in various locations, as well as on the frequency 103.9 MHz. The installation runs from 8pm to 12 am and from 5 am to 7 am.
Installation art by Sascha Bachmann at interlocking tower ERK
As you gaze out of your train window, you will witness music take shape in a display of lights. Through a QR code, you are invited to immerse yourself further by syncing your senses with a curated soundtrack, synchronized with the visuals in the tower’s windows. The creative spark behind this awe-inspiring transformation is a collaboration between Along the Lines and Woltersdorfer Kabinett. Together, we’re weaving an artistic tapestry that turns a disused interlocking tower into a space of wonder.
Work by Grischa Lichtenberger, inspired by the interlocking tower ERK.
Along the Lines is an art initiative by artist and curator Natalia Irina Roman, in cooperation, among others, with the German Railway (location partner), Hauptstadtkulturfonds (100 % financial partner for 2018 and 2019), Berliner S-Bahn Museum and Historischen S-Bahn e.V. (research partners). The signal towers of the German Railway are currently losing their initial function of safe guarding the train travel and usually remain out of function, given their immediate vicinity to the railway tracks. In 2018, an art working method with these spaces has been successfully tested by her for the first time, which allows their transformation and re-activation. The former towers, as well as other disused railway spaces, showcase a huge unexplored potential for art in public space.
Trains have always fascinated. They played and still play an important role in shaping our every day habits and the way we deal with the phenomenon of time. Commuters as well as occasional users of the Berlin railway network often hardly notice their daily environment. The time and space of the train ride are transitory, and one usually only looks forward to arriving to their destination.
Installation by Natalia Irina Roman at S-Bahn S-Bahn Erkner | Along the Lines 2018
Along the Lines sheds a new light on this modern phenomenon and shifts the traveling time back into the focus of the railway travel. Along the Lines re-activates with art former railway spaces by the side of the Berlin S-Bahn and U-Bahn, from dormant spaces into spaces for art, and highlights their potential in this context.
See here press articles about Along the Lines.
Survey
Please support thew initiative by filling out this survey
about the perception and possible reuse of the signal towers. Thank you! Survey
Lumbung Lounge // Stellwerk Gallerie 2022
Lumbung Lounge installation by Along the Lines and Guerilla Architects at Stellwerk Galerie, Kulturbahnhof
Lumbung Lounge is a mixed media installation by Along the Lines and Guerilla Architects, transforming the independent project space Stellwerk gallery into a waiting room in Kulturbahnhof. The curator Sarah Metz invited Along the Lines to create an exhibition in the series “Seven things nobody told me about working in the arts”, part of the Ecosystem of Documenta, Kassel, 2022.
Along the Lines together with the Berliner art collective Guerilla Architects launched an open call as part of their exhibition concept, through which 27 video works by 31 artists were selected, dealing with the topic of waiting. The installation acknowledged the Lumbung curatorial concept of the ruangrupa through practices of shared waiting. The exhibition included a performance by Mareike Steffens and a discussion with Reza Afisina on space-making.
Artists exhibited in the installation: Arnis Aleinikovas, Raphael D. Aletsee, Kathrin Alischer, Isabella Silva Altemani, Julija Castellucci, Laure Catugier, Kai Fischer, Lisa Grosskopf, Karin Hochstatter, Luisa Hübner, Aleksandra Ianchenko, Geeske Janßen, Fumi Kato, Anna Kautenburger, Lise Kjaer, Dominik Lehmann, Daniela Lucato, Johanna Mangold, Emanuel Mathias, Daniel McKleinfeld, Lars Preisser, Klara Schnieber, Aleks Slota, St. & St., Jana Tost, Mateo Vargas, Sebastian Voigt, Gabriele Worgitzki, Hui Ye, Camilla Zeschick.
INSTALLATION ART
Maria Vill, David Mannstein and Anna Talens are winners of an open call, curated by Natalia Irina Roman in 2019, for which 200 artists applied.
Achim Wamßler, Maria Vill, Anna Talens, Natalia Irina Roman, David Mannstein (v.l.n.r.)
Installation by Anna Talens at S-Bahn Tempelhof, Ring Bahn
The installation The sun tunnel by Anna Talens at S-Bahn Tempelhof activated the former interlocking tower in 2019 by covering all windows with a golden reflective foil. The installation reacted at different times of day, changed depending from where you would look at it and was visible from afar. These are the windows from where the railway employees used to see when trains arrived and departed, in order switch the tracks. With this installation, the view got reversed – instead of looking from inside towards the outside, the windows attracted the view of the S-Bahn travelers. During sunshine the windows would glow and send a different signal, in the world of railway signals.
Installation by Maria Vill and David Mannstein, S-Bahn Line 3
Maria Vill and David Mannstein activated the former interlocking tower with playful paste ups in 2019. The work invited the S-Bahn passengers to take a different perspective on the time they spend waiting at the train station, as a break from their every day, as a time to re-organize or dream. The work integrated elements of the architecture, spanned along the S-Bahn line on two different buildings and referenced the water surrounding. The former interlocking tower has been out of function since 2012 and activated through art as part of Along the Lines, since 2018.
PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS
Part of the initiative Along the Lines are public discussions, facilitating conversations among railway employees and creatives.
Public discussion at Nikolaihaus, in cooperation with Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz. Photo by Ekaterina Bodyagina.
The discussions cover topics such as the potential for arts of disused railway infrastructure, the role of the German Railway Company in the society, opportunities for artists in the railway world, heritage status of railway spaces, as well as cooperations of artists with organizations outside of the art world, such as Deutsche Bahn. In cooperation with Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz and with DB mindbox, discussions took place on Curating Disused Spaces of Deutsche Bahn, Art and Train: The Passengers as Audience and In Between Historical Heritage and Usage: Disused Spaces of Deutsche Bahn and Their Future. Here you can find a report of one such conversation.
Team and supporters of Along the Lines 2018
Team 2018
Achim Wamßler (text & communication), Susanne Pretsch (landscape architecture), Patrick Düren (multimedia assistance), Angela Jehring (PR assistance), Christian Gralingen (graphic design), Stefan Maria Rother (photography), René Martin & Christian Chrosnik (technical assistance), Róbert Kovács (kinetic works consulting), Lars Molzberger (berliner-stellwerke.de & photography), Heiner Wegner & Udo Dittfurth (S-Bahn Museum and Historische S-Bahn e.V.), Natalia Irina Roman (concept, installations, city research)
Future of Former Signal Towers
The vision behind Along the Lines is to inspire other artists / makers to work with these type of spaces. This ambitious vision is pursued through exhibitions, city research, practice classes and various talks. Below you can find some of the other follow up exhibitions dedicated to raising awareness about the potential of former signal towers, which are widely spread out phenomenon and can be found across many countries.
Urban Refractions
Project Space KIMGO, Berlin, 2019 
Exhibition part of Urban Art Week. The fascination of light. It attracts us and lets us grow. It is necessary for life, for people, for most animals and plants. It stands for hope, ideas and enlightenment. It moves straight forward and in the form of rays. It brings objects to life. Light can transform a space, transport us to another place and create other realities – it influences our perception and mood. The world of trains and train journeys has always been a world of light signals, in which time is ticking otherwise than off tracks. With her project “Along the Lines” the installation artist and curator Natalia Irina Roman transformed in 2018, former signal towers in Berlin in cooperation with Hauptstadtkulturfonds, into spaces for arts, seen from trains passing by and from train platforms. She re-actived with her light installations the former towers and highlighted their potential in a city dealing with an increased scarcity of space.
Artists of the group show: Michael Ang, Studio KIM & GOTTLIEB, Natalia Irina Roman.
Exhibition curated by: Stephanie Fenner
Manifest of Practice, Bauhaus 100
Thüringenhaus, Berlin, 2019
The photo and video works included in this international traveling exhibition show a documentation of the first exhibition Along the Lines.
Exhibition curated by Adrian Palko and Kristian Gohlke.
Artists of the group show: Tom Ackermann, Brian Bixby, Christoph Blankenburg, Michael Braun, Florian Bräunlich, Jörg Brinkmann, Max Broda, Timm Burkhardt, Datenstrudel, Luzie Deubel, Christian Döller, Alexander Döpel, Jeffers Egan, Taissa Fromme, Joseph Gawlick, Samira Gebhardt, Marie Gehrhardt, Marcus Glahn, Kristian Gohlke, Kathryn Gohmert, Jana Gunstheimer, Niklas Hamann, Peter Heckwolf, Anne Heilmann, Thibaut Henz, Sophia Hoppe, Ann-Kathrin Hörrlein, Katharina Hüttler, industrierelikt, Verena Kalser, Phillip Kämmerer, Christoph Kilian, Edith Kollath, Leon Koonert, Fabius Kossak, Sascha Krischok, Jakob Kröhn, Christian Krüger, Michael Kugler, David Leroy, Anne Marx, Dennis Meier-Schindler, Mihail Mihalylov, Andreas Mühlenberend, MYKILOS, NEW TENDENCY, NEXT100, Phillip Niemeyer, Philotheus Nisch, Susann Paduch, Adrian Palko, Elisabeth Pichler, Johannes Rinkenburger, Nina Röder, Natalia Irina Roman, Max, Salzborn, Schmott, Theresa Schubert, Peter Schwartz, René Schwolow, SfVR, Johannes Siebler, Rachel Helen Smith, Samuel Solazzo, Laura Straßer, TEUBERKOHLHOFF, Franziska Theune-Hobbs, TinkerBots / Kinematics, Natascha Tümpel, Jakob Tress, Jannis Uffrecht, Katja Marie Voigt, Julia Wagner, Dirk Wäsch, Moritz Wehrmann, Markus Weisbeck, Robin Weißenborn, Christian Wiegert, Sebastian Wolf, YUUE Design
Dissolving Boundaries 
University Library, Weimar, 2018
The video installation Tick Tack presented here displayed a clock found in a former signal tower of the Deutsche Bahn; despite the building having been out of function for many years, the clock continued to work; the video installation is 24 hours long and can be synchronised with the real time.
Exhibition curated by Ricarda Löser, Anna Heyde, Ulrike Mothes and Dr. Simon Frisch.
Artists of the group show: 01 Ailen Pereyra • 02 Marko Seidemann • 03 Christian Sinn • 04 Anne Brannys • 05 Natalia Irina Roman • 06 Tatiana Reshetnikova • 07 Katharina Groß • 08 Kristian Gohlke • 09 Amayu Wakoya Gena • 10 Mirette Bakir • 11 Ulrike Mothes • 12 Marie Ulber • 13 Natascha Tümpel • 14 Fred Meier-Menzel • 15 Johannes Warda • 16 Kaya Behkalam • 17 Danny Lobos • 18 Ricarda Löser • 19 Ekkehard Knopke • 20 Anna Heyde • 21 Riham Elrasoul • 22 Louise Walleneit • 23 Hayder Alsaad • 24 Romina Alvarez Bové
Curatorial Part Uno
Alte Münze, Berlin, 2018
Photo works showing former signal towers from the first exhibition Along the Lines.
An exhibition curated by Franziska Harnisch and Mirjam C. Wendt.
Artists of the group show: Dan Allon, Nina Ansari, Anja Asche, Thomas Behling, Carla Bertone, Magnus Bjerk, Jake Blaschka, Sonja Blattner, Pedro Boese, Julia Brodauf, Robert Conrad, Jonah Criswell, DAG, Martha Damus, Almut Determeyer, Ulrich Diezmann, Jesper Dyrehauge, Margret Eicher, Jana Engel, Dana Engfer, Norman Gensel, Surya Gied, Robert Günther, Malte Hagen Olbertz, Franziska Harnisch, Eliana Heredia, Andreas Helfer, Susi Hinz, Jens Hunger, Andrea Imwiehe, Klaus Jörres, Judith Karcheter, Susanne Keichel, Alexander Klenz, Joongyoung Kim, Katy Kirbach, Bernd Kliche, Karen Koschnick, Stephane Leonard, Aron Lesnik, Dirk Lipfert, Julie Luzoir, Maximilian Marcoll, Christiane Möbus, Mila Panic, Christian Pilz, Eckart Pscheidl-Jeschke, Ulrich Puritz, Aaron Rahe, Beatrix Reinhardt, Natalia Irina Roman, Ina Sangenstedt, Christine Schmerse, Sonya Schönberger, Thilo Staudt, Sven Stuckenschmidt, Claudia Speer, Ramona Taterra, Saverio Tonoli, Markus Wirthmann, William Wires, Linda Weiss, Makiko Yamamoto, Christof Zwiener
