Whisper Down the Lane

With her agency Logistique, founded in 2021, Sally Dalgaard explores the mechanisms and contradictions of logistics systems. Usually unsolicited, the consultancy firm offers potential clients creative solutions to the dilemmas identified by the artist. Whilst the proposals are not always implemented, they do find their way into installations, videos, performances and prototypes that highlight the environmental and social impacts of logistics infrastructure.

In Case #21, Logistique’s senior consultant S. Dalgaard presents material from her most recent consultancy case concerning the controversial Elbtower in Hamburg, a real estate project that has been at a standstill since 2023. Based on research into the history of the construction project and the political and economic interests behind it, Logistique has developed tailored proposals for ten key players. The consultancy proposals were sent to the clients by email and are being presented publicly at the Kunsthaus Hamburg.

Combining investigative research with satirical hyperbole, this mail art piece portrays the Elbtower as the epitome of a late-capitalist mega project and the power structures behind it. The multitude of stakeholders, some of whom are driven by conflicting interests, and the complexity of decision-making and funding processes have resulted in logistical chaos that has contributed to the project’s standstill. The half-finished architectural ruin has now become an integral part of Hamburg’s cityscape. It is reminiscent of a contemporary version of the Tower of Babel, which points to human hubris and the limits of collective organization and communication.

In the experimental and communicative exhibition format Whisper Down the Lane, the roles and functions of hosting and being hosted become fluid: in line with the eponymous children’s game, the exhibiting artists themselves choose the next person. With the project, the Kunsthaus transfers part of the curatorial responsibility to the artists themselves, with the aim of creating alternative institutional modes of access and rendering local network structures visible both in terms of personal ties and with regard to artistic approaches. So far, works by Jaewon Kim, Fritz Lehmann, Altay Tuz, Pia Pospischil, Luzia Cruz, Laurel Chokoago, Cho Ari and Carolina Lehan and, most recently, Sanna Leone have been on display as part of Whisper Down the Lane.