In the works of Matthias Wermke and Mis­cha Leinkauf, every­day sit­u­a­tions, prac­tices, and reg­u­la­tions are play­ful­ly, almost inci­den­tal­ly, ques­tioned. The swing, which appeared at var­i­ous loca­tions in Berlin and then moved on again, hung from street signs, scaf­fold­ing, and struc­tur­al ele­ments. It con­tin­u­ous­ly appro­pri­at­ed small parts of the sur­round­ing com­mer­cial­ized and pri­va­tized city, mak­ing them its own. For just a moment, how­ev­er brief, a new (pub­lic) space came into being—where there pre­vi­ous­ly was none. By occu­py­ing squares, nich­es, sites, and objects that nor­mal­ly serve oth­er func­tions, it recon­quered the city gen­tly and qui­et­ly, but no less emphat­i­cal­ly. Thus, the mobile swing can be read as a warn­ing. Because if pub­lic space dis­ap­peared com­plete­ly, will every­one who wants to swing have to bring their own swing with them?

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