Oh look, a ballon!

Oh look, a balloon!, or Olab for short, is an ongoing, social art project. The balloon is the connecting element that brings together places, people, and their perspectives. Olab emerges through exchange in analog space. With water, paste, tissue paper, and conversations, the balloon gains a new layer, shell by shell. After drying, the balloon builders, also called balloon farmers, harvest the spherical objects. In the end, the balloon doesn't rise into the sky, and yet it is still more than hot air. Olab was created as part of Reconnect, the residency grant of the Cultural Promotion of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, from 3 to 19 July 2026, at the Castelen estate. Alongside the villa and the Basel-Stadt State Archive, the Kaiseraugst campsite (known in dialect as "Gülle") was a central site for the research conducted by Michèle Degen and Marcel Hörler.