In Zitronen Wal Seife (Lemon Whale Soap) the soap follows the shape of the hands and becomes a lemon which becomes a whale in order to turn into a soap and disappear. The raw materials turn into natural recognizable shapes in order to disappear and change into another form. Each image becomes a word within a story of transformation and memory. Ponge’s reference to the soap as a “Chinese fish” that flips out of one’s hand mirrors the appearance and disappearance of the image, as the full meaning stays impossible to grasp. The installation Zitronen Wal Seife (slides, sound, scent) was first shown during Ines Lechleitner’s solo exhibition “Wa(h)lverwandtschaft“, curated by Emilie Bruner at galerie kunstbüro, Vienna.

This book was kindly supported by the Austrian Federal Chancellery.