Tegel : Flights of Fancy

Tegel/ Flights of Fancy: A video project screened in Berlin to mark the closure of Tegel Airport showcasing thirty-nine new commissioned films.

The airport is the very embodiment of exchange, a curious place of transition, a portal between two realities embodied in the space beyond the gate. The hours spent in the airport lead us to a ‘non-place’, where we are encouraged to shop to eat to wait – we are caught in limbo. Yet, it remains a realm in its own right, with its autonomy. The anonymous solitude of these non-places offers the transitory occupant the illusion of being part of some grand global scheme: a fugitive glimpse of a utopian city-world.

The closure of Tegel airport marks an important change in the way air travel is organised and experienced. The design of this airport is of a time when flight was associated with glamour, fantasy, technological progress, romantic chance encounters and fictional disasters. The building consists of a large concrete hexagonal structure circumnavigated by a corridor, punctuated with brightly coloured check-in desks. Viewing platforms and executive lounges populate the circumference of the building, inviting the traveller to enjoy a navigable thoroughfare instead of the shed-like enclosure with limited seating. There are commissioned art works, restaurants and bars, cafés and shops. The décor follows the distinctive bright colour schemes of its age all the way through to the plastic sinks and hand dryer in the restrooms.