Since 2000, the Museum Blumenstein in Solothurn has been inviting various guests to explore the baroque castle, which has been a museum since 1952, as part of the “Encounters in Blumenstein” project series and to present the results of this exploration in the museum.
The artist Till Velten focused his attention on one of the museum’s most valuable exhibits, the astronomical Aarhof room clock. Starting with the object and its storage location, the artist undertakes personal and subjective research into its context. He is interested in the web of references that spins around the object, the place and the people connected with it, especially the Pfaehler couple as co-owners. In the process-oriented approach, current circumstances, unforeseeable events, and the personal perspectives and interests of the people involved play an important role.
The results of Till Velten’s research around the Museum Blumenstein are conversations with various people about time experience, monastic life, clocks and family ties. With one exception, the conversations were recorded on video and presented in an installation in the museum in autumn 2003.
At the same time, the publication “Was ist los eigentlich im Blumenstein?” (What’s going on in Blumenstein?) will be published, which gives insight into Velten's project. The text and material booklet brings together conversations with Sister Marguerite-Marie, Mother of the Visitation Monastery, Solothurn; Hans Christen, painter, Solothurn; Brigitta Berndt, restorer, Solothurn; Markus Hochstrasser, Cantonal Monument Conservation, Solothurn; Sonja Werner, former Sister Victoria, Solothurn; Alice and Ruedi Bläsi, Solothurn.