Tobias Rehberger's 24 Stops: A 5km Art Trail Linking Beyeler and Vitra

Tobias Rehberger has created '24 Stops', a five-kilometer art trail connecting Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland, with Campus Vitra in Weil am Rhein, Germany, crossing the Swiss-German border. The project comprises 24 stations featuring sculptures and installations that blend functionality and dysfunctionality, including functional bells, a time house that works as a barometer, intentionally broken birdhouses, and abstract bird shelters and beehives that provide functional refuge for local animals. Rehberger emphasizes that the work is not Land Art but focuses on objects and community experience rather than personal experience or landscape. The project was commissioned by Fondation Beyeler and Vitra, initiated by Vitra chairman Rolf Fehlbaum, who originally envisioned a graphic wayfinding system. Rehberger and his brother, a graphic designer, initially worked on that concept but later pivoted to the current installation with full creative freedom, collaborating with Fondation Beyeler, Vitra, Swatch, and local municipalities. Rehberger discusses his interest in art appearing in everyday life, subverting familiar categories through functional and dysfunctional objects, and the evolving nature of public art as part of collective imagination. He notes that vandalism can be a form of appropriation but hopes for no destruction. Rehberger also mentions an upcoming paper show at Giò Marconi in Milan towards the end of the year.