A project that contributes to a cultural exchange and an understanding of art in public places in European regions, outside the usual business of art.

How does the environment and cultural attitude influence the effect of an art work? Is it recognised as such? Is there a European standard point of seeing? How does this mix with local optical conventions? How do artists from different countries deal with these questions? How does the public react?

En Route has been developed for the modern European art consumer who likes to pick up a fast visual experience on the road.

The concept has been developed for motorists and other mobile art consumers. Themes such as dynamics, speed, perception and the fleeting glimpse are the central artistic themes.

Our time is characterised by dynamics and speed. When we drive a car, our concentration is extremely focused on signals, arrows and information that point the way - to the future. Paradoxically driving also has to do with meditation: sitting in a metal box with wheels, we become a fixed point looking at the world that passes by like a film.

What is the difference in driving on European country roads? There is a curved asphalt ribbon; there are signs and markers. To the left and right the landscape is passing by. Trees, houses, clouds and fields alternate with each other. From time to time, significant elements occur like a hawk on a gnarled tree, a billboard advertisement, the skyline of a village with a church tower, or the chimney of an industrial plant on the horizon. What makes the situation special?

The project En Route is an art experiment that refers to the fast view while passing through, to the irritation of the usual perspective, and to the creative moment in everyday life.

In the traveller's field of vision, site-specific art objects were installed like landscape markers. They reflect upon their environment either from its visual aspect or in regards to its contents.

A starting point for this artistic research is the analysis of the combination of specific elements along the road in which we are decoding familiar and unfamiliar objects. An art object can be irritating and reject the environment. It can fit in the puzzle of a landscape like its last missing part. A strange context, an unexpected surprise, the fleeting glimpse, the creation of a short illusion and its after-image in our minds are also topics in the field of advertising. How much data can be processed in a few seconds.

Three European art organisations from Germany, Spain and Poland participated in this project: Arte en Orbita from Zaragoza, Galeria Wschodnia from Lodz and Kunstpflug e.V from Belzig. The project worked as an international artist exchange in a rotational system. Each organisation sent a group of five artists as guests to the partner organisations and organised the event in their home countries. The project took place in a series of three separate events in Autumn 2003. Unusual art works for drivers were presented along country roads in Germany, Poland and Spain.

The central interest of the participating organisations was the presentation of conceptual art in public spaces and international cooperation.