Imaginary Wanderings No. 1

Lake Lucerne and the Gotthard – like you have never seen them before

We want to create 12 moveable tableaus that – like pop-up books! – can be folded out, opened up, cut out and set up to tell fascinating stories from around Lake Lucerne and the Gotthard region. Our prototype communicates cultural knowledge in an innovative way that invites users and spectators to engage interactively with the subject matter.

Our imaginary wanderings will take you from the wide open lake over the mountain peaks to deep down inside in the tunnels and caverns of the Gotthard. Experience how fire dragons blaze their trails between the Rigi and the Pilatus, mix the paint colours of William Turner’s palette, take a seat in this gigantic theatre of sky, water, rock and forest, and be there when the turquoise-coloured Lake Uri turns into a seething ocean. We promise you: «Lake Lucerne and the Gotthard – like you have never seen them before». Don’t miss a great experience – join us on this extraordinary journey!

Elegantly packaged in a stable box, there is one surprise unfolding after the other: each chapter offers an interactive instrument that you can take out and try out – a mirror, a colour fan, a set of cards… In this way, engaging with the Box will make you go through a playful «School of Scenery Seeing». An accompanying brochure with well researched and compellingly written essays will provide each individual story with additional information. The Box will be published in English and German.

What is it that we want to explore?

«Lake Lucerne and the Gotthard – like you have never seen them before» is the first of «Imaginary Wanderings Press» publications, our prototype. Ideally, we want it to be the first in a long series of portrayals featuring exceptional Swiss regions and other territories of wanderlust…

Who supports the project so far?

We are firmly committed to a Swiss-made product manufactured here and not in China or Taiwan. This is an expensive proposition, but we are obviously not alone in our way of thinking. Substantial contributions from the Albert Koechlin Foundation, the Ulrico-Hoepli-Foundation, the cultural supporting bodies of Lucerne, Schwyz and Uri as well as the Dätwyler Foundation already cover the cost of the printing. We will however only receive these funds once the printing presses are running…

So why do we need your help?

In order to make these 12 tableaus as dazzling and as rich in content as possible we would actually need some money now. How can, e.g. a Claude Glass, that is, a black, convex mirror, be mounted on a piece of cardboard, in the same way artists and curious Nature viewers did it in the eighteenth century – and where will we be able to find such mirrors? How can we – with the help of transparencies, special paper and highly skilled folding techniques – transfer you deep into the Gotthard? And how can we achieve the visual effects that transform the calm Lake Uri into a wild ocean?

We are using cutting-edge techniques in the art of paper making and printing. This, specialized research and material testing are what we need your support for – on the one hand. On the other, your
contribution enables us to lay the cornerstone of our small publishing house – we will need to identify the channels of distribution and to build up communication and public relations, to organize events and much more. What we want to do is to bring our unique Image and Text Box to the public!

What is our own investment?

Everything else, research, writing and editing, illustrating and designing, is our own investment in working hours so far unaccounted for. No risk, no fun. Because who knows, maybe «Imaginary Wanderings Press Nr. 1» will become a long- as well as a bestseller in which case you will have greatly contributed towards its success – WE THANK YOU!!!

When can you expect your Goodies?

You will have to be patient (or book the Preview Trip!). Your goodies will only be sent out after the publication of «Imaginary Wanderings Press» Nr. 1 – in Fall 2016. But we will keep you informed – verbally and visually – on how things are progressing and the project is taking shape.