Shifting Values consists of four electromechanical security bollards, like those used to secure embassies or other protected buildings. These bollards symbolize the tension between freedom and control, and the interplay of past and present.

At the heart of the installation lies its acoustic element: visitors hear people repeatedly chanting "We are the people." However, two distinct audio sequences highlight how the meaning of these words has shifted over time:

• When the bollards rise, the chant is from a 2015 PEGIDA demonstration in Dresden—where the slogan was used to promote exclusion and division.
• When the bollards lower, the voices are from the peaceful revolution in Leipzig in 1989—when the same words called for freedom, unity, and democracy.

"We are the people"—one phrase, two radically different contexts. The work raises questions about how language and values evolve over time: When does a demand stand for openness, and when does it represent exclusion? How do historical events shape our understanding of freedom?

Video: https://youtu.be/C2t2mrIarM4