BYCATCH, an Installation by Daniel Hölzl and Abie Franklin, Berlin
On the Hauptmarkt, thirty air-filled objects, each three metres high and modelled on breakwaters/tetrapods, form a boundary or a hollow way that visitors can walk through.
The work "BYCATCH" by Daniel Hölzl and Abie Franklin explores the concept of permeable borders and addresses the protection and demarcation of territories.
Typically, tetrapods—large, often concrete, four-legged structures—are used in coastal and border protection measures, as they break waves and thus help prevent coastal erosion. This type of breakwater is also frequently repurposed as anti-tank obstacles.
In BYCATCH, however, these tetrapods are not made of heavy concrete but of air. This can be read as a symbolic reference to the permeability and fragility of borders, which, despite their apparent stability and solidity, are often permeable or even transient.
By transforming tetrapods into air-filled objects, the artwork may be understood as an engagement with the idea of protection and delimitation as illusory constructs—structures that in reality may not be as solid or insurmountable as they appear.
Illuminated Tetrapode
Glowing BYCATCH
For Die Blaue Nacht | The Blue Night 2025, BYCATCH was presented in a newly developed version that played with lighting effects, adding an additional dimension. Targeted beams of light made the seams of the air-filled tetrapods visible, giving them a graphic quality and drawing attention to their construction. These light effects created a fascinating interplay between permeability and form—the objects appeared almost like drawn, floating structures in space.
For NÜRNBERGER Versicherung, BYCATCH Stands for Solidarity
For NÜRNBERGER Versicherung, which presented the installation, the partly interlocked and partly freestanding tetrapods served as a symbol of social cohesion and solidarity. Depending on whether visitors move from the narrow side towards the open side or vice versa, they were experiencing different sensations, inviting reflection and exchange about what they have encountered and encouraging interaction.
The artists Daniel Hölzl and Abie Franklin
Daniel Hölzl (*1994 in Schwaz, Austria) primarily creates site-specific installations that incorporate an element of constant transformation or are inherently ephemeral. A recurring theme in his work is what he refers to as “cyclical nature” or cycles. Carefully selected, mostly recycled materials draw attention to transience and explore our notions of continuity. Since completing his studies at the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, Daniel Hölzl has been living and working in Berlin.
Abie Franklin (*1995 in Jerusalem, Israel) has been living and working in Berlin since completing his diploma at the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin. Since 2022, he has been a member of the artists’ association Dagesh, which supports contemporary Jewish artists. In 2024, he held teaching positions at both the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin and the Academy of Fine Arts Trier.
“My work is centred around boundaries: between mediums, artificial and natural, body and space, material and matter. The core of my work reimagines colonially complicit spatial constructs and their repercussions.”
