THE WAY OUT

The Way Out was created by Magdalena Wiegner aka Magwie during an artist residency and explores inner landscapes shaped by self-doubt, shame, and isolation. The words covering the walls are drawn from thoughts that people have shared with the artist in moments of vulnerability. They give voice to experiences many of us recognize: feelings of inadequacy, failure, and the sense of having to carry our struggles alone.

Rather than framing these experiences as individual shortcomings, the installation points to the broader social conditions that foster competition, performance pressure, and constant self-optimization. Within such environments, vulnerability is often perceived as weakness, and personal suffering becomes internalized as failure. The result can be a relentless cycle of self-criticism that gradually disconnects individuals from themselves and from one another.

The “way out” suggested by the work is not a promise of easy solutions. It begins where self-judgment ends: in the willingness to acknowledge pain, uncertainty, and imperfection. By allowing oneself to feel what has been learned to be suppressed, the density of these thoughts can begin to dissolve. In this process, vulnerability becomes not a flaw to overcome but a gateway to connection.

The Way Out invites viewers to reflect on the mechanisms of inner isolation and to imagine connection, compassion, and belonging as alternatives to a culture of separation and individualization.