my father was a clown consists of several different ensembles of shoes, steps and door curtains. The door curtains are attached to the walls, with a step in front of them, and various clogs, slippers, garden shoes and sometimes children‘s shoes on, under or in front of the step. Each of the ensembles is based on specific caravan communities that were part of Zürrer‘s life during her childhood in the Circus Fliegenpilz, where her late father performed as a clown.

With the help of her childhood memories and associations, Zürrer creates spaces which, through her physical absence, can be filled by the visitor‘s own imagination.