"In fact it became important for me at some point to define [the boundary between success and failure]", says Walde. "I wondered what loaded words like 'inconsistent' and 'irrelevant' meant to me. Demanding consistency always means formalizing failure, in that a consistent
work implies from the outset what its potential failure would be." (9) Tie or Untie (1999) was created in the context of questions such as these, and the work represents an original, rather amusing solution. Initially the work is nothing more than a gigantic pile of rope of the most varied colours, thicknesses, and lengths, which Walde simply had dumped in the exhibition room. There he allowed visitors to tie the ropes in knots, untie them again, and rearrange or throw them about as they pleased. Everything was permitted. According to Walde the probability of the work going to "fail" was almost zero, for it "is indestructible, it doesn't matter what you do to it it always remains what it is. It's probably the most flexible, the most casual work – and also one people react to most." (10) The work also became interesting, because Walde had shown it, or rather produced it, in numerous, consecutive exhibitions. He did not order new ropes for each new show, but rather presented the gigantic tangle in exactly the state in which he took it from the preceeding exhibition. Not only individual differences, also regional and cultural variations are inscribed in the work, always creating a fresh basis for new developments. This is why Walde particularly likes to send Tie or Untie on tour. So far it has been shown in Nordhorn, Innsbruck, Bonn, Vienna, Madrid, and twice in Tokyo. "Any individual imprints visitors would leave on the work can be seen for a short time, then would disappear partly, but would leave the mass as a whole look different. Nothing is ever destroyed, it just changed", says Walde, "very much like a vague
collective memory inextricably entangled." (11)