sabato 30 giugno 2012

OLAF NICOLAI: IL BALCONE DI FREDERICO - APPENZELL BIENNALE



OLAF NICOLAI
IL BALCONE DI FREDERICO
Appenzell Biennale
Ebenalp Cable Car Station - Wasserauen
30/6/2012- 30/7/2012

The 8th Edition of the Appenzell Biennale will open Saturday 30 June at an altitude of 1,644 meters on the Ebenalp Mountain in Wasserauen. For this new edition, a special project by Olaf Nicolai will be presented: a 6×6 meters monumental cube made of 479 Edelweiss.
The edelweiss is a rare flower; it is a synonym of bravery and valiance, of nature intact, of pureness, of innocence and eternal love. For the alpinists, it has always been a symbol of their passion for the mountains.Last year, Olaf Nicolai, who frequently uses minimal shifts or changes in his works to challenge our perception of reality, had 479 Leontopodium alpinum seedlings planted in a 6 x 6-meter-large square area on the Ebenalp. Now, at the beginning of July, they are starting to blossom and the white square will be visible until autumn. Thanks to Nicolai, the otherwise rare wildflower will now appear en masse and in cultivated formation: a vision of passion made suddenly manifold.
Olaf Nicolai (b. 1962 in Halle / Saale, Germany) lives in Berlin. His works may currently be seen at Kunsthalle Münster D (until 30 September 2012); at Magazin 4, Bregenz, Austria (until 26 August 2012); and at Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, Italy (until 4 November 2012). He has had solo exhibitions at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany (2011); kestnergesellschaft Hannover (2010); and Kunstmuseum Thurgau, Kartause Ittingen, Switzerland (2009). He participated in Manifesta 7, Rovereto, Italy; the Venice Biennial, Italy (2001, 2005); and Dokumenta X, Kassel, Germany (1997).
The Appenzell Biennale was founded ten years ago by the artists Emanuel Geisser and Peter Stoffel and curator Christiane Rekade. It has since continued to be involved with various contemporary art projects. Its aim is to explore the tension between the Appenzell landscape and tradition and the large-scale contemporary art event.