Concept

Venice. Few cities in the world are as strongly associated with the words love and dream as Venice. A place charged with great emotions, an icon of sensuality. Dream, desire and longing: this is the central theme of this work and the basis for the artistic trans- and intervention on and with this gondola. With the transformation, the boat gains aesthetic beauty and power. The alienation of individual boat components and the subtle interventions create an object that is perceived as a classic gondola, but does not exist in reality. A fake becomes an original.

The outer cladding consists of a modeled ceramic structure. This structure is composed of 126 figures, formally realized by means of floral and human ornaments and structures. The depiction of the life cycle and physical interactions are the main expressive elements. This is represented by the figures that populate the gondola in their expressive physicality.

The possibility for visitors to touch the object sharpens/reinforces depths of observation that are only accessible through haptics and awaken new emotions. As the viewer approaches the installation, a “carrying” melody sounds from the hull of the boat. The symbiosis between the visual, haptic and acoustic experience thus generates a unique perceptual experience. At the same time, a boat of this type and shape has a strong symbolic character. It stands for the transcendence from the here to the hereafter. -From the fullness of life to inevitable death.

In many religions and cultures, journeys by boat or ship are symbols of transitions, for example, from earthly to divine life. Since the time of the Egyptians, the boat has been a symbol of the journey and thus of life itself, the journey of life.

On the occasion of the two exhibitions, the functional gondola was placed in the context of the mountain world. The alpine surroundings and the object charged each other aesthetically and in terms of content: The roughness and massiveness of the mountains in contrast to the elegance and fragility of the boat. The advantage of showing art in unfamiliar places is that, on the one hand, the viewer engages more intensively with the location and perceives the object differently. The gondola is placed in a surreal context and this initially leads to astonishment and irritation, then to reflection on the location.