paradise_paradox
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paradise_paradox In their work paradise_paradox Herwig Turk and Günter Stöger present a perfect landscape: a plain, whitish-blue skies and the horizon that separates the two. The plain is vast, we can only surmise that there are the pale outlines of mountains in the distance, rather than actually seeing them. This is former Lake Bonneville in Utah, a glistening white plateau without contrasts and profile. Total reduction of space: no distances, no speed, no proportions. Actually, it is an impossible space: after all, if there is no incline, what makes the rainwater drain? The gaze wanders around the infinite plain, looking for a place to rest on without finding one. Unlike the water, it seems to drain easily: In this landscape of total reduction the only thing that is left is the thin line of the horizon. However, at some point even that seems to liquefy. Mountains move like passing clouds. A panorama without beginning and ending starts circling around the beholder, developing a vortex that draws him or her towards the uncanny: People like specters pass by. The boundaries between inside and outside start to blur. Losing its bearings, perception veers into a crisis.... paradise_paradox ventures into the extremes of human perception. Spaces without reference points and landmarks cause one of the most enigmatic anxieties we know: agoraphobia – giddiness when faced with an infinite expanse of space. Time seems to be extended infinitely too: The salt lake is one of the most geologically stable sites in the world. In view of these dimensions, the only thing left to us is an indefinite feeling of alienness. Fred Truniger, Zurich/CH 2006
Fotos from the installation at UNIKUM in Klagenfurt/A and the mounted camera in the Salt Flats
Stills from the video |
| contact: ht@herwigturk.net | |
