Mathias Kessler in conversation with Amanda McDonald
Friday 17 August, 2012
5:30 - 6:30pm, $0
Austrian Cultural Forum
11 East 52 Street
For this special event, which takes place in conjunction with the Austrian Cultural Forum's ongoing exhibition, Our Haus, we look forward to hosting curator Amanda McDonald Crowley and participating artist Mathias Kessler.
Mathias Kessler’s work often deals with strategies of the perception of nature in 19th century German Romanticism. For the installation at the Austrian Cultural Forum, the artist built a model inspired by the painting _Das Eismeer. Die gescheiterte Hoffnung_ by Caspar David Friedrich. The landscape-shaped 3D replica is placed in the freezer compartment of a refrigerator unit which is also stocked with beer. Exhibition visitors are encouraged to help themselves to a beverage, which results in a constant opening and closing of the refrigerator door. This process slowly leads to the 3D model being covered with a layer of ice, in what is commonly referred to as “freezer burnâ€, transforming it into the _Eismeer_ (Arctic Sea) of Friedrich’s painting. Kessler’s piece provides a humorous and melancholic comment on the global problem of deglaciating polar ice caps.
Mathias Kessler’s work often deals with strategies of the perception of nature in 19th century German Romanticism. For the installation at the Austrian Cultural Forum, the artist built a model inspired by the painting _Das Eismeer. Die gescheiterte Hoffnung_ by Caspar David Friedrich. The landscape-shaped 3D replica is placed in the freezer compartment of a refrigerator unit which is also stocked with beer. Exhibition visitors are encouraged to help themselves to a beverage, which results in a constant opening and closing of the refrigerator door. This process slowly leads to the 3D model being covered with a layer of ice, in what is commonly referred to as “freezer burnâ€, transforming it into the _Eismeer_ (Arctic Sea) of Friedrich’s painting. Kessler’s piece provides a humorous and melancholic comment on the global problem of deglaciating polar ice caps.