Kunsthaus Part 2

 Here are some interesting installations at the Kunsthaus:

I always associated David Smith with those tall stainless steel sculptures. Maybe this is an earlier work?

Chamberlain is best know for creating sculptures of old automobile parts.

Olafur Eliasson is the artist who did the passageway between the two buildings. I see he named it "Your submerged spectator." (Translated)

The artist below decided to paint this piece upside down. It has been likened to the Last Supper. But the middle person looks like he's from an Edvard Munch painting of The Scream.

The Kunsthaus has the largest collection of Edvard Munch outside of Scandinavia. The one below is of the then director of the Kunsthaus, Wilhelm Wartmann. The audio guide said that his standing and 3/4 view suggests his status; his crossed legs indicate that he’s relaxed.

I liked this explanation of an installation:

 The Moser Building has huge spaces for very large installations such as this one by Bruce Nauman. In the audio guide Nauman explained what drives him creatively: "I’m searching for an art that leads to new limits. In this way, you’re forced to a heightened consciousness of yourself and the situation. Often, in fact, without knowing what it actually is that you’re encountering here or what you’re experiencing. All you know is that you’ve stumbled on a place that is completely unfamiliar to you and this causes fear."

I can't relate to the fear part, but I can relate to art that attempts to reach new limits. I think that's what I appreciate most about art - that I'll see something that is completely different and touches me in a new way.

Kunsthaus Museum - "Time"

The Kunsthaus is Zurich's major art museum. It's magnificent with two buildings connected by an underground passage:

 

For years, to document the effects of climate change, the Icelandic artist, Olafur Eliasson, has been scanning lumps of ice. These had washed up on the shore after breaking off from glaciers as a result of climate change. He transposed his digital images of blocks of "ice" into dazzling white Carrara marble hanging them from the ceiling in the tunnel between the two buildings. 

There were several special exhibits at the museum. I chose to see "Time." I thought it was well done, but very, very comprehensive which can take a bit of time (sorry for the pun) to understand.

A multimedia piece by Monica Ursina Jager showed the passage of time as depicted by erosion:

This piece showed time on the various planets.

Here's Nepture:

This one by Una Szeemann (who, coincidentally also had an exhibit at the Museo Casa Risca in Lucarno) had an interesting concept:

This explanation was from a video that was too dark to photograph. But the subject was very compelling.

Hourglasses measuring different time spans.

Clocks with bells.

 

 

 The Fahr Convent which explains the monk's daily routine:

 

 

 

 

The light bulb as planned obsolescence:

There were four of these "You to Me" pieces, each very unusual. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Klee:

The video installation below featured four couples discussing the allotment of jobs within a marriage. Only one man, the father of three daughters, thought the wife and husband should be equal partners. He also seemed to be the happiest in his marriage. 

 

Below, this threesome features (left to right) the second wife, the husband, and the first wife. The husband feels this is his right and the way things are done for him to take a second wife. The first wife was very articulate stating that she "held her feelings in to better get along." I found it horrifying that women were (and are) placed in this humiliating situation with no real way to escape.