Aglaia Konrad.
* 1960 in Austrai, lives and works in Brussels, BE
studied at Jan van Eyck Akademie Maastricht, NED
Exhibitions [Selection]:
STUK, BE
Centre for Visual Arts Sainsbury, UK
Villa Romana Firenze, ITA
Versatzstücke, Akt 1,2 &3, The Chain, Düsseldorf, GER
Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen, GER
Concrete & Samples III Carrara
Date: 2010
Length: 19:00 min.
Format: 4:3
Specifications: Colour, No Sound, Single Channel
Courtesy the artist
Pure, shimmering white, almost majestic, is how Aglaia Konrad shows the world famous marble quarries in the Italian province of Carrara. In the diverse perspectives of the camera, the monumental deposits of marble give the impression of a temporary sculptural architecture which is constantly being changed by the continuous, repeatedly shown excavation of the material. The notches, crags and rough edges of the massive marble walls shine when they reflect the light. When the camera tracks slowly and silently up the wall, with an occasional sideways look into the interior of the quarry, Aglaia Konrad reveals a sculptural landscape in two senses. The space itself takes the leading role in this cinematic narrative. In Konrad’s series “Concrete & Samples I, II and III”, the confrontation with sculptural architecture is enhanced and intensified by the specific structural and material properties of 16mm film. The first part of the trilogy examines the Church of the Holy Trinity in Vienna, designed by Fritz Wotruba. “Concrete & Samples II Blockhaus“ presents the church Sainte Bernadette du Banlay in Nevers, designed by Claude Parent and Paul Virilio. In her series Aglaia Konrad traces an arc from modern architecture made of rough concrete via traditional sculpture to the site of the noble material and its extraction for use in art.
Antje Sterner
