The Rampant Art of Steiner/Lenzlinger
The planned expansion of the Bündner Kunstmuseum was exploited by Gerda Steiner and Jorg Lenzlinger as an opportunity to radically abandon museum installation protocols by filling the entire building with plants and crystals that will constantly change, undergoing their natural cycles of growth, death, and decay. The project opened on the longest day of the year and will close on the shortest. In between the wonderland the artists created will go wild!
Bundner Kunstmuseum
Steiner/Lenzlinger: National Park
The artist duo has redesigned the building from the basement up to the gables. The fixtures were torn out and used to build a mountain landscape. The rain water that falls on the roof is diverted and used to form streams inside the building. The windows are opened to allow sun, wind and rain to enter the architectural facility. An array of crops have been planted. They are attracting many kinds of animals.
The installation’s visual splendor barely camouflages the artists’ flagrant and subversive defiance of gardens, buildings, museums, art, etc. A fully functioning ecosystem is welcomed to play havoc with any predetermined aesthetic concepts the artists might have entertained. This is an exuberant experiment to see what happens when growth is allowed free reign to pursue its own devices. It is, day-by-day, a total surprise to visitors, to the museum staff, and also to the artists.
At last, I have found an art work that Hundertwasser would have not reason to berate!