Moving Shades

2020

Reprogramming of the sun shades of the Museion in Bolzano, Italy

Seen from within or without, the glass slats are the building’s hallmark, serving to regulate the influx of daylight and imparting to the museum the appearance of a glass cube. [...] Karin Sander intervenes in the functional role of a mechanism that not only defines the building from an aesthetic viewpoint but—through its sophisticated technology—also determines its operation and use. The choreography for a “slat ballet” that she has developed in close cooperation with the museum’s technology and production department takes the already existing mechanism to its limits. […] By reprogramming the mechanism and escalating the number of its contrasting opening and closing sequences to create an audio- visual performance, the artist stimulates the public’s aesthetic awareness from a completely unexpected perspective. On the one hand, the rhythmic, sequential activation of the façade created for the museum by Karin Sander draws attention to the slats’ utilitarian purpose in screening and protecting light-sensitive exhibits; on the other, it directs visitors’ attention to the wonderfully faceted landscape outside.

Text: Letizia Ragaglia (Excerpt) (Translation: Stephen Richards)

Presented in exhibitions

Museion, Bolzano, 2020