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Karin Sander, Point of Interest, 2023
© 4. Industrial Art Biennial: Landscapes of Desire, Curated by Christoph
Doswald & Paolo Bianchi
© Photograph: Jules Spinatsch

Karin Sander, Point of Interest, 2023
© 4. Industrial Art Biennial: Landscapes of Desire, Curated by Christoph
Doswald & Paolo Bianchi
© Photograph: Jules Spinatsch

Point of Interest

2023

Site specific work for the 4. Industrial Art Biennial: Landscapes of Desire
Curated by Christoph Doswald & Paolo Bianchi
Pula, Raša, Labin, Rijeka,
May 13 – June 30, 2023

The Church of St. Barbara, dedicated to the patron saint of mine workes, is centrally located in Raša, Croatia. Designed in 1937 by Gustavo Pulitzer Finali, it is not only an idiosyncratic modernist sacred building, but also a monument to the eventful history of the Istrian peninsula. The formal cues for Pulitzer Finali were the everyday objects and tools of mine construction. The nave, for example, is reminiscent of an inverted tipper lorry, the 25-metre-high bell tower is modelled on a miner's lamp, as is the town's coat of arms. The cross on the tower was made from mine rails. At this prominent and highly visible location of analogue culture, Karin Sander has placed the centrepiece of digital localisation: the Google sign "Point of Interest", abbreviated POI. By superimposing, even synthesising globally recognized codes - the cross and the POI - the artists suceeds in building a surprising bridge. On the one hand, a merciless analysis of the analogy of different dogmatisms on time and faith levels and, on the other hand, a playful handling of tourist rituals.

Text: Christoph Doswald