Walden
A space for artistic intervention has been integrated into the Kunsthistorisches Museum since 2003. A space of resonant relationships, of dialogue: the sacred with the profane, the past with the present. Transformations and processes. The artists invited so far have surprised us time and again - with their incredibly multi-layered and complex artistic solutions in their references to Admont Abbey as a place of the spiritual, as a place of such diverse collections; to the library, the archives and the almost 950 years of cultural memory. In 2019, the room was designed by Daniel Zimmermann under the title WALDEN.
A silver fir tree was felled in the monastery forest of Admont Abbey and processed into 1,500 wooden slats, stacked and transported by train, lorry and boat to the Brazilian rainforest. WALDEN portrays the paradoxical journey of the pile of wooden slats along globalised trade routes to its mysterious final destination, Campinha on the middle Rio Negro near an indigenous community in the middle of the Amazon, using 360° scenes full of time.
The action is a metaphorical reference to socio-political realities. The cosmopolitan reflection on ecological aspects of international transport makes the workings of the globalised economy visible. The main flow of goods normally runs from South America to Europe, from the resource-rich forests of the Amazon to the countries of the 'developed' world. With the transport of the wooden slats, we are travelling the same route, but in the opposite direction. The perspectives shift. Our own thinking space is mobilised.
The Walden project stands somewhere between post-factual documentation, political-economic criticism and surreal action. During their journey, the wooden slats of a silver fir found themselves in a quiet, absurd state of suspension between artwork and banal everyday object.
Daniel Zimmermann
born in Thun, Switzerland, visual artist, originally a wood sculptor, works with film, stereoscopic photography, installation and performance. He has realised numerous art projects in museums, exhibition spaces and public spaces in Switzerland and abroad. His work includes short films, which have also been shown at renowned international film festivals. One of his films was nominated for best Swiss short film in 2008. He has won various grants and awards for his projects. Since 2005 he has collaborated with the choreographer Amanda Piña and founded nadaproductions, where he works as artistic director, dramaturge and performer.
by Daniel Zimmermann, 2019
