GESTALTEN
multimedia installation
Expo 2020 Dubai – Luxemburg Pavilion
multimedia installation GESTALTEN
(3 channel video, 6.1 channel audio)
at the Luxembourg pavilion of the
EXPO2020DUBAI world exhibition
32'50", Dubai, UAE, 2022
Three semi-transparent mirror cubes blur the lines between
an inside and an outside, reflecting on the idea of
political borders and national identities.
The installation is based on the idea that a nation is an artificial construct for which precise borders have been defined. This is completely arbitrary, and
ultimately has nothing to do with people and cultures, for there are no precise borders on a social or cultural level, only gradual transitions. The term Gestalten refers to something
blurred, something that is not really recognisable. We might guess what a gestalt represents, but its meaning remains to be interpreted.
The installation GESTALTEN translates this idea and interprets the concept of national identities by staging the contrast between a hard boundary and a gradual transition – the materiality of the mirrors, and the interleaved visuals of the inside and outside of the cubes.
MAKING OF documentary of the exhibition 'mir wëlle bleiwen, wat mir ginn', interviews with the artists. check 11:40 - 14:00 for GESTALTEN. Movie produced by Adolf El Assal – Wady Media
Concept, artistic direction, project management – Patrick Muller
Music composition and production – Patrick Muller
Exhibit design – Patrick Muller & Sarah Kamender
Exhibit build – Sarah Kamender & oblique.furniture
Musicians – United Instruments of Lucilin
Percussion – Guy Frisch
Piano – Pascal Meyer
Alto – Danielle Hennicot
Clarinette – Max Mausen
Vibraphone – Pascal Schumacher
Poems written and spoken by Guy Helminger, James Leader,
Jean Bürlesk, Carla Lucarelli, Samuel Hamen, Tom Nisse
Voice and instrument recordings by Patrick Muller
Eyes filmed by Adolf El Assal, Patrick Muller
Eye models: Pol Krier, Matthias Horn, Sandy Muller, Timon Seul, Pascal Seul, Michelle Rasic, Julie Conrad
Visuals created by Pangolin Park, prjktr. Berlin, Adolf El Assal, Patrick Muller
Helping hands: Jean-Claude Muller, Maggy Muller, Robin Kamender, Ronia Kamender, Daniel Rupp, Leif Heidenreich
Produced by Fonds Culturel National
Co-produced by Ministère de la Culture, TROIS C-L Centre de Création Choréographique Luxembourgeois, Casino Luxembourg – Forum d'art contemporain
Curated by Kevin Muhlen and Bernard Baumgarten
In the framework of
Mir wëlle bleiwen, wat mir ginn. - Kënschtlerkollektiv
Interview with Salomé Jeko for www.culture.lu
