East Eats West

A beautiful mess

Cuno Affolter is an expert on comics and heads the biggest comic library in Europe in Lausanne. Interestingly he created a little microcosm of his own life in a room in Lausanne. He called the room, stuffed with hundreds of found objects, his therapy room. Everything has its correct place. It is a truly beautiful mess!

www.museumimlagerhaus.ch

A Swiss mechanical maniac

 One of the first vivid artistic memories of my childhood is an exhibition by the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely in the Zurich art museum Kunsthaus. He put up a massive metal machine that could be fed with volleyballs. The machine would then process the balls through its intestines and spit it out into a safety net. I was amazed, excited and thrilled: art that not only could be touched but also played it. Ever since then Jean Tinguely had a special place in my heart. And still has as one of his masterpiece, Heureka from 1964, is located in a park nearby where I live. Every morning when I go for a walk on the lakeside with my little daughter I pass the massive, freshly restored, machine without purpose. It is a monstrous, genial combination of metal and electric engines that springs to life several times a day. And as Tinguely, a true anarchist in art and private life, always pointed out strongly: all his machines are useless, absolutely useless. And therefore as beautiful as an ancient Chinese Celadon teacup or Tang dynasty tea jar. Useless, beautiful and captivating. 

Traditional handmade Japanese doll from Tokyo

 

In August our good friends from Tokyo came to visit. The couple brought a very precious present: a handmade traditional Japanese doll which the wife labored over for many months. The doll’s head and body is carved out of light wood. The head then gets painted and the clothes are intricately glued on. Everything is made from hand by scratch and it can take three months or more to make such a doll. It is the most heart-felt gift we have ever gotten. Thank you Hiroko Iwata very, very, very much!

31 portraits in 31 days

How would you change the world in 31 days? The acclaimed photographer Stefan Schacher asked this question himself. And he came up with a simple challenge: 31 portraits of creative and cutting-edge people in 31 days. He already did two projects, one in New York and one in Kunming, China, before launching the project this year for Zurich. I went to an artist talk with Stefan, inspired by the portrait of Sally Montana, a photographer who sits next to me in Zurich. Interestingly Stefan had some truly Zen-insights while racing through the 31 days. He said that about half of the people he knew. However, despite careful planning not every day ran smoothly and on one day he didn’t have a person to portrait until 8pm, before stumbling upon someone. His lesson was that sometimes in life you have to let go and trust that it will work out. Sometimes, it is about doing without a purpose, trusting the gut feeling.

If you want to support Stefan’s project you can do so via crowd-sourcing here:

http://www.100-days.net/de/projekt/31-days-31-ways-31-minds/intro

Art in the city of Zurich

 

Zurich prides itself for its cultural side, museums and many galleries. This summer the city produced an open-air exhibition dubbed Art in the City. All over Zurich one could find art by famous artists like Ai Wei Wei and some not so famous artists. My favorite piece is by Swiss artist Alex Hanimann called Vanessa.

http://www.artandthecity.ch/

Icelandic performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson in Zurich

 I recently had the honor to drive a young Icelandic performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson from Basel to Zurich. In return he told me about his performance at the Migros Museum in Zürich. Over several hours he and his fellow Icelandic opera singers performed Franz Schubert’s song “An die Musik” in various rooms of the freshly renovated museum. It was quite a spectacle with all the singers and piano players singing the same song at different intervals. An amazing cacophony of sounds was pure joy!

Jeff Koons at Fondation Beyeler

What can I say about Jeff Koons that hasn’t be said already? Well, some people liken him to Louis Vuitton: ubiquitous, branded, expensive and all about money. Mabybe. But what is undeniable is the fact that is work does strike a chord with people. I recently went to an art reception at the Fondation Beyeler where Jeff Koons had his works exhibited. The lush garden and airy Renzo Piano building were the perfect backdrop for his exhilarating objects. Clearly, the high-gloss and super shiny banality series was the biggest eye-catcher. No one, absolutely no one was able to resist taking pictures of their own reflections. Yes, it is great art whatever the price tag.

Exhibition at Fondation Beyeler in Basel: www.fondationbeyeler.ch   

Disco Ball

I just love this picture! I took it an exhibition at the Museum Bellerive in Zurich!

Designomat

The new art vending machine by Designomat!

http://www.designomat.ch/

German contemplation on canvas

I recently bought a contemplative painting by young German artist Matthias Pilsl. The painting is simple and very contemplative. It now hangs in my bedroom.

View his website: http://matthiaspilsl.de/