Sitting on a branch

For his new exhibition at von Bartha, Boris Rebetez has invited 6 artists to join him in exploring ideas of space, environment and architecture. Rebetez is a multimedia artist whose main interest lies in examining concepts of space in both physical terms and as a theoretical and historical construct. This fascination with space is shared by the participating artists - Daniel Robert Hunziker, Doris Lasch, Aglaia Konrad, David Thorpe, Bernard Voïta and Claudia Wieser - who respond to these concepts in different and beguiling ways. Rebetez is particularly interested in the artist’s role in sculpting the experience of the visitor; predicting their moves and guiding their journey through the gallery. As the artist explains: “If a space in which one finds oneself becomes an art object, then the visitor himself is in the middle of the artwork, he or she becomes a part of it and is, to an extent, also exhibited within it.” In Sitting on a Branch he will create an architectural intervention within the gallery itself by adding a new pillar into the exhibition space, changing the context of the gallery setting. Rebetez often works in this way, making small changes to an environment which are hardly noticeable at first, but which in the end change the concept of the room and the visitors’ response to it.