Andreas Marti
PIAGGIO
October 26, 2007 – December 22, 2007
Andreas Marti has worked since the spring of this year in Genoa. His work has Thursday, October 25, 2007 7pm won numerous awards, most recently the Genoa Studio Stipend of Zurich and the ‘Auswahl 06 des Kunsthauses Aarau und Kunstkredit 2006 des Aargauer Kuratoriums’.
Marti’s audio installation ‘Piaggio’ was developed during this year’s stay in Genoa and seizes on the situation found in the narrow alleys of the city. The urbanistic analogy with the old town of Zurich permitted Marti to transcribe his impressions of Genoa for the Ehegraben in an unforced way.
Entering the Ehegraben the visitor leaves behind the main alley and steps into quietness and seclusion. The sudden confrontation with a loud noise enhances the isolation and the narrowness of the Ehegraben and evokes irritation. The 3-wheeled Piaggio is one of the few motor vehicles that can fit through the narrow alleys of Genoa. The sound of its motor signals its arrival long before it can be seen. And although the Ehegraben is far too narrow and small to fit the Piaggio in, one is irritated and warned by the approaching sound. The acoustic presence deconstructs the narrowness and opens a space that does not exist in such a way.
The narrow streets and alleys of Genoa have been repeatedly altered and built upon over time and then reopened at a later date. Hollow spaces that lie between the buildings are not uncommonly discovered by accident and reopened during later renovations. The presence of spaces, visible and non-visible, of boundaries and absences, generates a tension that Marti consciously builds upon in his drawings.
It’s less about deceiving the observer and more about dealing with one’s perception. What do we see? What do we hear? Marti’s installations and drawings of constructive clarity and formal simplicity radiate a peculiar implicitness and emotional intimacy.
Andreas Marti lives and works in Zurich. He was educated at the ‘Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst’ in Zurich.
Marti’s audio installation ‘Piaggio’ was developed during this year’s stay in Genoa and seizes on the situation found in the narrow alleys of the city. The urbanistic analogy with the old town of Zurich permitted Marti to transcribe his impressions of Genoa for the Ehegraben in an unforced way.
Entering the Ehegraben the visitor leaves behind the main alley and steps into quietness and seclusion. The sudden confrontation with a loud noise enhances the isolation and the narrowness of the Ehegraben and evokes irritation. The 3-wheeled Piaggio is one of the few motor vehicles that can fit through the narrow alleys of Genoa. The sound of its motor signals its arrival long before it can be seen. And although the Ehegraben is far too narrow and small to fit the Piaggio in, one is irritated and warned by the approaching sound. The acoustic presence deconstructs the narrowness and opens a space that does not exist in such a way.
The narrow streets and alleys of Genoa have been repeatedly altered and built upon over time and then reopened at a later date. Hollow spaces that lie between the buildings are not uncommonly discovered by accident and reopened during later renovations. The presence of spaces, visible and non-visible, of boundaries and absences, generates a tension that Marti consciously builds upon in his drawings.
It’s less about deceiving the observer and more about dealing with one’s perception. What do we see? What do we hear? Marti’s installations and drawings of constructive clarity and formal simplicity radiate a peculiar implicitness and emotional intimacy.
Andreas Marti lives and works in Zurich. He was educated at the ‘Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst’ in Zurich.
