performance art meets inflated sculptures by victorine müller

‘timeline’ by victorine müller

swiss artist victorine müller has combined the disciplines of performance, sculpture, painting and sound for the last fourteen years – with an upcoming exhibition at the zone contemporaine oliver fahrni in bern, switzerland entitled ‘wild at heart’ showing her current work of a PVC squid entitled ‘ballon stratosphérique’. müller’s work can be considered palpably immersive experiences to her audience – each artwork characterized by the artist herself incased in a seemingly weightless PVC structure, often depicting that of an animal. her presentations are very much oriented around a spiritual or emotional dynamism where her presence inside the air-filled creature often emits a tangible aura – breathing animistic energy into the beast she inhabits. this unusual medium fosters a thorough and almost halcyon contemplation for her viewers, each piece created to impart abstract ideas and somewhat invisible forces.

one example of her compositions is ‘timeline’, a performance in lucerne from 2005, which gives clear definition for most of her work. the piece is best described by the deployment and occupancy of a monolithic transparent elephant, illuminated by natural and powered light. with the animal in the upright position for the beginning of the showing – müller sitting calmly cross-legged in its bowels – she manages to exude a certain spirit and alertness akin to the living beast itself. the remainder of the exhibition sees the artist lay the sculpture on its side to display it in a completely contrasting state – sleeping, or even perished, this she manages to embody just as acutely – ‘an elephant in a quiet, dark space, motionless, awe inspiring yet also arousing our sympathy.’

müller says of her work:

‘I’m interested in creating moments of sensitivity, moments when our defenses are down and we are open to new things. moments of powerful concentration. … I create zones, put forward pictures, show processes that touch the viewer, that invoke associations on various levels, transport people into a different state, so that things hidden may become visible, accessible, opening up possibilities – to demonstrate something that is not said and cannot be said, but that is‘.

müller manages to connect with her audience through a distinctive philosophical and metaphorical force, symbolically identifying with her audience and art. ‘wild at heart’ will open the 2nd of november at zone contemporaine oliver fahrni in bern in switzerland.

‘timeline’ – performance, 2005 arsenic lausanne photo © david aebi image courtesy victorine müller

‘ballon stratosphérique’ (jeannie im kalmar) PVC structre 400 x 700 x 600cm kunstmuseum solothurn image © jörg müller

‘ballon stratosphérique’, 2009 kunsthalle wien photo © stephan wyckoff image courtesy victorine müller

performative sculpture la maison rouge paris, in the context of exhibition louis soutter photo © simon egli image courtesy victorine müller

performance art meets inflated sculptures by victorine müller

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