kerim seiler's whimsical installation sets action to locarno's 74th film festival

a whimsical, playful installation by artist kerim seiler takes over at the annual 74^th locarno film festival, in switzerland. titled ‘come together’, the site-specific works span over the 100-meter wide rotonda of the august held event, covering various mediums and dimensions. in partnership with la mobiliare, a fully experiential and almost psychedelic setting invites visitors to engage, interact and become part of the multicolored artwork. from neon lights and spiraling tents, lights and cameras are ready for action as film fans and industry professionals share their thirst for discovery and cinema.

kerim seiler’s tschutschu (2016) unravels like a red serpent with interlocking benches and tables
all images courtesy of ariel huber

the molecule sculptures and neon light performative works of contemporary artist kerim seiler take center stage as the festival unravels. set at the locarno rotonda, the dedicated sociocultural area, the composition of eye-popping colors and arrangements create a cinematic canvas. together with seiler’s installation, works by maya rochat, julian charrière and ekrem yalcindag prompt countless of different uses and encounters within the space. as film, art and music come together, the important of cultural exchange and social interactions can only be reaffirmed.

‘culture, and in particular film, exerts a deep visionary power. the rotonda is an ideal meeting place, a space where ideas stimulated by the vitality of the festival converge and develop. social encounters are essential to the development of not only the individual, but to that of our societies– and in that, come together is truly a call-to-action,’ expands dorothea strauss, head of la mobiliare’s social engagement branch.

the joyful composition includes over 100 specially designed ornamented pillows in a dialogue with seiler’s tschutschu

as visitors enter the main circular area, three spaces stand out at its core. the first, becomes an asymmetrical ensemble of a tent positioned over a 250sqm wooden floor painting, complemented by a wooden bar and stage, spiraled by interlinked tables and benches. the second area exposes yet another floor painting only this time in black and white, mirroring he monumental tent covering it. adjacent, a disjointed structure constitutes one of the three bar areas. the subversive journey continues with the blue and red neon light installation, conjuring the passerby to enter the final visual ricochet with over 100 fluorescent lights dispersed in the trees.

‘the composition is rooted in the idea of space as a canvas. I move beyond the canvas, from two to three dimensions, as various planes, proportions, senses, and intensities intersect and interact. the sampling of colors echoes the sampling of spaces, in turn prompting a range of sensorial, conscious and subconscious experiences within the same space – and only with visitors’ engagement does it fully come alive,’ kerim seiler explains.

taking its name from fitzgerald’s 1934 novel, ‘tender is the night’ recalls a nightly, near subversive experience of space