Horizon Field: Antony Gormley in Austria
The British artist Antony Gormley is creating a unique project in the Austrian mountains of Vorarlberg in co-operation with the Kunsthaus Bregenz.
Horizon Field will be the first art project of its kind erected in the mountains and the largest landscape intervention in Austria to date. The opening will be on 31st July. Horizon Field consists of 100 life-size, solid cast iron figures of the human body spread over an area of 150 square kilometres.
The work forms a horizontal line at 2,039 metres above sea level. This height has no specific metaphorical or thematic relevance in the placement of the statues. It is an altitude that is readily accessible but at the same time lies beyond the realm of everyday life.
The individual sculptures will be mounted at intervals ranging from sixty metres to several kilometres, depending on the topography, looking in every direction but never facing each other.
Some of the figures will be installed in locations only reached on foot or on skis in winter. Others will be unapproachable, visible only from certain vantage points. The works are neither representations (statues) nor symbols, but represent places where a human being once was, or where any human being could be.
Horizon Field engages the physical, perceptual and imaginative responses of anyone coming within its relational field. Over the two years during which this installation will be in situ, the work will be exposed to the elements, to different lighting conditions, and to the changing seasons, thus enabling constantly new perceptions and impressions.
According to the artist,
“Horizon Field asks: Where does the human project fit within the evolution of life on this planet? Who are we, what are we, where do we come from and to where are we headed? The works form a field in which living bodies and active minds are involved in measuring the space and distance between these static iron bodies, and of course both skiers and hikers will naturally be part of this. This installation recognises the deep connection between social and geological territory; between landscape and memory.”
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