Fabian Knecht
Isolation (Felswand)
Artist Residency Reisenberg, Austria
Preview: Aug 29, 6–9pm
Opening: Aug 30-31, 2–9pm
Opening hours for September, October and November 2024: Tuesday and Sunday, 4 – 7 pm and by personal appointment. Meeting point: Hotel Das Salvator car park, 9361 St. Salvator. Please book in advance: info@i-am-escape.com.

The first exhibition project of the Artist Residency Reisenberg opens on 30 August 2024 with Fabian Knecht’s installation Isolation (Felswand). The new programme for artists, which is to take place annually, is organised by Kathrin and Bernhard Schluga. The residency is dedicated to bringing together in its grounds contemporary art, experiencing nature, relaxation and concentration. It is located on a farm dating back to 1765, surrounded by 700,000 square metres of forest and meadows and stands alone on a hilltop in the Carinthian mountains.

In this forest, at up to seven metres on the face of a crag, the latest and most elaborate work to date of the work series Isolation is currently in production. With the work series Fabian Knecht redefines the relationship between exhibition space and artwork.

Since 2015, the Berlin-based artist has been bringing his installations to the most seemingly remote places to capture the beauty and complexity of landscapes such as moors, ice fields, forests and wastelands in temporarily constructed white cubes. His sculptural act, which focuses on the creative power of nature, repeatedly involves a shift in parameters and a surrealistic moment: that which was once outside is now inside. What appeared natural and real is now artificial and contrived as a result of artistic intervention – framed by white walls and illuminated by neon light. Anyone entering Knecht’s Isolation steps through a carefully composed enclosure of reality, which is also captured photographically. However, in contrast to the photograph, Knecht’s installations are not frozen moments. His installations are alive and visitors are invited to indulge to this contemplative experience of nature: a state of time and space in which you can hear trees and rocks breathing and immerse yourself in a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all things. (Text by Lydia Korndörfer)