sketches made for the Swiss Pavilion, at the Venice Biennale 2011
everyday new pictures of the set-up via http://www.crystalofresistance.com/

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Crystal of Resistance is the title of THOMAS HIRSCHHORN‘s work for the Swiss Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennial. The Venice show is articulated around the motif of crystal : “It’s the very first time I’ve worked with this material. I find it very interesting because it’s both very mundane but has countless uses. There are crystals inside the ear, in mobile phones, on jewellery, in glass. I also like its esoteric and philosophical connotations. PAUL KLEE used to think that crystals represented perfection in art.”

To complement Crystal of Resistance, he has made a website -  http://www.crystalofresistance.com/ – to inform and to propose an inside view about the upcoming exhibition in Venice: “I want to show how I proceed in working. I want to explain where my inspiration, my references, my influence, and my input–for this biennale work–are coming from. Beyond this, my website wants to assert my artistic project in general, my work position and my ambition as an artist. Furthermore, I want to assert my belief in art and why I believe in art. I made this website to express: Where do I stand? What do I want? And also to say that I am the art worker, that I am the art soldier, that I am the one who is doing the artwork! (…) My website is not the artwork and my website is not part of my artwork.”

According to HIRSCHHORN for catalogue magazine, the show in Venice will be a mix between the décor of an alpine crystal museum, a country disco, a third rate sci-fi film and a clandestine crystal meth laboratory. But crystal is only a motif, the theme is resistance: “I want to show that resistance is interesting in itself. It is often discussed as being “against” something, but one forgets that resistance can also be “for” something. It’s a positive and intense movement – of belief, of birth, of production and of creation.”

The exhibition Crystal of Resistance by THOMAS HIRSCHHORN will be open at the Swiss Pavilion in the Giardini on the Biennale premises from 4 June (public opening) until 27 November. Additionally THOMAS HIRSCHHORN will talk about his work and present the exhibition at a public press event at the Swiss Pavilion on Thursday, 2. June 2011, at 3 p.m.

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source: artforum