Exhibition Aargauer Kunsthaus brings collection pictures to life virtually

The Aargauer Kunsthaus brings pictures from its own collection to life. Video artists provide the moving images. The exhibition "Re-Mix. Animated films meet works of art" is a collaboration with the Fantoche animated film festival.

The Kunsthaus Aargau owns over 21,000 works of art. According to its own information, this is the most comprehensive public collection of Swiss art from the 18th century to the present day. Most of the works are paintings that hang on the walls or are in the museum's depot. The video artists at Fantoche are now breathing their own life into some of them.

Filmmakers from all over Switzerland, who were approached by the Fantoche organizers, were allowed to choose a picture. The theme was to be the tension between man and nature. They animated "their" image with a short video. "Our brief was 30 to 45 seconds, and the artists were given carte blanche in terms of content," said Silja Burch, Head of Education and Events at the Aargauer Kunsthaus, to the Keystone-SDA news agency. 20 paintings from the years 1871 to 2020 have now been brought to life.

Zooming into the work

"What's great about the animations is their diversity, their uniqueness, the palpable creative flair and the use of various techniques," said Burch, citing Arnold Böcklin's "Mountain Castle with Warrior Train", which was animated in the style of the cartoon language of the 1970s, as an example. "The viewer zooms into the work and experiences these tired warriors directly on the dusty country road," said Burch.

Some artists also incorporated politically relevant themes, for example by adding wind turbines and solar cells to the painted landscape in Toggenburg. At the end of each film, everything is "back to normal". The last thing to be seen on the screen is the image of the original as it hangs on the wall of the Kunsthaus.

Visitors to the Kunsthaus are given a tablet at reception, which they can use to go from picture to picture and play the animations. Or they can download an app onto their own device.

Tablet instead of hall leaflet

The Kunsthaus Aarau has been increasingly going digital since 2017, as Silja Burch said. "We have already designed many augmented reality tours in recent years." The visual experiences on the tablet virtually replace the museum guide or the "Saalblatt", the paper text displayed in the museum. The animated film project now opens up a new dimension with moving images; some of the films are also accompanied by sounds.

The "Re-Mix" exhibition follows a similar approach to the successful "Flowers for Art" project, says Burch. Works of art are brought to life in a new dimension using additional means.

"We want to appeal to a new audience and lower the entry threshold to the Kunsthaus," said Burch. And: "The different art disciplines can also enrich each other in this way."

"Re-Mix" at the Aargauer Kunsthaus can be seen from August 30 to October 27. The loan of tablets for the tour is included in admission. The tour "From the classroom to the Kunsthaus", in which pupils from kindergarten to 6th grade participated, is also open to the public until October 27.

https://aargauerkunsthaus.ch/

SDA