Concept artist Alicja Kwade is a relativist who sceptically questions our presumed reality. Using this approach, Kwade takes advantage of her multimedia work to examine all kinds of phenomena and hypotheses from the worlds of physics, philosophy and sociology, which she translates into her own art.

As part of this process she produces work with a conceptual background that is as sensual and poetic as it is formally stringent. This new, space-consuming installation is a walkable grid structure in which different-sized spheres of solid natural stone appear to be hovering weightlessly.

With it, the artist refers to the idea of parallel worlds, an idea which has been much discussed since antiquity. With this in mind, the structure, which is based on squares, should be seen as a multiverse containing multiple realities. The passageways that arise invite visitors to enter this multiverse and experience the spheres’ gravity.

The natural stone, with its many layers that have been formed over a period of millions of years, come from the different continents of the world, symbolize these and simultaneously act as a kind of timescale. In ‘LinienLand’ Kwade implements her deliberations on space, gravity and time.

This publication is complemented by articles by Wolfgang M. Schmitt, a conversation between Alicja Kwade and Sabine Schaschl, and views of the exhibition by Stefan Altenburger.

Published after the exhibition ‘LinienLand’ at Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (8 February – 6 May 2018).

English and German text.