Yann Annicchiarico: Servant of Two Masters

For his solo exhibition at KIT, the artist Yann Annicchiarico developed a large-scale installation that integrates with the special architecture of the underground space in a fascinating way. Interior and exterior, up and down are no longer clearly distinguishable; visual and acoustic impressions challenge the senses. This is precisely Annicchiarico’s intention: for him, the work itself exists in the perception of the viewers, in the aesthetic experience that we have in the various “rooms” that we encounter at KIT. Here the artist refers both to the existing walls of the tunnel space as well as to the installations built within them, and to any possible space that results from his intervention and the viewer’s experience. We experience a journey into the absurd and can actively participate in the artistic process.

Yann Annicchiarico, Diener zweier Herren, 2020, Foto: Ivo Faber

Servant of Two Masters refers to the exhibition as a total work of art that can be explored by walking and seeing: each individual part expresses duality. Dualisms and disharmonies continually lead us behind the light: our gaze and body are pulled back and forth, between disorienting views, barriers and openings, geometric figures and natural phenomena—like traces left by moths.

Annicchiarico explores the boundaries between the interior and exterior, the analog and digital world, oneself and other beings. By shifting these and reversing their proportions, he leads us to the limits of our perception. Where our world ends, that of another species begins. We are only a tiny part of this very mysterious universe. The artist speaks of a suspension that takes place when we look deliberately and offers us perhaps almost meditative experiences if we simply allow ourselves to perceive light and darkness, movement and stillness, distance and closeness. Servant of Two Masters gives us the rare opportunity to see and feel time—our precious, limited lifetime—perhaps to dare to dream.

Curated by Céline Offermans.

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