ALMUT RINK - Foamywater 

ALMUT RINK - Foamywater

Why does the landscape look like it does, what is it and how do we define it? These are all questions explored by artist Almut Rink who specifically investigates artificial reproductions of nature and how these may affect or alter our experience of it. Drawing on the three dimensional software used by landscape architects and designers, Rink has developed film installations which take the viewer on imaginary journeys through fictional landscapes which thematise the notion of nature. By using software to create something which is understood to be ‘natural’, Rink questions our most basic notions of nature and highlights the paradoxes inherent in creating man-made landscapes. Taking the title Foamywater from one of the landscaping software menus, Rink discloses the framework by which these images are made, and reduces the once wild, brutal and dangerous elements of nature into a tamed and mediated experience.

The artificiality of nature is presented in much of Rink’s practice, including a recent project “Contact Zone”, an installation made following a residency on the Brijuni islands, Croatia where she explored the island’s historical context and in particular the acquisition of exotic animals for one of the first zoos. In exploring these man-made experiences of the wild Rink presents how the notion of landscape reflects our national, social and political identities.

Eggebert and Gould make site-specific multi-media works that explore the history, architecture, and landscape of a site in order to engage the audience in a critical appreciation of what may be forgotten stories. They work with people, collections, museums and archives, botanic gardens and landscapes (both real and imagined). Eggebert and Gould will discuss Rink’s work in the artist’s talk on 30th September.

Almut Rink, born 1971 in Erfurt, Germany, lives and works in Vienna. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and her exhibitions include a.o.: “Rebound“, Yokohama Museum of Art; “Ego Rock“, Fluc, Vienna; “Sector No Limits“, Galerie 5020, Salzburg; “Es ist schwer, das Reale zu berühren“, Kunstverein München; “Drinnen ist's anders“, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Wien; “Is this city a distant planet?”, Knoll Galerie, Budapest; “Contact Zone“, Galerija Miroslav Kraljevic, Zagreb. Foamywater is Rink’s first UK solo show.

The Visual Arts Platform is curated by Eva Martischnig and Adriana Marques, who are based in Graz (Austria) and London respectively, and presents emerging artists from or working in Austria. It aims to explore local, regional and global contexts of contemporary art by generating new links between Austria and the UK through exhibitions, residencies and artist's talks. The Visual Arts Platform is hosted by the Austrian Cultural Forum London which facilitates exchange between Austria and the UK in the arts, as well as various academic fields. The Visual Arts Platform began in 2006 and has exhibited Constantin Luser, Judith Fegerl, Markus Wilfling, mahony, Fabian Seiz, Nikola Hansalik, Gregor Graf and Johannes Vogl. Luisa Kasalicky will open her solo show on 25th November, 2008 followed by Andreas Heller in February 2009.

http://www.austria.org.uk/culture