This year, for the first time, an art installation at the beginning of Lent will be shown in the Salzburg Collegiate Church. The translucent work of art “Beyond. Installed silence”, erected in the center of the dome. by the artist Michael Hofer-Lenz is a walk-in white cube and leads the viewer into silence, as the director of the “Kunstkirche Salzburg”, the college church and head of the university pastoral care, Christian Wallisch-Breitsching, told the Kathpress news agency.
Michael Hofer-Lenz designed a three by three meter metal frame that was hung from the gallery in the middle of the church. A curtain of veils hangs on the frame, light comes from below or – by means of LEDs – from the frame. A wind machine ensures a permanent draft and always keeps the curtain moving slightly. The eye-catcher in plain white is a 120 centimeter high obelisk with a laptop that plays a video that leads into the silence in a continuous loop.
For centuries, the 40 days before Easter have stood for self-restraint and renunciation. “What do we do without after weeks of restrictions?” Is the question asked in the broadcast about the consumption-critical, meager art installation. Not the renouncement of food or consumption, but the lack of contact is causing problems this year. “Beyond” leads “behind the curtain of everyday life”, according to Wallisch-Breitsching. The path into silence is also one in our selves: “The less flows into us from outside, the louder becomes what moves our heart.”
The sacred power of the Kollegienkirche focuses on the individual under the dome. Lent could be an impetus for “breaking one’s own longing for healing”. “Beyond. Installed Silence” enables an intimate, transcendental experience in the sacred space. The installation can be viewed daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Salzburg’s Wiener-Philharmonikergasse 2. (Link: www.kollegienkirche.at/de/veranstaltungen.html)
Those: cathpress
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