CLEARINGS
Michel Comte
The Swiss artist Michel Comte (*1954) became known for his portraits and fashion shoots. Since the 2010s, however, Comte has increasingly focused on ecological issues, in particular the consequences of climate change for nature and society. Following museum exhibitions in Istanbul, Rome and Milan, among others, Comte has developed a site-specific intervention for outdoor spaces for the first time as part of ART FLOW. In collaboration with the Japanese architect Yuichi Kodai, a multi-part art intervention was created in the Dietikon forest.
“A beautiful forest in faithful hands delights the eye and protects the land” is the motto of the Dietikon Holzkorporation. Michel Comte has taken this motto as the starting point for an art project that deals with the evolutionary character of the forest – with the becoming, being and passing away that can be seen in the cycles of nature. The title of the artwork is CLEARINGS and makes it clear that the artist demands a process of awareness from the viewer.
Comte says: “I believe in the transformative power of art, especially when it is shown in unconventional places.” The artist has evaluated a series of trees that are at the end of their life cycles along an approximately three-kilometer-long trail. These tree stumps and trunks feature shapes shaped by wind and weather and were covered with a fine copper foil by Comte for the duration of the exhibition. This precise intervention brings a specific level of perception to the forest: depending on the season, the copper sculptures created by nature manifest themselves in a new setting, so that there is always a different focus on the changing qualities of the forest. “It is important to treat our planet with care,” says Comte, ”and to find sustainable ways to experience its wonders.”
CLEARINGS was created in collaboration with the architect Yuichi Kodai and Géraldine Eliasson’s R3a Neuenhof school class.
A specific mediation program is offered alongside the project.