Nicole Krenn
BETONSAAL
Painting on concrete, gilded tree root
8 x 5m
2019
Betonsaal is located directly on a small hydroelectric power plant. The work looks like an architectural decoration of the plant. Viewers may be surprised by the complex circumstances under which the marble slabs came to this place, but on closer inspection it becomes clear that we have succumbed to an optical illusion. The structure of the marble is painted on a well-known material: concrete. The work refers to the Marmorsaal (marble hall) of the St. Florian Monastery where the real marble is suplemented above the base by a painted marble surface – an illusory technique in architecture typical of the Baroque period (stucco marble, painted plaster). Marble in architecture symbolizes power and representation. This work of art reminds us, among other things, that a domination can only be deceptive. Just like man's rule over nature, which is not a reality, but a well camouflaged illusion.
