Panorama WBZ. Through the Looking-Glass
Collection of the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
10 pieces of 136 x 96 cms. (polyptych). Oil on canvas. 2012
This painting is a metaphor for its placement. Adapted to the area of the wall, it was done “in place,” “at the place,” and “for the place” where it is permanently on display as part of the University of St.Gallen’s art collection. The panorama gives a sense of coherent continuation, although the viewer’s position changes constantly by a combination of different perspectives. We see the building simultaneously from both the outside and the inside, even though we thought that had not changed our position at all. Various viewer vantage-points are ingeniously combined to form a flow of images while synchronically different phases of time are established in the work’s here-and-now.
Given the dynamism and complexity of this work, this video, edited by the University of St. Gallen and recorded inside the space, with an interview to Felix, provides a better understanding of the various levels of this panorama.