Rainer Gross - Regard d'artiste

The construction of battens made by a machine refers to its material origin and at the same time, its black burnt surface to an unavoidable eternal cycle: birth, growth, man’s appropriation for use, destruction and disintegration. The artist’s intervention planned outside of Kernault’s mansion aims at reinterpreting the place and seeks a dialogue between the walls of the mansion and the surrounding park.

“My project for Kernault is drawn on the “transitional” aspect of this historic location which constantly swings between nature and architecture, “wilderness” and “culture”. Existing elements and the metaphor of water both contribute to delineate a transition zone between indoors and outdoors, between what is short-lived and what is long-lasting.

The first structure is set above the former washbasin in the mansion’s park. The basin is part of a regulation system used for agriculture and uses a stream canalized on a lower level.

The artist saw his construction in wooden battens as an object-installation whose form and colour make it stand out from the place it is set in although echoing it at the same time. The “sculpture” which reproduces the plan of the washbasin (but backwards) is obliquely-oriented on the low stone wall of the small bridge. The roundness and the straight walls of the foundations turn into waving outlines as we look up. The volume created overlooks the washbasin and goes slightly onto the bridge road. The viewer who leans forward to go in finds himself in an isolated place which leads him to gaze ahead towards the stream through the fields but also upwards, towards the sky which is reflected in the basin’s running water.

This project offers a sculptural experience whilst activating the emotional power of the place. It plays with our perception of space and invites the viewer to embark upon a contemplative journey.”
Rainer Gross