Elmgreen & Dragset

Set directly on its shore, Lake Geneva acts as a site-specific parallel to the works in the exhibition, inviting the viewer’s reflection. The show will incorporate installation and sculptures—one of which is enlivened by animatronic technology—that are imbued with an enigmatic pathos that has become emblematic of Elmgreen & Dragset’s oeuvre.

As the backdrop for their presentation, Elmgreen & Dragset chose a quotation by the late Danish poet Inger Christensen:

A desert can be so desolate that nobody knows it exists.

Forming a rhythmic structural base to the exhibition, five street signs stand evenly spaced in front of the billboard-like print, almost resembling a cluster of trees. While their shapes are familiar and universal—circles, squares, and triangles—they have no instructions, no warnings, or directions. The upper panel of each sign depicts clouds on a blue sky, whereas the lower panels are made of mirror-polished steel, reflecting the gallery and the visitors. This reflection of the space turns the signs into chameleons; they become their surroundings, they become us. We are left to find our own way.

Opposite the signs, two hands made of white lacquered bronze protrude from the wall, holding a small blackbird. Upon closer inspection, viewers will notice the bird’s subtle, nearly imperceptible, breathing. It is a scene of fragility—perhaps a child trying to save a small dying creature.

Next to the reception desk stand a pair of green rainboots. Perforated with circular holes and cast in bronze, they provide no protection from rain.

Towards the entrance of the gallery, visitors will encounter two further artworks. A realistic figure of a boy concentrates on piecing a puzzle together. It seems as if the finished puzzle will also reveal a blue sky with clouds. Not far from the boy, a small bird’s nest sits inside a museum vitrine. Within the nest lies a tiny book entitled “How to Become a Bird.”

The slightly surreal imagery in many of these artworks is a familiar feature of Elmgreen & Dragset’s practice. Since their first sculpture, a diving board piercing through the panoramic window of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Powerless Structures, Fig. 11, 1997), they have created numerous works that offer viewers an opportunity to experience everyday objects in new and often uncanny ways. Many might know the artist duo’s well-known work, Prada Marfa (2005), a fully stocked but permanently closed luxury goods boutique located in the middle of the West Texan desert.

Before he became a visual artist, Michael Elmgreen wrote the following poem:

While birds are crossing the line
between mountain and sky
You stand on the soil on
soil so firmly pressed
because home is
what you were told
should be solid
You don’t turn around
Because home is
what you were told
while birds are crossing
Home is the place you left