switzerland
Video installation by alfatih
For the winter season, from 6th December 2024 to 6th January 2025, MASI Lugano and LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura present the new video ‘switzerland’ by the artist alfatih.
switzerland takes the form of a collection of views of the Swiss landscape, captured through the familiar – and banal - trope of a train window. The moving landscapes, shown in various shades of grey, conceal both historical references and allusions to contemporary popular culture. With a nod to tourist advertising as well as the long tradition of Swiss painting, the video reflects on what the expression ‘Swiss landscape’ evokes in the collective imagination.
Commissioned for MASI’s collections and specifically designed by the artist for the LED wall in the foyer of the LAC cultural centre, the video consists of a series of independent episodes. It can be viewed in its entirety at set times, and throughout the day the various episodes repeatedly make their way into the institutional communications the screen is officially designed to show.
Time schedule:
Complete screening, 21’
11:30 / 14:30 / 19:30*
*every Thursday and if there is an evening show
Single episodes, 3’ ca.
Every 10’
alfatih is one of the most interesting artists working in Switzerland today. His works,which explore the semiotics of digital content, often address issues of possession, control and how our identities are affected by the digital and physical spaces we inhabit. He has presented interactive works, installations and video art in institutions and spaces such as Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève (CH); Swiss Institute, New York (USA); Kora Arts Center, Castrignano (IT); Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne (CH); Fri Art Kunsthalle, Fribourg (CH); Haus der Elektronische Kunst, Basel (CH) and Swissnex, San Francisco (USA).
Cover image:
alfatih, switzerland, 2024, moving image, 21 min, color, two-channel sound, courtesy of the artist
