45. international sculptors' symposion in lauster stone quarry and symposion's hous
16. 07 - 04. 08. 2012

bedrock


"Bedrock" is the lowest geological layer of rock, the naturally grown stone in situ. It also refers to the source, the foundation, the base-plane of reality, and what is ultimately beneath the surface.

The unique working situation in the Krastal Quarry is not only the physical base for our activities as an association of artists, but is in fact the place where the stone is extracted from the landscape, as raw material in the most basic sense.
To work with stone in this place is a very different experience from the encounter with an anonymous, cut block of material delivered to a studio. Here, the stone is more than just "material", it is also the context, and in itself forces us to reflect back to the origins of art and the oldest testimonies of our various cultures.

This "material sphere" of perception stands in contrast to most contemporary art production. Stone is an imaginably tough material, not only physically but also as a medium for expression of constantly changing social contexts, of the unstoppable transformation of every sphere of human life, which has begun to be seen as normal.

This rift between contemporary art practice and ancient material was explored by an international group of artists, during the three weeks of the "bedrock" symposium in 2012. The concentrated focus on the material, and the challenge of encounter with the other artists, creates unexpected and innovative impulses in the resulting work.

The idea of the symposium is thus not only the 'drinking party' or 'banquet' known from antiquity, but represents the opportunity to develop refreshingly modern avenues of enquiry within a communal "think-tank".

(Sibylle von Halem)