Art|Unlimited

98 |Art Unlimited
OLAF NICOLAI
Title | Samani. Some Proposals to Answer Important Questions, 2008
Media |Steel, stainless steel, servo-motors, spot with LED; 400 xdiameter 98cm
Artist |Olaf Nicolai, *1962, Halle, Germany
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany
Gallery |Eigen +Art
Galerie Eigen+Art
DE-10117 Berlin |Auguststrasse 26
Phone +49 302806605 |Fax +49 302806616
berlin@eigen-art.com |www.eigen-art.com
Directors |Gerd Harry Lybke, Kerstin Wahala
Artwork Description |Olaf Nicolai’s work is conceptual innature and often characterized by
(socio)political references, in which multiple antipodal aspects merge and
overlap, such as production processes versus the static commodity, the
passive realm of aesthetics versus the active role of the observer, socialism
versus capitalism, and idealism versus pragmatism, to name but afew.
In Olaf Nicolai’s installation Samani. Some Proposals toAnswer Important
Questions, aspotlight in adarkened room dances around amirror-coated metal
column. It slides up and down, abruptly rotates around its own axis, accelerates
rapidly, pauses and slows down to include the whole space in its spectacle of
light and shadow. These movements are accompanied by asound created by
the bizarre noises of the spot’s motors.
‘As an animated form, the spot seems toobey an alien intelligence; its acting
gives the impression of aschizoid symbiosis ofkinetic machine and human
subjectivity.’ (Olaf Nicolai)
Samani. Some Proposals to
Answer Important Questions,
2008