A high wooden dais completely fills the largest section of
the synagogue, occupied two years earlier by the fragments
of Giulio Paolini’s Scrittura privata. it is
strictly forbidden to climb onto Winklhofer’s dais,
protruding from which at a certain point there is in fact
a circular electric saw spinning wildly. It is its height
that determines the height of the dais, which thus coincides
with its working surface. The saw turns with sidereal frequency,
perceptible from a distance as sound and emitting a hostile
hiss from close up. The artist explains: “This spatial
object is stuck into the surface and presents itself to the
awareness as a disturbance of the status quo. The presence
of the dais reminds one of platforms and stages for performances.
Whoever walks onto them assumes a role. The stage and the
circular saw reciprocally deprive one another of their possible
original function. No longer available for carefree use, they
open up the space to the memory of festivities and sermons,
smiles and tragedies, once the initial feeling of danger and
anguish have passed.” |
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