Like lonely watchman they stand, untouched by the bustle on the slopes. Their eyes seem to seek the infinite. Antony Gormley's figures do not cry for an altercation, they do not stand in the way of hikers and skiers, but wait, restrained, in their places amidst the alpine scenery of the Austrian province of Vorarlberg. And yet, or perhaps because of it, the installation "Horizon Field" invites discussion.
Horizon Field is a project of the British sculptor Antony Gormley and the Kunsthaus Bregenz. The result is a fascinating landscape installation with 100 life-size cast-iron casts of a human body at 2039 meters above sea level, spreading over an area of 150 square kilometers.
With "Horizon Field", Antony Gormley wants to raise the question of what role the "human project" plays in the evolution of life on planet Earth. The iron figures create tension in the landscape they will inhabit until April 2012, and stimulate the imagination of those who are willing to enter into this space and scan the horizon with the eyes of the lone guard.
The Kunsthaus Bregenz publishes a 176-page catalogue to accompany "Horizon Field".
The project is accompanied by various events. In early March, a snowshoe hike is planned. In Lech, a library is set up with literature and film on Gormley’s work and that of comparable land-art artists.
August 2010 – April 2012
www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at/horizonfield/index.htm
Locations in Vorarlberg: Stuben, Lech, Zürs, and others.