In the Gap between Sculpture and Architecture
John Hill
8. February 2022
Not Vital's windowless, bunker-like studio in Sent, Switzerland (Photo: Screenshot)
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art's Roxanne Bagheshirin Lærkesen visits Sent, Switzerland, to speak with Not Vital, the artist who has long been interested in building and in turn creates sculptural works that at times are as much architecture as art.
Not wanting to be an architect or study architecture, Not Vital buys land to execute his site-specific works: "If you’re a painter, you need a canvas. If you’re a sculptor, you need marble or plaster. And if you build a house, you need a piece of land. That’s kind of all related." He calls the hybrids of sculpture and architecture that he creates"Scarch." Examples include NotOna, a tunnel carved into a marble island in the middle of Lago General Carrera in South America; a house in Niger built with the sole purpose of watching sunsets; and a wedge-shaped house in Sent that disappears into the ground via remote control.
Watch the half-hour film below, and visit Louisiana Museum of Modern Art's Louisiana Channel to see more video profiles of artists and architects.