UnWorlding (Saliera), 2024
mixed-media 2-channel video installation (full HD, color, stereo sound, 15:28 min.) salt, recycled wooden logs, tree branches.
Benvenuto Cellini’s Saliera (1543), a masterpiece of late Renaissance, an elaborate salt cellar, made of gold and ebony, featuring juxtaposed allegories Terra (Earth) and Mare (Sea) was stolen in 2003 from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and hidden in a forest. Benera and Estefan recast it as an actual salt block and once again placed it in the woods, where it dissolves under animal tongues and shifting weather conditions. In the exhibition space, the salt version is displayed in a makeshift forest that visitors can wander through, much like the deer in the accompanying video documentation.
The work delves into the intricate relationship between the over-exploitation of forests and salt mining, where historically, salt resources were highly prized, often referred to as 'white gold'.
This project was commissioned by KunstHausWien for the Klima Biennale 2024 and realized in collaboration with the Austrian Federal Forests.
Sound Design: Laurentiu Cotac
photocredits Thomas Kranabitl/ Österreichische Bundesforste annd Joanna Pianka / eSel
mixed-media 2-channel video installation (full HD, color, stereo sound, 15:28 min.) salt, recycled wooden logs, tree branches.
Benvenuto Cellini’s Saliera (1543), a masterpiece of late Renaissance, an elaborate salt cellar, made of gold and ebony, featuring juxtaposed allegories Terra (Earth) and Mare (Sea) was stolen in 2003 from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and hidden in a forest. Benera and Estefan recast it as an actual salt block and once again placed it in the woods, where it dissolves under animal tongues and shifting weather conditions. In the exhibition space, the salt version is displayed in a makeshift forest that visitors can wander through, much like the deer in the accompanying video documentation.
The work delves into the intricate relationship between the over-exploitation of forests and salt mining, where historically, salt resources were highly prized, often referred to as 'white gold'.
This project was commissioned by KunstHausWien for the Klima Biennale 2024 and realized in collaboration with the Austrian Federal Forests.
Sound Design: Laurentiu Cotac
photocredits Thomas Kranabitl/ Österreichische Bundesforste annd Joanna Pianka / eSel