Raussmüller Insights – In-depth information on leading artists and artworks of New Art Statements of the initiators of institutions and works Articles on the philosophy and activities of the Raussmüller Organisation

Statements

by Urs Raussmüller

Nowhere is the creative potential that we humans have at our disposal as undisguised as in art. Works of art are not just exemplary material for creative behavior; instead, if they are sufficiently loaded with energy, they cause creativity. [more]

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Presence and Memory: Thoughts on Kounellis’s Work

To think of Jannis Kounellis is to think of the vital energy of his activity, which – like a tireless flywheel – drove the artist and his work forward. Now that the wheel is no longer turning, the question of his oeuvre poses itself anew. In memory of Kounellis, we have recorded the following thoughts on his work. [more]

interview

Ryman Paintings and Ryman Exhibitions

Ryman’s paintings do not exert force. Instead they allow things to happen. They do not insist on a theoretical concept and need not be perceived in a specific way. The observer is free to enjoy the painting’s effect on him. [more]

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Robert Ryman: On Painting

Robert Ryman talks about painting. A 1993 film shows him with Urs Raussmüller and his team during the installation of his paintings in the Hallen für Neue Kunst, Schaffhausen. [more]

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A Manifestation for Kounellis

Video by Jürgen Buchinger

In 2015 Urs Raussmüller installed major works by Kounellis in Milan. Read his statement about creating powerful situations with Kounellis’ works and see a video by Jürgen Buchinger about the installation. [more]

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Sol LeWitt in the Hallen für Neue Kunst

Since 1978 Urs Raussmüller has installed and made known significant works by Sol LeWitt. In 1983 he realized an exemplary selection of wall drawings in his newly-built Hallen für Neue Kunst and complemented them with early sculptures. Later he gave Sol LeWitt the opportunity to further enrich this installation with new large wall drawings. [more]

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Sol LeWitt and the Hallen für Neue Kunst, Schaffhausen

by Christel Sauer and Urs Raussmüller

The initiators of LeWitt’s complex and long-term installation in the Hallen für Neue Kunst, Schaffhausen, share their experience of the artist’s wall drawings and sculptures over time. From a personal point of view, they describe the impact of the works and the significance of the artist. Their account, a tribute by committed participants, appears here in the original English version. [more]

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The Museum as Concept and Philosophy

Statement by Urs Raussmüller

When you build a factory, be it a spaghetti factory or a car plant, the first, most important consideration is the philosophy of the company. It is no different with a museum. The philosophy of the institution, its basic understanding of itself, must stand in first place, in other words: how does the museum perceive its function? [more]

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InK. Halle für internationale neue Kunst

by Christel Sauer

In 1978, Urs Raussmüller opened «InK. Halle für internationale neue Kunst” in Zurich, realizing a groundbreaking art support concept: artists were invited to create or present new works and were given space, assistance and a remuneration. The gallery was simultaneously a studio and a meeting point, the site of exhibitions and artistic actions. A lively, creative atmosphere prevailed; the artists were inspired and the viewers curious. [more]

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Jannis Kounellis, Senza titolo, 1967 (Campi, Pappagallo, Cotoniera)

by Christel Sauer

As a complex spatial unity, they became one of the most frequently reproduced Kounellis works. In particular the parrot in front of the steel sheet, as a new definition of the picture, became a symbol of a contemporary art rigorously expanded both in content and form – with a specific reference to its imaginative development in Italy… [more]

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“Being an artist has to do with a way of life” – Four steps towards Bruce Nauman

by Christel Sauer

Nauman’s non-conformist works are possessed of an almost unsurpassable degree of intensity that leaves no possibility of escape. Indifference is not an option. And this situation, however unwelcome it may be, exerts its own fascination… [more]

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Bruce Nauman
Floating Room: Lit from Inside, 1972

by Christel Sauer

From the outside, Nauman’s Floating Room looks like a large cube hanging down into the building from above – unpretentiously constructed and with no aesthetic aspirations. The surrounding area is relatively dark, or at all events not illuminated in the way we are otherwise used to in art spaces… [more]

bildstrecke

Robert Mangold and Urs Raussmüller

by Fabio Fabbrini

Since the 1960s, Mangold has been creating unique paintings with a large-scale effect, irritating forms and unusual colors. He placed the elements of painting in a tense relationship to one another, to the space and to the observers, and thus brought forth a completely new effect in paintings… [more]

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Bruce Nauman
Flour Arrangements, 1966

by Christel Sauer

The seven photos on the wall show static situations of a similar appearance, slightly out of focus, with a greenish hue and at first sight enigmatic motifs, whose physical properties and dimensions are almost impossible to divine. We wonder what we are looking at: aerial shots of formations in the ocean? Police photos of confiscated cocaine? [more]

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Bruce Nauman
The True Artist Is an Amazing Luminous Fountain (Window or Wall Shade), 1966

by Christel Sauer

In 1966 Nauman made a standard roller blind the support for a statement about the nature of the artist. The work’s appearance is almost dignified and presents a bizarre contrast to the pink plastic blind – just as does the cryptic message of the text… [more]

video

Mario Merz
Jürgen Buchinger at Raussmüller

Video by Jürgen Buchinger

A very personal view on Urs Raussmüller’s installation of Mario Merz’s works and their connection with the surrounding space… [more]