Franziska Nast

Außenskulptur / outdoor sculpture UV-Druck auf Melaminplatte auf Stahlunterkonstruk­tion / UV print on melamine board on steel base frame,
4,6 × 2,8 m

Zeichnungen auf Laserkopien mit Tusche/Tätowiermaschine / Drawings on laser copies with ink/tattoo machine, DIN A4 für die gleichnamige Außenskulptur / draw­ing for the outdoor sculpture of the same name

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JM
…the museum seems as if it were implanted into nature – as if it were a part of it. You also use the expanded outside space for your exhibition, such as the hill by the ferry pier, on which one of your sculptures is put up. In what way is there a connection to the works in the museum?

FN
Rolandseck seems very peaceful at first. Nonetheless, there is perpetual movement. It is like a stage for arrivals and departures, transit-like movements. There is the ferry, which is running all day long, and then there is this busy road. I wanted to create a scenery that crosses these movements even before you enter the museum and that invites you to pause. You become aware of an arm that is standing down there out in the open. Written on its clenched fist is »Power to the People«, in multiple superimposition. This is also the title of the work. It is placed in such a way that it is always in view, no matter from which side you arrive or depart. There is a second work in this manner, another arm located at the back of the museum, entitled: »Adam, what have you done?«. This one re-enacts the gesture of touching from Michelangelo’s famous fresco »The Creation of Adam«. So when you stand in the great exhibition room, you basically find yourself between these two arms.

JM
So the museum is literally being embraced.

FN
Yes, it is being embraced – or the museum itself is spreading its arms.

JM
With your outdoor sculptures, you ignore the museum’s boundaries and you include the public space. Here, not only the involvement with the surroundings is very important for you, but also people encountering each other, when perceiving your artwork also outside. This form of confrontation seems to be very appealing to you. Why?

FN
It is indispensable. It is necessary to establish connections – between people and between spaces, between realities. And out there also begins another connection: a kind of line is formed, from the water through the hill up to the museum and still further up the hill towards the sky, or wherever. These kinds of lines are always interesting to me. And these arms that frame everything can be perceived as a gesture of welcome or of threat, depending on the viewer’s sense of reality.
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