Smell of Animal, K11, Shanghai
Smell of Animal, K11. Shanghai

Yves Netzhammer
Smell of Animal
With Bernd Schurer
May 2013, K11, Shanghai, China
On-site multi media installation, 2013
sculptural objects, laser printed drawings, computer controlled lights, octophonic electro-acoustic sound at K11, Shanghai
Curator: Li Zhenhua
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Although the installation by Yves Netzhammer and Bernd Schurer lacks an actual olfactory component, the visitor will immediately understand the title. The site-specific collaboration evokes strong reactions, associations and feelings. The claustrophobic setting contrasts the luxurious and spacious world surrounding it. The emergency staircase of the K11 Artspace serves as an echo chamber of things half forgotten, as a materialized subconscious, space the animalistic side of our societies.

The juxtaposition of the two worlds (the glamorous  world of the exclusive shopping mall and the artistic world of disturbance) is further enhanced by the methodology of collaboration the two artists choose. The sound and lights are interwoven with the installations and the drawings, not separate entities but to bee understood as one work.

The installation can be read in very different ways. Walking up or down the staircase, the viewer will see his reflection within the altered staircase making him part of the work and reminding him that certain effects are inescapable. We may not like the mechanisms of understanding our own nature but the reflections forced upon us are an intrinsic part of being. We may evolve but will never get rid of our smell of animal.