Windstille by Regine Ramseier
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so astonishing as this serene chamber festooned with a flight of dead dandelions. It is the work of Swiss artist Regine Ramseier, who painstakingly picked approximately 2000 flowers, treated them with a mild adhesive, and then hung each by hand in this small, spare room. It is appropriately called Windstille.
I find this piece evocative because it is so delicate and at the same time full of power and movement. The feeling in the room is lovely and tranquil, it makes you feel at peace. But at the same time you are aware that it cannot last. The ephemeral nature of Windstille is palpable, and there-in lies the exciting tension of this piece. Any rash body movement or even a sneeze could destroy the exquisite scene. And yet, who can resist the childlike urge to blow?
The composition of the dead dandelions also enhances this transient feel. The gossamer flowers appear rather like a flock of souls temporary suspended between earth and heaven. Any moment now they will complete their migration out the window and be gone. Thus to me this work speaks of the fleeting nature of life’s most beautiful moments. To view them feels like a gift. One that requires you to be calmly present, but also strong enough to let them go.
Found via Pod (my favorite store in Brookline).
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
They’re exquisite.
I wonder how she dried them.
I once saw a long loop of recording tape loosely tied to form a continuous shape kept aloft at about 5 feet or so by about five floor based fans in a room in the Palais de Tokyo museum in Paris, strangely this reminds me of it.
It seems she went to a field where they were all like that. If you follow the link above, you can see the whole process.
wow this is beautiful!
wow just beautiful!