Edgardo Madanes (Argentina)
Edgardo Madanes (Argentina) »Blue Globe of the Forest« – Installation
When I was a child every time I saw a balloon flying through the air my imagination focused on the surprise that would be experienced by the person who found it; I had no idea what might cause the balloon to descend.
I sent a big bundle of wicker to Darmstadt and I left Buenos Aires full of convictions. Afterwards the pieces of wicker became just rods, full of power, waiting to be woven into a form designed by the suggestions of the trees in the forest. I wanted to work with the trees; my intention was to develop a good relationship between my work and the forest. I was sure that I did not want to create a work of art that would not be in harmony with the landscape. The wicker construction would be a bag shaped net that would catch the viewer’s eye.
Walking through the forest, trying to observe, to understand the area, to find some hidden place where one tree is indistinguishable from the other, searching for the most straight and tall trees pointing to the sky… The place suddenly appeared – a group of trees standing in a circular formation with a large open area in the center. There I began interlacing the wicker, weaving it into a big sphere overtaken by tree trunks.
All balloons desire flight. “The Blue Globe of the Forest” made it clear to me that it could fly if it could move just a little bit higher. I helped it elevate itself up to the tree tops – from there it is up to the viewer’s imagination to allow it to fly.
