Project “Le Nain”, 2013

In the remote undergrowth of the Weiertal Park, it made its debut, the virtual sculpture by Maya von Moos: a figure in perpetual motion, wrapped up in the continuous process of compression into a closed form and dissolution in a shower of bullet shell particles or stardust.

In magical, digitally animated imagery, Le Nain illustrates the principle of life: becoming, being, passing, becoming ... breathtakingly beautiful and at rapid speed. In unbounded space, the transformation takes place – something only possible in the virtual realm – by way of a cone-shaped figure whose crown is topped by a stylized gnome's hat. It reappears at regular intervals – a greeting from another world to the idyll here on Earth? Could the figure be taking up Oskar Schlemmer's experimental triadic ballet – with the dancers transmuted into geometric bodies – and leading it into a new dimension?

As a concluding note, it should be added that Maya von Moos' early artistic vision of creating an ephemeral sculpture not bound to materiality has become reality.

Text: Gabriele Lutz

Title: Le Nain
Year: 2013
Length: 2:00 min.
Technique: computer-generated in 3D, no sound, 16:9 PAL
Edition of 1