Manon Awst, born 1983 in Bangor, Wales (GB), and Benjamin Walther, born 1978 in Dresden, live and work in Berlin and Wales.
Manon Awst, born 1983 in Bangor, Wales (GB), and Benjamin Walther, born 1978 in Dresden, live and work in Berlin and Wales.
The works of the Welsh-German artist couple Awst & Walther are influenced by theatre and architecture alike. Their expansive installations, rich in metaphorical objects and stage-like settings, examine questions of human existence in terms of social standards of behaviour and common spaces. Often site-specific, their works create a particular framework of presentation through a variety of mediums.
A floating boxwood hedge in the middle of Sennestadt? Awst & Walther’s “Ground to Sky” (2014) surprises both random passersby and visitors amid the meandering footpath network of the Bullerbach area. As suggested by the title, viewers see a human-sized boxwood hedge which seems to be taken from the floor and acts as a motif for illusionistic painting. The installation refers not only to the importance of the garden hedge in civil settlements, but also addresses the interplay of nature and landscape as well as the regulation and ownership of space in urban areas. In addition, an artistic symbol of transience has been created, which is subject to the passing of the seasons and, by the end of October, a slow decay.