Is it merely about safety? wiedemann/mettler re-interpret the story of Noah's Ark to symbolize our longing for rescue.

Over the past thirty years, severe storms have swept over the entire Alpine region in short succession. The enormous masses of water they bring along combined with mankind interfering with nature increase the likelihood of more frequent natural disasters.

The artist duo wiedemann/mettler took up the story of Noah's ark. As the Book of Genesis tells us, the great deluge came to obliterate humanity's moral corruption. However, God bestowed mercy on Noah and asked him to build an ark that would save humankind and wildlife alike. wiedemann/mettler's interpretation of this symbolic narrative comes under the title better safe than sorry and presents the topic of safety in all its ambivalence. This new book documents the installation better safe than sorry at House of Art Uri (on display June to August 2014) and other recent work by wiedemann/mettler.

Autorentext

Pascale Wiedemann, born 1966, was educated at the School of Art and Design Zurich, Switzerland, (product design) and School of Applied Arts in Vienna (set design). She lives and works as an independent artist in Zurich. Daniel Mettler, born 1965, graduated in architecture from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich). He lives and works as an architect and independent artist in Zurich. Texts by Barbara Zurcher, Philipp Sarasin and Ruth Schweikert.

Klappentext

Das neue Projekt von wiedemann/mettler befasst sich mit der Sehnsucht des Menschen nach Sicherheit. Doch was ist Sicherheit eigentlich genau? Das Ausstellungskonzept 'better Safe than Sorry' setzt das unstillbare menschliche Bedürfnis mit einer Interpretation der Arche Noah um. Noah wird laut der biblischen Erzählung erwählt und vor einer grossen Sintflut gewarnt; er muss seine Rettung, die Arche, selber Bauen und danach durch schwieriges Wasser führen. wiedemann/mettler visualisieren den Begriff 'Sicherheit' hier in unterschiedlichsten Konstellationen. Dieses neue Buch zeigt zudem weitere Arbeiten des Künstlerpaars aus den letzten zehn Jahren. Ergänzt wird die Werkschau mit einem literarischen Beitrag von Ruth Schweikert und einem Text des Historikers Philipp Sarasin.