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Cube Neuchâtel 2011/Cube Neuenburg 2011
Curator: Arthur de Pury, Director of CAN (Centre d’art Neuchâtel), Switzerland
Mid-July through September 2011, in conjunction with the City of Neuchâtel’s 1000th anniversary

It was in 2003, having teamed up with a Muslim believer, that the idea of a black CUBE first cropped up in Gregor Schneider’s mind, incited by the remark “If you want to learn more about space, you should focus on the Kaaba in Mecca.” For a quarter of a century, Schneider has indeed been building spaces—spaces both visible and invisible, spaces that are totally isolated, including some into which no human being will ever again be able to set foot. The most famous of these to date is his Dead House u r of 1985, which won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale in 2001. Taking the Muslim believer up on his word, the two delved into the Kaaba in Mecca. “I simply felt a deep, instinctive need to learn more about this unfamiliar space,” Gregor Schneider comments. “Kaaba” translates into “cubic building,” that is a “cube.” According to Islamic tradition, the building came first and its significance only later. Every cube thus harks back to the Kaaba. The main thing here is that Islam prohibits idolatry—neither the stone nor the Kaaba are to be worshipped. Schneider notes: “The Kaaba is one of the world’s most impressive, mysterious and beautiful buildings.” It is a stone-walled sanctuary in Mecca. No one will ever be in a position to displace this sanctuary. Islam historically attributes the creation of the Kaaba to Abraham/Ibrahim. Hence, all three monotheistic religions can identify with the origin of this building in pre-Islamic times. Setting aside all the trademark features associated with the Kaaba in Mecca (the gold lettering, the rain water roof outlet, the white inwardly shifted roof), what remains is an abstract cube.

Gregor Schneider’s inspiration to build a black CUBE stems from both the Kaaba and the Western icon that is Malevich’s “Black Square.” Moreover, chronologically speaking, the CUBE was preceded by various sculptural works accomplished by Schneider in relation to the CUBE theme and black space. “The CUBE is a formally abstract, oversize sculpture. It is not a reconstruction of the Kaaba in Mecca,” Schneider points out, and this statement alone already says it all: in its mass, its appearance and its function, the CUBE is a sculpture in its own right. All the rest is pure interpretation. “The strength of the form is that it is free. The CUBE is no mirror reflection of the Kaaba, for as such it would look differently.” Schneider emphasizes that “Its association with both the Kaaba in Mecca and the basic shape of modern art’s ’black square‘ is deliberate.”

The CUBE was politically censored in both Venice and Berlin. “I was shattered to experience political censorship in the heart of Europe, and dismayed at how difficult it was to render public the reasons underlying the work’s banning.” Schneider’s CUBE was successfully set up in Hamburg in 2007. Its realization did away with all the fears and uncertainties surrounding the project; instead, the people of Hamburg and well beyond adopted CUBE HAMBURG as a positive sign. Any ingrained cultural mistrust was forgotten; as a constructed symbol of the convergence of cultures, the CUBE had the power to evoke the historic connections between cultures. As such, it could even serve as a platform for peace. Describing his own impression of the CUBE, Schneider says, “It was a physically overwhelming experience for me to stand before this black, abstract cube. Automatically, I began running around it, as if running along the pathway towards myself. Standing in front of the CUBE was like standing in front of a mirror; looking up at the CUBE, the black wall turned into an expanse of space, and I had the optical impression I could run along that black space. It was the first time anyone told me : ”You have built something beautiful’.” For the first time, too, a delegation of fourteen imams visited the Hamburg Kunsthalle. A speech Schneider gave at a mosque to an audience of some 2500 Muslims, inviting them to visit the CUBE HAMBURG, won heartfelt applause. Despite the success of CUBE HAMBURG, a number of topnotch exhibition curators, all of whom have assured Schneider of how greatly they appreciate the CUBE, have failed to obtain permission to mount the project in Saragossa, Paris, London or New York. “In my opinion,” the artist asserts, “the CUBE has long proven its aptness for travel.” Schneider takes pleasure in the fact that CUBE NEUCHATEL 2011 represents a second place in the world for the CUBE to be visited, and he hopes that in the coming years such a work will at last be welcomed in other cities as well: for instance, in Venice, Berlin, New York and London. Surely, CUBE NEUCHATEL 2011 will serve to demonstrate for all of Switzerland how the population deals with the distrust and misgivings between cultures. Describing the beauty of a cube invisible under its jet-black shrouding, Yasar Erdogan was put in mind of “...when one begins seeing black roses in the night.”

Technical data:
- 14x14x14m including the concrete pedestal. Free-standing. - Steel construction encased in wood
- Jet-black fabric cladding. Fabric: Trevira CS
Information on Gregor Schneider at:
German: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Schneider
English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Schneider
www.gregor-schneider.de, ur@gregor-schneider.de
English translation © Margie Mounier, April 2010


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Press release: Cube Neuchâtel 2011 / Cube Neuenburg 2011,

Neuchâtel, Switzerland 2011

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