Installation in the Park of the Villa Schoeck and Former Hotel Eden
Conception and Light-installation: Michaela Müller
Sound-installation: Jan Bielefeld, 909 Schneider
On view during the Othmar Schoeck Festival 2023, Aug 31 – Sept 3.
Garden of Eden – Video-dokumentation
The Garden of Eden
Brunnen, Switzerland 2023
In the temporary light and sound installation „Garden of Eden“ I tried to reflect the mystery of the 150-year-old, spacious garden grounds of the Villa Schoeck, built around 1880 in Brunnen above Lake Lucerne. Alvaro Schoeck and his family generously opened their house and archives and invited me to peek and poke into boxes, closets and behind doors into a distant past, but not beyond reach.
In the park with its spectacular views onto mountains and lake, framed by massive old trees, people were invited to wander around and be seduced by the sometimes bizarre, fragmentary scenes inspired by the past lives of the residents of Villa Schoeck.
The installation also reflects on the turmoils of the family. In a time of two World Wars they were tasked with maintaining and running the hotel, and making a living, while they would have preferred to devote their lives entirely to the arts.
Sound artists Jan Bielefeld and 909 Schneider from Düsseldorf intensified these impressions with a rich ambisonic soundscape containing snippets of Othmar Schoecks compositions, voices reading letters, a melancholic cellist’s practice.
It was a particular challenge for me to find a playful way to integrate existing works of art in the park and historical objects from the mansions household—in search of context and access to the past of the family residence.
Garden Eden – Peacocks
