Karin Sander
Point of Interest, 2023
LED neon, 420 x 125 cm (double sided)
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna
The Church of St. Barbara is centrally located in Raša. The formal cues for its architect Pulitzer Finali were the everyday objects and tools of mine construction. The nave is reminiscent of an inverted tipper lorry, the 25-metre-high bell tower is modelled on a miner’s lamp, as is the town’s coat of arms. The cross on the tower was made from mine rails. At this prominent location of analogue culture, Karin Sander (*1957) has placed the centrepiece of digital localisation: the Google sign “Point of Interest”, abbreviated POI. By superimposing, even synthesising globally recognized codes – the cross and the POI – the artist succeeds in building a surprising bridge. On the one hand, a merciless analysis of the analogy of different dogmatisms on time and faith levels and, on the other hand, a playful handling of tourist rituals.
Karin Sander Point Of Interest, 2023