OLAF NICOLAI – ESCALIER DU CHANT

Since 1997, Olaf Nicolai has developed a wide variety of interdisciplinary projects through his examination of art, nature and music, the body, time and space. His most recent work, made especially for the sweeping staircase in the Pinakothek der Moderne, is a sound installation, at the centre of which is the human voice – with both its sensual power of expression and its political dimension.

Songs by international contemporary composers, written during the twelve months of 2011 and dealing with political issues, will be merged to form a sung »chronicle of the year« to be heard live on twelve Sundays in the year, performed by the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart. There are no specific times for the performances as the songs will be repeated at varying intervals several times throughout the day. Olaf Nicolai’s work will transform the staircase in the Pinakothek der Moderne into a stage on which visitors find that they are the actors.

»My work has to do with the meaning of sound – as does the title of the work: when saying the French title “Escalier du Chant” out loud, there is an allusion to Marcel Duchamp. His work “Nude Descending a Staircase” painted 100 years ago, radically extended the traditional concept of the static picture into the visual experience of motion. Duchamp’s painting renders time visible. My work also combines a staircase with a temporal experience.«

Get more information on the life and work of artist Olaf Nicolai in his biography (PDF, 82 KB).

To the project website “Escalier du Chant”

Funded by

In cooperation with