Produced for the exhibition\u00a0Souvenirs, souvenirs\u00a0at Kunsthalle Marcel Duchamp
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The point of departure for Souvenirs, souvenirs is an ashtray that Vincent Kohler bought on a trip to the American West in 2008. The ashtray is the shape of the Salton Sea, California\u2019s largest lake at roughly 525 square miles, half an hour or so by car from the famous, chic desert resort Palm Springs.<\/p>\n
The lake is almost twice the size of Lake Geneva. It came into being in 1905 almost like a ready-made when the Colorado River burst one of its dykes and its waters flowed unimpeded into the Imperial Valley over a period of two years, forming the lake at the valley\u2019s point of lowest elevation 66 metres below sea level. In the first decades of its existence the Salton Sea attracted great numbers of yachtsmen, surfers and fishermen. The \u201940s, \u201950s and \u201960s were the region\u2019s heyday, turning it into a gigantic gold mine for the tourist industry. Concurrent agricultural development brought with it excessive fertilization and the resulting agricultural runoff upped the lake\u2019s salinity, leading to a massive reduction of the fish population. Countless dead fish were washed ashore to decompose and create an unbearable stench. Tourism disappeared, people moved away and the hotels, restaurants and petrol stations were left to rot.<\/p>\n
The inhospitality and tragic gloom of the region left a deep impression on Vincent Kohler and motivated him to create a corresponding souvenir of Lake Geneva for the exhibition in the Kunsthalle Marcel Duchamp. As visitors we wonder whether Lake Geneva might not be another ecological time bomb. We are all aware of the artificial lakes in the nearby Valais, the hydroelectric storage reservoirs with their huge dams, whose durability we are loath to contemplate. We also wonder what potential is left for an ashtray today to serve as a symbol of the lightness of being, of freedom and pleasure. In Europe, as in the United States, smoking has been a major contributory factor to the development of disease patterns over the past century. Seen in this light, Kohler\u2019s ready-made Souvenirs, souvenirs has come a long way from the tourist souvenir that inspired it. It is a complex metaphor for man\u2019s paradoxical relationship with Nature, designed to be exhibited in the world\u2019s smallest museum against the backdrop of one of Europe\u2019s most stunning natural panoramas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Produced for the exhibition\u00a0Souvenirs, souvenirs\u00a0at Kunsthalle Marcel Duchamp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-edition"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n