heinz mack elevates the sky over nine columns at the venice biennale

visible from venice’s landmark piazza san marco, beyond the grand canal is heinz mack’s monumental work, ‘the sky over nine columns’. positioned on the isola san giorgio maggiore, the installation features nine identical monolithic structures each reaching seven meters in height, that are wrapped in a mosaic of golden tesserae.

photo by alessandra chemollo

referencing the long tradition of local craftsmanship and venice’s early cultural relations with the orient and occident, the pillars stand as a manifestation of the human being standing upright, as well as symbolizing earliest elements in the history of architecture, forming a direct relation between earth and sky. in its entirety, the blazing sculpture plays with light, offer a constantly changing visual performance animating the rich and legendary cityscape of venice.

photo by alessandra chemollo

curated by robert fleck, ‘the sky over nine columns’ has been realized by beck & eggeling international fine art, düsseldorf and sigifredo di canossa, in cooperation with fondazione giorgio cini; realized by trend, vicenza.

designboom is in venice, bringing you live coverage of the 14th international architecture exhibition directed by rem koolhaas. across the city on water, exhibitions, installations and pavilions have popped-up, bringing life and creativity to the historic locale.

photo by alessandra chemollo

photo by alessandra chemollo

photo by alessandra chemollo 

photo by alessandra chemollo

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