Armin Schubert

A careful observer of the landscape, Armin Schubert is a creator of natural architecture. Drawing inspiration from details of nature and structures, he mainly works with natural materials found in the environment (stones, branches, roots, leaves, soil, etc.). He then rearranges these commonplace materials into new units, assembles them according to their characteristics (shapes, colours, textures) and sets about giving them a new appearance, a new significance. As components of a worked whole, these “scraps” find value and dignity once more and reveal a fresh vision to onlookers. Once the idea has taken shape, the process itself is carried out by hand, making scant use of technical means. During production he often allows the material to guide his hand. He also sets great store by the relationship with the environment and factors in the specificity of the landscape, the lighting and distances. For the work is ultimately defined by the space and by the context.

“I have always been sensitive to the landscape, specific features of the environment, nature and its structures, and I seek to create objects, new and expressive entities by transforming and reassembling the material properties, colours and forms offered up by nature. My installations take their time; they often require a long preparatory stage involving the patient and passionate build-up of materials. Finding the final resting place for the object outdoors is an integral part of the artistic concept for me. The nature of the landscape, its dimensions and level of light are determining in this regard. I normally work by hand and only call on technical assistance in special cases. For me, meticulous precision and patience are essential for bestowing the desired expression upon an object. As an artist, in some ways I cultivate the soil. I respond to the complexity of natural processes and phenomena by material “landmarks”, which bear witness to the human interaction on a plot of land that lends itself thereto. In uninhabited high mountainous areas, where the forces of nature are free to interplay as they will, works of art or crafts – or even traces of these – would rarely be found. Human presence in such places is but temporary and there we must learn to submit to the conditions of the environment – quite the reverse of what usually happens in the context of our hi-tech civilisation. What do last are unique installations, the record of them in photographs and a treasure trove of personal experiences. I generally erect objects using a natural material that has been altered as little as possible and by transforming them into an aesthetic ensemble. This is so as to prompt visitors and attentive passers-by to think about how they relate personally with nature, to act with caution as far as ecology is concerned and, as a result, to make their contribution to sustainable management of the environment.” Armin Schubert

Armin SCHUBERT

 

Born in 1950 in Lustenau (Austria).  From 1971 to 2010, Armin Schubert worked as a German, Art and Biology teacher in Dornbirn (Austria), during which time he created a great many works of art. Since 2004 he has been participating in the Biennale Arte Stella. He also gives teach-yourself training sessions in Arte povera, Art in nature, Land Art and Environmental Art.