Situated a short distance outside
of the city of Cáceres in Extremadura, Spain, is a fascinating and
unique art museum.
German artist Wolf Vostell
has turned an 18th century wool washing house into a strange and unusual
artistic display.
Vostell is one of the early
associates of what is called the "Fluxus" movement. This group has explored
using various different techniques, blending noise and music, video and
design with more typical artistic mediums to create something different.
The word "Fluxus" comes from the Latin word, meaning "flux" or "flow,"
and this artistic work certainly flows, if in a very unusual way.
Vostell (1932-1998) took
over the building, situated in the Los Barruecos de Malpartida natural
park, in 1976 and created an avant-garde and fascinating exhibition which
joins together life, nature and art. The three big collections inside the
building cover a floor space of approximately 14,000 square meters. One
is the " Wolf and Mercedes Vostell Collection," which is covered in this
article, and the other two are the "Fluxus Donation Gino di Maggio Collection"
and the "Conceptual Artists' Collection."
Highly representative of
Vostell's work, the installation uses cars to make up several different
displays, including "Auto Fever (1973)," the totally fascinating "Fluxus
Buick Piano," which can be seen in the video included below, and "Breakfast
of Leonardo da Vinci in Berlin in 1998."
It is difficult to describe
the awesome surrounding sound, colors and images that are seen on viewing
Vostell's installations. He has combined the old cars with sound and television,
using the Fluxus technique, to create an amazing experience, which according
to Vostell defines our current society.
As one walks through the
museum, televisions play videos, closely tied to that particular exhibit,
and the often discordant sounds surround a visitor, taking them almost
to another world. The experience brings to mind science fiction films of
recent years, featuring future dystopian societies, with a little chaos
in the background.
There are also several sculptures
by Vostell in the grounds surrounding the museum, including one 16-meter
creation which created using the remains of a Russian Mig-21 aircraft,
in combination with two cars, three pianos and several computer monitors
(pictured bottom of article). The name of this creation is "Why Did the
Process Between Pilate and Jesus Last Only Two Minutes?" Close by is a
second sculpture called "Car in Concrete" (pictured above).
The Vostell Malpartida Museum
in Cáceres, Spain, is a must-visit for anyone interested in art,
particularly the fascinating Fluxus technique. Enjoy a surreal virtual
visit to the museum in the video included below.
Photos: by Solyroca1000,
Hans Peter Schaefer and Luis Pita Moreno / CC BY-SA 3.0
