Leander Schwazer

Leander Schwazer – A E I O U

A sundial on the courthouse of the historic town of Merano bears the letters “A. E. I. O. U.” on its upper edge and inspired the artist Leander Schwazer to create his exhibition of the same name at the Hotel Aurora, which was specially conceived for the “Carte Blanche” series.

From a linguistic perspective, the letters A, E, I, O and U form the so-called vowel alphabet. This is where the Western written language – and culture – began. This is because older written languages only knew consonants. The introduction of vowels was a revolution in media technology which, it is assumed, was used by the Greeks to record Homer’s epics. Our writing begins with these songs, with poetry, with beauty.

The sequence of letters on the Merano sundial refers to a Habsburg motto, the meaning of which remains a mystery to this day. The possibilities range from “Austriae est imperare orbi universo” to “All the earth is subject to Austria” to a newspaper’s suggestion: “All deciphering is obviously uncertain.”

In his exhibition “A E I O U”, Leander Schwazer approaches the riddle behind the

motto and the diverse connections between vowels and culture – sometimes clearly structured, sometimes playful. In the hotel’s gallery, the artist forms the sequence of letters in the style of a sundial, a celestial star made of illuminated letters that shines so intensely as if it were trying to light up the theatre square.

Whether sung or spoken, vowels cause different resonance areas of the body to vibrate and can directly express happiness, pain, astonishment, disgust or pleasure.

In his works, Leander Schwazer is particularly interested in these physical aspects of language as communication. He juxtaposes the human with the non-human: an ornamental painting is reminiscent of abstract painting, but follows a pattern created by an animal – the pearl lizard. The geometry and colouring of the scales change from brown with light spots to a green and black mosaic pattern as the lizard grows up.The scales of the adult lizard also change colour repeatedly between green and black. This makes the pearl lizard the first example of a “cellular automaton” in a living organism, a computing machine designed by a pioneer of computer science, John von Neumann.

In his 1957 poem “schtzngrmm”, the writer Ernst Jandl let the weapons speak, using only consonants.He paints an onomatopoeic picture of war, making gun salvos, detonations and the hissing of flamethrowers audible – completely without vowels, beauty or song, the other side of culture.Inspired by this poem, a small and barely visible T and S appear in one of Leander Schwazer’s vowel pictures.Ts – like the sound of a burning fuse.

Transformations, the meeting of humans and animals, signs and light run like a red thread through the exhibition.

In the hotel bar there are small sculptures in which lights and animals seem to have merged. The works show how Leander Schwazer worked with light early on, namely with light bulbs. The artist has brought the inside of the light bulbs to light, transforming them into insect-like creatures.

Shapes that shine in bright colours, like those of the illuminated letters.Perhaps the bright green envelopes in the hotel were sent by them? Or was it the pearl lizard after all? Everything begins and ends with an envelope, a riddle – “YES” to the enigma. A word sculpture like a peace sign.

Leander Schwazer, born in 1982 in Sterzing, Italy, lives and works in Wiesen (I). Schwazer studied at the Zurich University of the Arts (CH), the Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing (CHN) and the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia (USA). His post-conceptual works can be found in numerous public and private collections.

This space is dedicated to showcasing contemporary artistic perspectives, offering both local and international artists the opportunity to exhibit their work through a hybrid format: an online virtual gallery alongside a physical exhibition space located within Aurora.