Ornament im Raum 04 — Labyrinth
2006 Factory/The Townhouse Gallery, Kairo
Lehmziegel 250 m2
Eine Basilika, durchflutet vom Licht, das durch ein Fensterband rund um das erhöhte Mittelschiff hereinfällt, gestützt durch acht Säulen. Jeder dieser Pfeiler ist umringt von vier konzentrischen Kreisen, wie Wellen im Wasser, die sich ausbreiten, aufeinandertreffen und in ihren Überschneidungen ein Muster aus Verflechtungen bilden.
Die Pfeiler stehen auf dem Steinboden einer ehemaligen Fabrikhalle im Zentrum von Kairo. Die Kreise sind aus ungebrannten Ziegeln, in zwei Schichten aufgelegt, das Ornament breitet sich beinahe über die gesamte Bodenfläche aus. Der rechteckige Grundriss der Halle ist in zwei Quadrate unterteilt, deren ornamentale Gestaltung im Umfang symmetrisch ist, jedoch unterscheiden sich die beiden Hälften in der Zeichnung. Beim Betreten der Halle trifft man zunächst auf ein geschlossenes Ornament gebildet aus den konzentrischen Kreisen um die Pfeiler und dem Geflecht ihrer Überschneidungen. Der zweite Teil der Installation stellt das Labyrinth dar. Öffnungen im System des Ornaments ermöglichen Wege, die von einem Kreis zum Nächsten führen, in die Zentren der Kreise und wieder zurück an die Peripherie.
Alle kennen die Sage vom Labyrinth auf Kreta, das als Bauwerk nie gefunden wurde. Die Zeichnung des Labyrinths, die den Grundriss eines Weges darstellt, der in mehreren Umkreisungen schließlich ins Zentrum führt und wieder zum Ausgangspunkt zurück, wurde durch die Jahrhunderte als Symbol tradiert und immer wieder neugestaltet.
Geheimnisvoll wirken große kreisförmige bzw. oktogonale Labyrinthe in den Marmorböden französischer gotischer Kathedralen. In der europäischen Gartenarchitektur des 17. Jahrhunderts wurden Vorstellungen eines Systems von Irrwegen ohne Ausgang umgesetzt. Mittelalterliche Klostergärten scheinen ebenso inspiriert zu sein durch die Idee des Labyrinths wie manche Ornamente in orientalischen Teppichen.
Die luftgetrockneten Ziegel aus Nilschlamm waren das Baumaterial der ältesten Pyramiden, bis in unsere Zeit werden damit Bauernhöfe errichtet. Nicht zuletzt durch das archaische Material erscheint das Ornament in der Halle wie eine archäologische Grabungsstätte, wie die Grundmauern einer antiken Architektur, die zu ihrem Schutz und zur weiteren Erforschung mit einer Halle überbaut wurden. Bei näherer Betrachtung der einzelnen Ziegel zeigt sich, dass in der schweren fruchtbaren Erde auch Überbleibsel des gegenwärtigen Alltags eingeschlossen sind: farbige Papierfetzen von Zigarettenpackungen oder von Süßigkeiten, Teile aus Plastik, Schmuck und Textilien leuchten als bunte Tagesreste auf und führen zu weiteren Assoziationen.
(N.B.)
2006 Drei Applikationen nach Zeichnung “Labyrinth“, Baumwollstoff in drei Farben, jedes Bild 50,50 x 22.50 cm, ausgeführt von den Zeltmachern bei Bab Zuweila, Kairo
A basilica, structured around eight columns, is flooded by the light shining through a band of windows around its lofty nave. Each of the columns is encircled by four concentric circles, which like waves spreading out in water create interwoven patterns through their convergence.
The columns stand on the stone floor of a former factory hall in the middle of Cairo.
The circles are made up of unfired bricks arranged in two layers, with the ornament they create spreading to cover almost the entire space. The hall’s rectangular floor plan is divided into two squares whose ornamental designs are symmetrical in their dimensions but are drawn differently. Upon entering the hall, one initially encounters a closed ornament formed by the intersecting concentric circles of bricks around the columns. The installation’s second part represents the labyrinth, where gaps in the ornament’s system open paths leading from one circle to the next, toward the circular pattern’s center and then back to its periphery.
Everyone knows the myth of the Labyrinth on Crete, for which no archeological remains have ever been found. Drawings of the Labyrinth showing the floor plan of a path that circles back and forth, eventually leading to the center and then back to the point of departure, were passed on through the centuries, with the symbol taking on new forms during its long history.
An air of mystery surrounds the large circular or octagonal labyrinths worked into the marble floors of French gothic cathedrals. The idea of a system of false paths and dead ends was also realized in the garden architecture of seventeenth-century Europe. Medieval cloister gardens also seem to have been inspired by the idea of the labyrinth, and the same can be said of many ornaments in oriental carpets.
Air-dried bricks made from the mud of the Nile served as the material for the construction of the oldest pyramids, and they are used to this day for farm buildings. It is primarily the archaic material that gives the ornament on the factory floor the semblance of an archeological dig, over which a hall has been built for protection and to facilitate research. Closer inspection of the individual bricks shows that the heavy, fertile earth carries the residues of contemporary life: like the events of the day in nocturnal dreams, colorful scraps of paper from cigarette packages or candy wrappers, pieces of plastic, jewelry and fabric shine gaily from the slumbering monochrome blocks, opening further lines of association.
The Daily Star / Egypt, 14.03.06 (Distributed with the Herald Tribune)
An Egyptian Labyrinth: New articulation of a traditional form
by Farah El Alfy:
The fabled labyrinth was a place constructed of intricate passageways and blind alleys to confuse and challange those who entered. Artist Nora Bachel offers a new articulation of this form by transforming a factory space in the Townhouse Gallery into a geometrical patterned maze created with mud building bricks.
The Austrian artist is famous for her fascination with geometry. For the past four years she’s been working circles, squares and triangles using different materials such as sand, glass and a variety of textiles. This ornament is no different. „I took this room with eight pillars and designed a circle around each one… Then came the idea with the labyrinth… I did it in a dancing structure to go around and come back in the same way until you get in the center,“ she explains. The pattern of the path are a mixture of two styles: the designs of oriental carpets combined with patterns from the gardens of 15th century France.
Only half of the labyrinth is accessible. The structure seems symmetrical as all the circles have the same measurements, but actually only half of it is opened up so you can follow the lines of the maze; in the second half, the circles are closed. This concept is open to interpretation by the perceiver. Classically, the labyrinth is a symbol of many things, usually a symbol of life, but although Bachel gives symbolism it’s importance, she thinks that one should look at the ornament as an abstract form before analyzing it, as to her it is a very important art piece, aesthetically.
Bachel works in Vienna and has been exhibiting widely in Austria since 1978. She has had many shows across Europe and had one previous show in Egypt in 2004 at the Espace Karim Francis gallery. Bachel’s interest in Egypt dates back to her days in school when she studied Egyptian culture. To the artist, Egypt is also intriguing because of ist geographical positioning. „Egypt is as well the turning point between the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Africa“, she says. As an artist, she also feels it is extremely important to be exposed to other cultures and new impressions. Until she came to Egypt, she did not know that the material she used existed; simply being here is a plus.
This show is the fourth of a series entitled : „Ornament in Space“, which Bachel has been working on. This is her newest installation, and also the most interactive.