Wolfgang Laib Crossing the River

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Laib's tranquil installations celebrate simplicity and transience The oeuvre of the German installation artist Wolfgang Laib (born 1950) expresses a deep-seated belief in formal and conceptual simplicity, as informed by his formative life experiences in India and the teachings of the ancient Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu. Laib creates sculptures that connect the past and present, working with perishable organic materials (pollen, milk, wood and rice) as well as durable ones (granite, marble and brass). His most famous works consist of mounds of pollen splayed on museum and gallery floors. This catalog traces the creation of Laib's recent room-size installation, Crossing the River, for the Bündner Kunstmuseum. Comprising thousands of rice mountains that in part symbolize vitality and abundance, this potent work is discussed at length in the book--particularly in a conversation between Laib and the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Laib and Zumthor unravel both the technical and spiritual underpinnings of the piece.