Talk about the old world and the new world colliding! Every year, the small Switzerland ski town village of Vercorin asks artists to come and create works during the summer months. They’re not looking for a singular sculpture, they’re interested in creative projects that incorporate the entire village.
In 2010, Lang/Baumann was asked to take on this challenge. “We thought it would be interesting to work on the surface of the roads because it was kind of a free zone,” Sabina Lang of Lang/Baumann tell us. “Most of the houses and their facades are very old, historical wood surfaced and it seemed interesting to us to contrast them with bright colors on the street.”
Using only maps, they first measured everything out. Then, “we started at the point of the geometry of the street directions leading to this central village square,” Lang says. “This was the base for a grid out of which we developed our drawing.”
What resulted was a stunning street painting that ran through the entire village and got the whole town buzzing. “Many of the village inhabitants passed by and followed the process of painting,” says Lang. “They used it in a very playful way later, especially the children used it to cycle or skate or walk on the lines.”
Credits:
Artist: Lang/Baumann
Title: Street Painting #5
Technique: road marking paint
Dimensions: 100 x 60 m
Exhibition: 2010, “Street Painting #5” R-Art, Vercorin CH
Photographer 1: Robert Hofer
Photographer 2: Robert Hofer
Photographer 3: Robert Hofer
Photographer 4: L/B