Interface
Projects
Year: 2024
Edition: Unique
Technique: Aluminum tubes and black industrial stretch foil.
Framed: No
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SECURITY
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AUTHENTICITY
All artworks on IdeelArt are original, signed, delivered directly from the artist's studio, and come with a certificate of authenticity."Interface" (also documented as Strukturgebilde 3) is a temporary site-specific intervention created by Daniel Göttin for the 2024 program Kunst/interventionen im öffentlichen Raum in Basel. Installed in the St. Johanns Park on August 2, 2024, the work was part of the collaborative series "Architekturen des Gesprächs" (Architectures of Conversation). Supported by the Swisslos-Fonds Basel-Stadt, this skeletal structure functioned as a social and spatial "interface," redefining the park’s landscape for a single, impactful day.
Artistic Vision & Technique
The installation consists of a lightweight, geometric framework constructed from polished aluminum tubes. True to Göttin’s interest in the dialogue between void and volume, the skeletal structure is partially "skinned" with black industrial stretch foil. These diagonal bands of dark material create a visual tension against the silver frame, playing with the sunlight and casting rhythmic shadows across the grass.
The work explores the concept of transparency versus opacity. By creating an "open" architectural form, Göttin invites the viewer to look through the work rather than just at it. The structure acts as a physical "interface" between the natural environment of the park and the industrial materials of modern construction, prompting a conversation about how we inhabit and perceive public space.
Context & Significance
As part of the Architekturen des Gesprächs series, Göttin’s work was one of four "Strukturgebilde" (structural formations) designed to facilitate dialogue. In a park setting - a classic site for social gathering- the work serves as a silent protagonist that organizes movement and sightlines. It exemplifies Göttin’s mastery of Concrete Art, where the material and the space it occupies are the primary subjects. The project highlights the artist's ability to create a "maximum presence" with "minimal weight," a recurring theme in his lifelong investigation into site-specific interventions.
Key Technical Details
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Title: Interface (Strukturgebilde 3).
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Dimensions: Monumental skeletal scale.
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Medium: Site-specific public intervention.
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Materials: Aluminum tubes and black industrial stretch foil.
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Location: St. Johanns Park, Basel, Switzerland.
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Event: Architekturen des Gesprächs (A.d.G.) / Basel 2024.
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Year: 2024.
Bring Art to Your Space
This project illustrates our artists' ability to engage with monumental urban scales—from permanent public sculptures to temporary, high-impact spatial interventions. IdeelArt invites you to commission a unique, site-specific installation tailored to the architectural and emotional character of your project. For inquiries regarding custom structural installations or monumental abstract works, please contact our curatorial team.
Daniel Göttin is a Swiss artist whose work is divided between site-specific projects and coloured or painted objects for walls. He lives and works in Basel.
Education / Residencies
Initially working as a technical draftsman for an engineering company, Daniel Göttin later entered the School of Visual Art in Basel, where he graduated in 1990.
He has held artist residencies at the Fremantle Art Foundation (now Artsource), Australia in 1990, Donald Judd's Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas in 1993, the Shed im Eisenwerk, Switzerland in 1994, the:artist:network in New York in 2005, and Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo in 2007 and 2013/2014.
Technique
Göttin works with common industrial materials such as paint, tape, wood, metal, polystyrene, plastic, and carpet. The concept for an installation depends on the site and its conditions. For his objects and paintings, he uses similar materials, examining the subjective nature of perception and playfully responding to the characteristics of architectural spaces. His works made of aluminum and painted MDF direct attention to the space within the object, highlighting the interplay of light and shadow, thus creating a new quality of perception between concrete and abstract reality.
Inspiration
His artistic background relates mainly to Minimal Art, Concrete Art, and Conceptual Art. Besides these tendencies, he also incorporates aspects of Dada/Merz, Constructivism, and Arte Povera. For over 25 years, Göttin has focused on creating temporary and permanent site-specific installations, public art, objects, paintings, drawings, collages, and prints.
Relevant Quotes
“Daniel’s art possesses clarity and thoughtfulness. But this clarity is not the result of a fixed or repetitive position or strategy. Instead, his art is iterative, responding to changing conditions and environments. Different aspects of his work, both the wall pieces and the objects made for the wall, are inter-related and reflect on each other. There is a wholeness to what Daniel refers to as an entity—his body of work.” (Chris Ashley, Minus Space)
Notable Distinctions
Daniel Göttin has received grants from the City of Basel, Switzerland.
Exhibitions
Göttin has organised over 60 solo exhibitions and projects since 1990 at museums, galleries, and public collections across Europe, Japan, Australia, Mexico, and the United States.
Together with his partner Gerda Maise, he founded the art space Hebel_121 in Basel in 1998, providing a platform for installative exhibitions. Hebel_121 continues to showcase innovative art.
Wenger, Zurich, Switzerland
Conny Dietzschold, Sydney, Australia
Gen, Tokyo, Japan
Minus Space, Brooklyn, NY
Photos credit (from top)
- Daniel Göttin
- Stefan Altenburger Photography Zürich
- Serge Hasenböhler
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