Rike Horb & Fabian Knecht
Swarm & Sky Paintings
28. August – 28. August 2010

Thermals are a force of nature in our atmosphere. It determines cloud formation and enables us to overcome gravity. It is a phenomenon of upward-moving air masses that birds, for example, use to fly long distances.

With their SKY PAINTINGS, Rike Horb and Fabian Knecht explore the space between the cloud base and the ground. They draw attention to invisible air currents. They draw smoke in the sky.

An artificial flock of birds is also part of the SKY PAINTINGS series. It shows a flock of paper birds circling in the sky. No muscle power keeps these birds in the air. It is the sky that carries and forms them.

The project was realised in summer 2010 with the help of the Venlo Historical Gliders Foundation (NDL) and the Arnsberg glider airfield. Special thanks also go to the LHC Oeventrop gliding club. They made it possible to take off from their field due to a change in the weather.

Rike Horb (born 1988) and Fabian Knecht (born 1980) are studying Fine Arts at the Berlin University of the Arts. They have been in Olafur Eliasson's specialised class since 2009.