Mirador

For his exhibition in the Kunstmuseum Thurgau in the Ittingen Charterhouse, October 2009 – April 2010, Olaf Nicolai explored Mirador, the well-known viewpoint on the island of Robinson Crusoe in the South Pacific, where Scottish seafarer Alexander Selkirk was marooned and provided the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe .On Mirador, Nicolai took one photograph and printed a single copy. All data that would enable other copies to be made has been entrusted to a notary on condition that no further copies are to be produced. The photograph is and will remain a unique item, an icon. In this way the work addresses the value and the transience of a work of art. In the exhibition Nicolai shows this and other recent works and examines the retreat of man into seclusion. As a kind of 'deconstruction' of the exhibition - this is an unusual and thoughtful publication enclosed in a plastic sleeve, containing a variety of printed material - posters, booklets, plans, photographs etc.