The installation had a sound device inside those letters. When someone was getting closer or wanted to sit on the bench, they could hear the sound. How those 3 letters sounded separately. Together they formed one Georgian word “forest” (tkhe; ტყე-in Georgian). This word has really specific Georgian sounds in it, which is hard for others to pronounce. The colors that she chose for the installation were inspired by the surroundings of Innsbruck, the colors of the river, mountains, tree.
ARTWORK
FOREST
Ninutsa Shatberashvili (Georgia, 1993)
ტყე – “Forest”, 2018
Wooden sound Installation
In her artistic practice, the Georgian artist Ninutsa Shatberashvili loves ranging through various media, including photography, painting, installation and design.
Her project, developed with openspace.innsbruck, steamed from the desire to create a functional urban installation for people. She created three wooden sculptures, using colours representative of the nature around the Austrian city, that would serve as urban furniture. The three sculptures, three letters, came together to form the Georgian word “forest” (tkhe; ტყე). A sound device was then inserted inside the installation, audible only from very near. The idea came out as Georgian is a language with unusual graphic and phonetic features and this represented the artist’s desire to create a totally foreign element for anyone in that context. The intent was to put everyone in the same state of incomprehension, making them forget their own cultural background and creating new connections.
On this occasion, visitors are invited to interact with the wooden sculptures, feel them, sit on them and listen to Shatberashvili’s sounds, and even try to challenge the unpronounceability of the word.
