In memory of Lasantha

At close quarters it appears to be purely a grid of forms, but as the day goes on it turns out from a distance to be a portrait of Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge. At night, the tower is illuminated from within, reproducing the negative image of the portrait, transfigured yet again into an abstract sculpture of light.
The title “Unbowed And Unafraid” refers to a political website dedicated to Lasantha Wickrematunge. Lasantha was a critical editor who stood up above all for the freedom of the press and human rights, having exposed several corruption scandals involving the state machinery in Sri Lanka.
Peter Sandbichler oscillates in his installations between the flat plane and three-dimensionality, between picture and sculpture. His works are remarkable for their relationship to functional objects as transporters of aesthetic and socio-cultural meanings.
He is also interested in the relationship between the constructional and functional aspects of objects as the expression of an interplay between aesthetically constructive and political agendas.