In an interview with curator Massimiliano Gioni, Sailstorfer described being ‘interested in the combination of very formal structures with narrative elements’.(1) In the case of Wolken, the initial experience of the work is of its materiality: the smell of rubber permeates the space, the mass of black, bulbous, floating shapes contrasts with the white, rectilinear interior of the Gallery, and the heavy-looking yet freely floating forms create a compelling interplay between the sculptural considerations of weight and volume. While Sailstorfer seeks to emphasise these formal qualities, he is also interested in the work’s associative and affective potential; there is, in fact, a strong romantic sensibility to the work, in its evocation of the landscape and profound effect on the ambience of the space in which it is installed, creating in a gallery the brooding atmosphere of an impending storm.
1) Massimiliano Gioni, ‘In conversation with Michael Sailstorfer’, in Für immer war gestern, Verlag für Moderne Kunst Nürnberg, 2006