Artist：Not Vital
Date：2000~2007
Location：An oasis 5 km north of Agadab Agadez / Aladab,Niger
Media/Type：Sculpture, Architecture, Land Art
Commissioner：self commissioned
Researcher：Vera Tollmann
In 2000, Not Vital began building sculptural houses and other buildings in Agadez. He later built two schools, “The Makaranta”, takes the form of a step pyramid, where for 450 local children can sit on the steps during school rather than going to an indoor classroom. The school thus serves a social function in addition to a sculptural one.
Other buildings include a house designed for the observation of the sunset over the Niger Desert, where the spectator moves from one level to the other with the changing height of the sunset, with the building creating a poetic and transcendental atmosphere. Another work is a cinema where audiences gain admission in exchange for bringing recyclable garbage.
Vital is a formalist and a minimalist who worked in the tradition of Land Art, in the Agadez Desert until 2007. Each of his buildings is dedicated to one single purpose; for instance, “The House Against Heat and Sandstorms,” “The House To Watch the Moon,” “The House to Watch the Sunset,” “The House for 8 Brothers,” and “The 10th House”. The purpose of the structure evokes the 18th-century romantic sublime notion of allowing oneself to be totally absorbed by nature. |
