Monica Studer / Christoph van den Berg

Somewhere else is the same place

Monica Studer and Christoph van den Berg became known for their Internet project “Hotel Vue des Alpes”, which has been running since 2000. Starting out from this large-scale project, their exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Solothurn and the present publication “Somewhere else is the same place” are devoted primarily to the motif of landscape. This carefully designed volume brings together all the important works of the last six years. Four extensive texts explain the work from different perspectives.
Studer/van den Berg use the computer to construct virtual landscapes with all the trimmings, landscape brochures that seem more beautiful to us than any reality. In their worlds, which sometimes show entire natural panoramas, sometimes detailed views in front of their own feet, they do not forget any detail, everything is in its place: mosses, lichens, flowers, stones, rocks and so on. Also the right weather is always present: Once fog enchants the landscape, then the sun mercilessly illuminates the furthest corners. Studer/van den Berg show us a highly artificial world, which we are only too happy to be presented as natural, especially since we are often the first visitors to enter their untouched landscapes.
The publication “Somewhere else is the same place” is an exclusivity. With a total print-run of a nine hundred copies, every third volume appears with a different dust jacket. The covers are details of the mountain surface that the artist couple designed and printed for the world exhibition in Aichi, Japan.