From the Inside out - when Medicines become Art

A half-hour drive or 45-minute train ride from Zurich now also brings art enthusiasts to Neuhausen am Rheinfall. The idyllic community in the canton of Schaffhausen is a tourist magnet and landscape wonder combined. Whether locals or people passing through, everyone stops at the mighty natural spectacle of the thundering masses of water cascading down the rocks and leaving wet drops on the faces of the viewers. But few know that the way to Neuhausen is also worthwhile for viewing phenomenal art. 

Just a four-minute walk from the popular tourist attraction is the Rhyality Immersive Art Hall located. And what the waterfall leaves behind in acoustic thunder and roar, the art installations of the Art Hall are capable of producing goosebumps.

 

Art by chance

Zurich artist Martin Baumann projects onto the huge, impressive canvases of the Rhyality Immersive Art Hall what found its origin in a coincidence. For once, his art installation brings to light what otherwise remains hidden. He combines image and film footage of painkillers dissolving in water, drawing attention to the normally inaccessible processes of our bodies.

"With Life and Death, we have won over a unique art installation."

Devon Miles
Art Director Rhyality Immersive Art Hall

The unintentional dropping of a tablet into his glass of water brought him to the International Pharma Fair (CPHI) in Frankfurt last year with his resulting art installation and now to the premises of the Rhyality Immersive Art Hall in Neuhausen.

Pharmamesse
The SWISS Pavilion designed by Martin Baumann at the International Pharmaceutical Exhibition (CPHI) 2022 in Frankfurt.

Creating visibility from within

Over a hundred speakers and twenty-four beamers allow the viewer to immerse himself in the unique experience with all his senses. An unprecedented awareness of the interplay between tablet and human stomach is created and accompanied by absurdly colourful, individual patterns. No play of colours is like the other. The visual result of the chemical process is as immanent as the human body.

Rhyality Immersive Art Hall in Neuhausen
A unique art installation that is able to leave an impression on the visitors.

Out of the kitchen and into the world

Martin Baumann has already processed 2500 tablets in his kitchen for his artistic work. The precise macro shots, which can be experienced in the Rhyality Immersive Art Hall in Neuhausen since May, were stabilised by a 300 kg workbench that prevents vibrations. By buying unusual quantities of over-the-counter tablets, the 48-year-old is already well known in Zurich pharmacies, which also follow his project with fascination.

Martin Baumann
Martin Baumann in his kitchen, where the pictures of the pills dissolving in water are taken.

Under the title Life & Death, Martin Baumann now devotes his art installation to the question of the functionality of our health care system in an extremely poignant way and without any political agenda. The microscopic photographs offer a surreal access to a personal answer to such a complex question. In this way, images of fairytale beauty are created without letting the viewer forget how closely life and death are interwoven.

The exhibition by Swiss artist Martin Baumman can be experienced in the Rhyality Immersive Art Hall in Neuhausen am Rheinfall since May 2023. The art installation is accessible without barriers and forms a spectacle for young and old.

Photo: Martin Baumann
Text: Jana Schuhmacher
Publication date: 17.05.2023