Following the anniversary year 2025, the work of Richard Long remains present at Kloster Schönthal. His site-specific works in the church and courtyard continue the exploration of landscape, time, and movement, unfolding their impact in direct dialogue with the site.

Long’s art can be understood as a trace. It emerges directly from the landscape, using stone, water, or clay, and becomes a sign of presence and time. His interventions remain minimal; much is reversible and subject to change.

“The source of my work is nature. I use it with respect and freedom. I use materials, idea, time and movement to express a total view of my art in the world.” Richard Long, 1982

At Schönthal, this approach is exemplified in the three works on view: stone settings structure the interior space, while in the outdoor area, lines follow and articulate the movement of the landscape. With the Mud Work in the church, a gestural dimension is introduced: traces of the hand, accumulations, and transitions make both the process of creation and the artist’s movements visible.

The works thus develop their form through simple yet highly precise interventions, while remaining open to change, embedded in the natural processes and temporal conditions of the site.

© Heiner Grieder / Christian Jäggi