Daniel Knorr

Gold Flag CS 039 (2022)

Gold leaves and resin on special support. Installed in AKI's former bank building. Courtesy of Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder.

Installed within AKI's former banking hall, Gold Flag CS 039 enters into a profound dialogue with the building's own history as a seat of financial power. The frozen, translucent flag — suspended between permanence and fragility — resonates with histories of capital, authority, and the exploitation of natural resources, transforming the architectural context into a critical monument.

The flag represents both identity and boundary. By rendering it rigid and translucent, the work interrogates the structures of power and economy that once inhabited the very walls of this historic financial institution.

"Layering gold leaves before pouring the resin is a meticulous, meditative practice. Bringing the work into form requires immense patience and nervous endurance until material and quickness become a symbiosis of beauty."

The process demands a physical and mental stamina that mirrors Ganbaru. It is about pushing through the resistance of the heavy resin and fragile gold to preserve a moment of critical historical reflection.