Interviews

Charlotte Colbert: Venice as a Possible Landscape

For Possible Landscapes, artist and filmmaker Charlotte Colbert brings the power of imagination into dialogue with Venice, creating two site-specific interventions in historic gardens across the city. At the Giardino di Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda, overlooking the Grand Canal opposite the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a polished steel arch crowned by an eye explores the idea of portals and the possibility of seeing the world otherwise. At Aman Venice, Colbert transforms the hotel’s historic garden into a space for wandering, discovery and a little magic. Here, she speaks with Mara Sartore about imagination, Venice, and the role of gardens as artworks.

by Mara Sartore

Mara Sartore
Charlotte Colbert

Mara Sartore – Possible Landscapes is built around the power of imagination. What does imagination mean to you today?

Charlotte Colbert – Possible Landscapes was made possible by a formidable group of women. Two sites, two installations; the first is in partnership with the City of Venice, along the Grand Canal opposite the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. A polished steel arch with an eye on top. I use the symbol of the eye a lot in my practice. It has come to symbolise for me the power of imagination. And when I say that, I don’t mean it as a whimsical thing. We are creatures of language. We live in invented structures. Everything around us was invented by someone before. My trousers, this building, our political structures. What we imagine today becomes tomorrow’s reality. Collective imagination is the basis of the structures we live in and the arch invites us to, like Alice in Wonderland, fall down the rabbit hole and remember that everything could be otherwise. The second site is a take over of the beautiful historical garden of Aman Venice, realised with the intention of creating a space for wandering and, hopefully, a little magic to enjoy in the garden.

Gardens are the ultimate artworks.

MS – The exhibition was conceived specifically for Venice. How did the city of Venice shape the project?

CC – Venice in itself feels like a feat of surrealism. It defies the laws of logic, reimagines the boundaries of what a building is, of what a city looks like. It hovers between worlds, with water like a gigantic game of mirrors opening depth after depth and constantly re-questioning our relationship to the boundaries of the real. The piece I am showing with the City of Venice plays off of this game of mirrors and the idea of portals—through the material, the arch shape and the symbol of the eye, inner and outer merging until all is one. The city is layered with narratives and symbols and details. Chimeras on columns, astrological maps, marble lions with wings—entering in a tiny way a conversation with those stories and that imagery, and creating a fairy tale garden feels so exciting and inspiring.

MS – Today we are experiencing the exhibition during the Regata Storica. What does it mean to see your work become part of this very Venetian moment?

CC – It’s fun! I had never seen it before and it was wonderful!

MS – Your work feels like entering a dream. Where do these images come from?

CC – That’s very kind of you. I love to wander in the space between things where all the archetypal goo seems to seep out.

MS – The sculpture currently on display in the garden of Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda will remain there until September 30. What will happen to it afterwards? Where will it go, and what does the future hold for it?

CC – We’re excited to tell you very soon.

Credits: