Based on archaeological remains, so to speak, the Swiss chalet installation makes the past visible.
The construction precisely replicates the dimensions of the vanished building. Matthias Block also
recreates wooden elements such as wind boards, gable decorations and board carvings based on the
original – albeit using different materials. In a sense, the reconstruction takes the scenery of the
old Swiss houses to the extreme, like an abstract film set. For the supposedly Alpine garden house, a
place of longing in the 19th century, claims that nature is truth. Even if this truth is composed of
olive-green fibreglass rods from army camouflage tents and gold-painted hard foam panels. Each viewer
can decide for themselves whether the temporary intervention revives not only a Swiss house – staffage
building in an English landscape garden, but also something of its old idea of happiness in nature.