Nir Adoni - Terminal

Terminal was displayed in NordArt, an international exhibition held in Germany every summer at an old casting factory built in the 1850s. It was mounted in 2017 and was exhibited until 2023. The building was converted into a space for art, an impressive sculpture garden, and houses especially large works of art. The exhibitions attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, who come to enjoy the art and festivals of classical and contemporary music.

Terminal was created in Israel and Germany in collaboration with the NordArt exhibition curators and was supported by the German Foreign Ministry. The work resulted from a year spent in Northern Germany, in which I was fascinated by the vast seaports, shipping lanes, and the tight historical link of the residents with the maritime world.

The work links these impressions, the local history and architecture I saw in Germany, and the memories, experiences, and architecture I carried with me.

The work – 10 m long and 3 m high – is displayed in the highest room of the old factory. This room served for casting and still has the vast metal tanks, rusty metal surfaces, and cranes hanging from metal poles tens of meters high. The building resembles a cathedral but without glass windows, which would burst from the intense heat during casting, leaving the space naturally dark.

The work consists of eight metal panels rusted in an organic process for weeks inside the space. It hangs from the ceiling on thin, sturdy metal cords and emits a bright, intense light, creating a halo visible from far away. The immense size of the work allows it to be seen from various places. Visitors can enter and exit the space at multiple points, experiencing a range of architecture types and getting a different aspect each time – as implied by the title Terminal.

NordArt International Art Exhibition | Büdelsdorf, Germany | 2007 | Installation view | laser cutting, metal, LED lights | 10x3 m | Photograpy: Christian clewing

NordArt International Art Exhibition | Büdelsdorf, Germany | 2007 | detail | laser cutting, metal, LED lights

Work in progress