Sven Sachsalber (8 May 1987 – December 2020) was an Italian artist.https://www.de24.news/en/2020/12/mourning-the-deceased-artist-sven-sachsalber.html

Biography

Sachsalber was born in

Südtirol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

(Italy) and raised in Laatsch, Malles in

Vinschgau The Vinschgau, Vintschgau () or Vinschgau Valley ( it, Val Venosta ; rm, Vnuost ; lld, Val Venuesta; medieval toponym: ''Finsgowe'') is the upper part of the Adige or Etsch river valley, in the western part of the province of South Tyrol, Italy. ...

. In his youth, he was a professional alpine skier. After an accident he studied Business for a few years in Italy before changing his career to making art. He studied art at the sculpture department of the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

in London from 2010 to 2013. His work was influenced by romantic conceptual artists such as

Bas Jan Ader Bastiaan Johan Christiaan "Bas Jan" Ader (19 April 1942 – disappeared 1975) was a Dutch conceptual and performance artist, and photographer. His work was in many instances presented as photographs and film of his performances. He made perf ...

and his teacher at the Royal College of Art, Richard Wentworth. While studying and living in London, Sachsalber mostly made photos, video works, drawings and performances. His practice later expanded to paintings, wall objects and even furniture. The North of Italy, where he grew up, always continued to play a big part in his work, especially his performances. Sachsalber was known for his intense performative works, that often balanced on physical exhaustion, such as eating a poisonous mushroom, spending 24 hours with a cow in a room or cutting down a large tree by hand. Sachsalber was usually the protagonist in his work, in which the performative and the sculptural played a key element. Often funny, often serious and sometimes both, his work contained a universal poetic element. His most famous work is a performance that took place on 13 and 14 November 2014 at

Palais de Tokyo The Palais de Tokyo (''Tokyo Palace'') is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, facing the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs to ...

in Paris. During the 48 hours scheduled for the performance, Sachsalber was looking for a needle hidden in an actual haystack. The needle was hidden by Palais de Tokyo director Jean de Loisy. After 18 hours, the needle was found by Sachsalber. The performance caused a huge amount of press coverage and online outrage by those not considering the work art. He died in Vienna in December 2020, aged 33.

References

Italian artists Alumni of the Royal College of Art 1987 births 2020 deaths {{Italy-artist-stub