The project Temple Solitude is a collaboration between Israeli artist Ariel Schlesinger, American architect Stephanie Choi and Japanese carpenter Masao Sato. They rebuilt a Japanese temple structure originally built by Masao Sato in 1986 in Santa Cruz. The reconstruction in the courtyard of the Akademie around the linden tree will not be a faithful recreation. The final design comprises a more site specific work that incorporates the architecture and landscape of the Schloss Solitude grounds. In the 18th century the original rococco gardens featured a Chinese pavilion. A symbolic addition was made to the courtyard garden of one of the flanking officer and cavalier buildings when the local Reichsarbeitsdienst organization planted a linden tree on May 1st, 1936, which remains the only visible trace of the Second World War at Solitude. Eighty years later, at the exhibition openings on May 12, the encasement of the tree with the temple gives the tree a new meaning as a space for the public to converge. The interior of the temple will be empty serving as a receptacle for the Solitude fellows and the public to fill.
Stephanie Choi, Hong Kong/China — Architecture, Solitude fellow 2013–2015
In Solitude Stephanie Choi is obsessing over crystals, copies, cardboard and Campo Marzio.
Ariel Schlesinger, Berlin/Germany — Visual Arts, Solitude fellow 2013–2015
Ariel Schlesinger, born 1980 in Jerusalem/ Israel, studied from 1999 to 2003 at the Bezalel Academy for Art and Design in Jerusalem. He participated in numerous exhibitions, including What does sculpture want? Sculpture after installation (2009) at the Bezalel Gallery in Tel Aviv/Israel, Christmas in July (2010) at the Yvon Lambert Gallery in New York/USA, Small Fire (2011) at the Sint-Lukasgalerie in Brussels/Belgium, Das Unerwartete Erwarten (2012) at the Künstlerhaus in Bremen/Germany.
Furthermore, he had a variety of solo exhibitions such as Reverse Engineering (2010) at the Galerija Gregor Podnar in Berlin/Germany, Catastrophe is Subjective (2011) at the Kunstverein Braunschweig/Germany and Phenomena of resonance (2011/2012) at the Musée du château des ducs de Wurtemberg in Montbéliard/France.
He received several awards and scholarships with residencies in France, Italy, Germany, and Japan. In 2012 he was awarded the »VHV-Künstler des Jahres«.
Currently, Ariel Schlesinger is living and working in Berlin.