This book by Swiss artist Séverin Guelpa presents a decade of innovative artistic engagement on
several continents. Structured around three- to four-weeks immersions and exhibitions the
MATZA artistic manifesto he founded in 2014 transcends borders exploring extreme natural and
urban territories around the world. Founded on the conviction that artists are crucial players
in understanding contemporary challenges MATZA tackles environmental social and political
issues in equal measure stimulating the idea of a collective intelligence built up over the
course of projects between artists scientists and local residents. In almost 10 years MATZA
has taken on nine sites on 4 continents from the Mojave desert (USA) to the Swiss glaciers
each time bringing together communities of artists and scientists. Projects such as MATZA Amboy
MATZA Aletsch and MATZA Kerkennah have explored crucial issues such as drought melting
glaciers and the depletion of marine resources. MATZA never simply observes it immerses itself
physically and collectively seeking to radically rethink our relationship with nature with
each other and with the world around us. The matze taken from a vernacular tradition in the
Upper THE DESERT THE GLACIER AND THE SUPERSTRUCTURE MATZA 10 years of field research
experimentation and collective art investigation. Valais (Switzerland) symbolizes communal and
democratic commitment. Echoing this tradition MATZA emerges as a contemporary response to
urgent social change. Séverin Guelpa's artistic exploration is rooted in a desire to rethink
ways of living together reflecting the aspirations of a society in the throes of change. The
project began in Amboy California where Guelpa is carrying out the initial stages of the
project. After several stages on glaciers MATZA expanded its scope to urban contexts such as
Meyrin and Lausanne in Switzerland as well as international metropolises like Medellín and
Cúcuta in Colombia. In partnership with the Edgelands Institute MATZA has been looking at the
complex dynamics of urban centers since 2022 now exploring the implications of digitization
and security on the social contract between city dwellers. The book THE DESERT THE GLACIER AND
THE SUPERSTRUCTURE retraces in images the three major stages of the project carried out between
the Mojave Desert in the USA the Aletsch Glacier in the Swiss Alps and three urban
construction sites between 2014 and 2021. The book places great emphasis on the images whose
graphic treatment and choice of paper on which they are printed are adapted to each stage. The
three parts of the book are each accompanied by a text by Guelpa and punctuated by
contributions from curators experts and critics who have accompanied the artist throughout his
work. They include artist and researcher Mathilde Chenin (FR) curators Bill Fox (USA) Olivier
Kaeser (CH) Simon Lamunière (CH) and Dorothea Strauss (CH) art historian and architectural
critic Marc Frochaux and university professor and sustainability specialist Marco Janssen
(USA).
