Jürgen Nefzger - Panta Rhei
The little figure on the rim of the mountain seems to remind us of Caspar David Friedrich’s
“Nebelmeer”. But the famous painting from 1816 and Nefzger’s picture taken in 2006 at the
Aletsch Glacier in the Alps only seem related at the first glance. While Friedrich let his
lonesome wanderer face the sublime beauty of nature, Nefzger switches the perspective
entirely. What man contemplates today are the shrinking remains of a once overwhelming
glacial natural force subjugated in less than century.
The term Panta Rhei was used by Plato to resume the philosophical studies of Heraclitus that
argued the fugacity of being and the vulnerability of the world. Nothing remains, including
the so-called eternal ice and this knowledge relegates the viewer to become aware of the
precariousness of his own existence and the world surrounding us.
Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland, 2006
Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland, 2006
Morteratsch Glacier, Switzerland, 2006
Rhône Glacier, Switzerland, 2006
Tour Glacier, France, 2006
Bossons Glacier, France, 2006
Argentière Glacier, France 2006
Pasterze glacier, Austria, 2006
Sulden Glacier, Italy, 2008
Gurschen Glacier, Switzerland, 2008
Sulden Glacier, Italy, 2008