#14 Michel Mettler, 2023 Landis & Gyr Stiftung Residency
50 opportunities for 50 years
“London is the city where, in 1870, physicist John Tyndall had his first lecture on ‘Haze and Dust’ - ground-breaking for the time. He was searching for invisible particles in the air.”
Michel Mettler worked as a jazz musician during the 1980s before devoting himself to independent theatre as a director, manager and musician. He is the author of one novel, and has published several books as an editor between storytelling and science.
Michel is one of ten recipients of the Landis & Gyr studio scholarships in London. The Landis & Gyr foundation awards studio scholarships to Swiss artists and cultural professionals in London, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia and Zug.
Its London-based residency partnership with Acme was established in 1987 and provides three to six month long work/live opportunities for about ten Swiss artists per year.
“Without Acme, it would not have been possible to set up the LANDIS & GYR Foundation's residency programme in London. Thanks to Acme, more than 300 Swiss artists – authors, composers, curators, cultural critics, dancers, film-makers, theatre professionals and visual artists – have been able to spend an, both personally and professionally, inspiring, enriching and beneficial time in London over the past 40 years.”
Nela Bunjevac, director Landis & Gyr
Michel originally began his residency in London in 2020, but his stay was interrupted by the pandemic. Now, he will review work that began during his first stay. “I plan to re-write my poetic study about (and out of) dust, the text I was about to write here three years ago, before Covid-19 stopped all residencies.”
“Landis & Gyr generously invited me again, which reopens a topic almost intoxicated by the pandemic. I hope I will be able to tackle it with new energy.”