Interesting collection from the universe

Schloss Esterházy

Eisenstadt (A)

Today “art” is a term generally used for works made by artists.
In the Renaissance and Baroque eras, this was different. At that
time, “art” generally described bizarre specimens from nature,
such as corals and ostrich eggs, or intricate technical devices like
clocks and automatons. Weapons or clothes from distant climes
were also admired and sometimes acquired for a Kunstkammer.
By contrast, paintings and sculptures rarely featured in these
“cabinets of art and wonder”.
The installations created by the artist József Csató for the niches
of the Grand Staircase play a trick: His arrangements allude
directly to the objects and styles of presentation at the famous
Esterhazy Kunstkammer located in Forchtenstein Castle, but are
composed entirely of painting and sculpture. What appears like
precious minerals and cut gemstones, Turkish standards and Inuit
harpoons turns out to be something imagined. For József Csató
such things no longer tell of faraway worlds and wonders but are
an expression of his own emotions and memories. He calls them
“self-minerals”.

The title of the installation “Interesting Collection from the Universe”

is actually not as universal as it sounds:
for the universe of each individual is their own inner world.