This Installation of 312 knife-roses by Renate Bertlmann in the Austrian Pavillon the first ever solo show of a woman representing Austria caught my eye. It’s a beautiful expression of unfollowing and the power and necessity of dissent.

‘Discordo ergo sum’ is a rephrase and subversive treatment of the philosophical principle ‘cogito ergo sum.’ (I think therefore I am). Another one reads ‘amo ergo sum’  in big letters outside the pavilion. To love and to dissent, two pillars of her work: the lover and the insurgent. “The form and content allows us to sensually experience the dichotomy of our existence.”

Bertlmann celebrates sensuality and honesty of emotional expression –anger and  tenderness, fear and lust. “My works are an expression of fear combined with great lust, and the latter is frightening for those who don’t care to confront their own hidden desires.”