The "Monolith" - a steel cube with an edge length of 34 feet - was the main attraction of the Expo 02 Arteplage in Morat. Within just five months the most unusual museum in Switzerland was opened. Past and present come together in this rusty cube and show the fascination of panorama art in a very impressive way.

"The theme is metaphysical; it engulfs the site and then it vanishes. The chosen medium is art; the intervention has to be delicate and precise. Our theme is not a controlled park, and it is not Morat; it is men's earth, it is the universe. The purpose is to make Morat, the lake, and the entire landscape resonate with our theme. The first aim is to show the site both in its present and historical moments. (though some elements of the site are incompatible with the theme: the sailing harbour, the football stadium) Morat is a beautiful historical city, it is not parallel to, nor independent of the exhibition. We consider interesting places in the city...the castle? The battlements towers? The museum? We will create interferences, additional objects. It is a place of wanderings, discoveries, surprise, o temps suspend ton vol, two or three events in the distance...a mirage...temple?...technical platform?...observatory? A massive and hermetic volume, mysterious and vexing...smog, steam...this exhibition refuses dissociation between the container and the contents. The containers are work of arts in the same way the contents are. Reflection from a distance provokes a rereading of the natural site and of the existing constructions: the exhibition is fragmentation as a means for re-composition. It is the contrary of the art exhibition that is a simple accumulation, beyond which the artist ignores. Instead of a concentrated exhibition where everything interferes, we suggest 30 to 40 mini-exhibitions. The visitor can start with the visit where he wants to. One can enter into the exhibition at any spot and visit on their own speed, in any desired order."

Jean Nouvel