The curators of the Architekturzentrum Wien, Sonja Pisarik and Ute Waditschatka, make an expedition through the world of post-war architecture in Austria. A retrospective covering 20 years of the projects of the “arbeitsgruppe 4“.

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”We never wanted to overthrow tradition, but rather build on it”. In retrospect, when Wilhelm Holzbauer emphasizes the idea of building on tradition as a central aspect of arbeitsgruppe 4, one becomes aware of the timeframe and circumstances of their development. The post-war period, characterized by financial hardship and the reconstruction of the country, more »

Prinz Eugen, as he is known in Austria, was a renowned lover and collector of art and left a vast collection of paintings, copper engravings, books and hand writings. He became one of the most influential Austrians of his time when he moved to the country after being rejected by Louis XIV for service in the French army.

As a commander he was a daredevil, willing to sacrifice human lives by the thousands and considered a military genius by his contemporaries, but at the same time a generous patron willing to spend his enormous wealth on his collections, as if his military strategy had a counterpart in his thinking.

Two of the exhibition’s sub-headings, “general” and “art-lover” being self-evident, “philosopher” remains to be proven. Certainly the prince kept correspondence with great intellectuals of his time and his passion for the sciences were a foreboding of the age of enlightenment.

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His interest lay mainly with the profane sciences. Eugene’s collector passion was different from his baroque contemporaries. He did not collect for the sake of representation or to collect rarities but out of a quest for knowledge and genuine passion for the sciences.

The philosopher Leibniz, who had entertained the idea of opening an academy of sciences in Vienna, a project which the prince was supportive of, but which eventually was abandoned, had personally dedicated a manuscript of his work outlining his philosophy of monadology, “Principes de la nature et de la grace fondés en raison” which the prince is known to have held in great esteem.

The prince had managed to put together a collection of 15000 printed works, 237 precious manuscripts, 290 volumes with etchings, and 250 cassettes with portraits in the years between 1712 and 1736. Of particular interest were books on natural history and geography. While his library “Bibliotheca Eugeniana”, prints and drawings were purchased by the Emperor Karl VI in 1737, from his heiress Princess Victoria of Savoy-Carignan -who had never met him and at once decided to sell everything- most of the artwork was bought by Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia.

On of the most spectacular features being the 15 original paintings on loan for this exhibition and back to Vienna for the first time since the prince’s death, there will also be busts, suits of armour, sabers and other arms, tents, drapery and more items illustrating his era.

An interesting aspect is the cultural exchange with the Habsburgs enemies of the times, the Ottomans, as seen in little items of the show and elaborated in the catalogue, like fashion fads “alla turcha” in Europe or baroque-inspired architecture in the Ottoman Empire.

The exhibition remains strictly in this age though, and there is no reference to contemporary views on politics, arts and history of reception of the era.

This podcast was realised with the kind support of UNIQUA ArtCercles. The exhibiton can be seen till the 6th of June 2010 at the Orangerie and Lower Belvedere.

The fact that we carefully inspect the food that we consume is potentially relevant to culture. A civilized person does not simply eat, she dines, provided that she can give significance to the appearance of what she consumes. A meal is prepared in such a way that the colors are preserved: it is decorated and then covered up, then the lid comes off, and voila!—it is presented and celebrated. A sensual feast for the eyes either increasingly whets our appetite, or, especially if the display appears too alive, or too obviously dead, invokes a sudden sense of nausea.

A meal that is visually prepared not only informs us of the quality of the food. This view is also far more accessible on a symbolic level than it would be, for example, through our noses or palates. Our view readily contributes something, it directs our attention to something, it attributes a quality to the food that it previously did not possess. When the food is prepared in a way that makes it visually enticing, then it is also likely that something additional to the food is being served, or brought in front of our eyes to see. Lamb, rabbit, wine, salt, bread: these subjects are obviously not only about meals and consumption. The accessibility of the view to symbolic and narrative aspects of, and not only just to, the object, is also reflected in artistic representations of food, especially in the form of still lifes.

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A pheasant on a small wood inlay table next to a lobster, surrounded by silver bowls full of fresh citrus fruits: potentially edible items are shown here, but it’s probably more about the representation of wealth. For a long time, the representation of edible items was embedded into a religious context and its iconography. As a result, the apple was not only thought of as being a russet, Grafensteiner, or Granny Smith, it also served as a reminder of temptation and its consequences for humanity.

Beautifully presented food arouses the desire to just reach out and grab it: these foods represent wealth, indulgence, and exclusivity—qualities which can also be found in the baroque vanitas still life. But that which looks fresh and fruity at first glance appears old, shriveled, and close to death and decay upon the second view. In the vanitas still life, those who indulge in this feast for the eyes are served their existential just desserts in the end. The ripe fruits are already at the peak of their beauty, but from this point on, they can only go downhill. Distrust of desire, which is fleeting and enticing, comes into the picture – a meal that is served as a reminder of perishability and death.

The representation of food in art does not always have a narrative. The concentration of the still life artists on that which formerly only served as decoration provided them the freedom in other representations to work on an emerging visual language, independent of symbolic statements and narratives. Onions on a sideboard, or a bunch of asparagus - the less meaning the object possessed, the less the artist and art had to serve as ambassadors for matters which had nothing to with painting.

In the presentation of food, the refusal of the artist to be mistreated as ambassadors of something which lies beyond art has been noted. However, the represented meal is more often an indication of the themes of the respective time: its religious messages, its morals, its inequalities. The meal that is presented artistically for the eye is a warning against imprudent assimilation, against thoughtless imbibing. Instead, it demands thoughtfulness and clearly expresses, or hides a criticism of, gender relations, the pursuit of wealth, a bias towards beauty.

Visual treats to be devoured with the eyes: such is the theme of the exhibition called “Augenschmaus: A Feast for the Eyes – Food in Still Life” at Bank Austria Kunstforum. On display are principal works from the representation of food from the sixteenth century to the present, works ranging from Arcimboldo, Aertsen, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Picasso, Braque, to Hirst, Lassnig, and others, gathered from over sixty lenders. The exhibition will run from February 10th to May 30th. In this episode, the expert commentary on Augenschmaus is provided by Heike Eipeldauer, the curator of the exhibition, as well as Christian Petz, one of the best and most awarded chefs in Austria.

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Esra Ersen is interested in the formation of identity and its transformation in different contexts or power structures. Her work “Carousel” shown in the exhibition tanzimat (Augarten Contemporary 21.1.2010 - 16.5.2010) was produced with high school students from Cologne. Ersen asked the students to model Turkish heads out of clay.

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Gulsun Karamustafa is a contemporary artist and film maker from Turkey. In 2009 she was the artist in residence at the Augarten Contemporary in Vienna. For the exhibition tanzimat (Augarten Contemporary 21.1.2010 - 16.5.2010) she produced a new piece entitled “modernity unveiled/interweaving histories”. In the interview with CYA Karamustafa talks about this piece.

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Franz Kapfer is an artist from Austria. His interest lies in patterns of representation.
In his work “Trophies” in exhibition tanzimat (Augarten Contemporary 21.1.2010 - 16.5.2010) he examines cliché representations of Turkish motives in Austrian architecture.

It is an interesting fact that the fez, the iconic Turkish hat that was originally instituted as a “modernizing” symbol for the Ottoman Empire in 1826, was later banned in Turkey in 1925, also as part of a “modernizing” reform. It is also interesting to note that after the invention of synthetic dyes, the main manufacturer of the fez—which up until that point had been colored with native berry juice—was located in Austria, that is, until it was boycotted by Turkey in 1908, as part of yet another reaction to modernization. The “history” of this simple, cliché-ridden object demonstrates the complexity of historical constructs not only of the Ottoman Empire, but within the grand narrative of modernity overall.

As shown through this minor but telling symbolic object, history is not a clear-cut dichotomy of oppositions between “East and West”, the oppressed and emancipated, “natives” and “outsiders”, or “modernized” and “un-modernized”. Instead, history is a series of intersections, clashes, meetings, and interruptions between elements coming from many different directions, a condition that requires us to always keep in mind the agenda, the perspective, the position of every historical narrative. In German, the same word, “Geschichte”, is used for two separate English terms, “story” and “history”—yet another indication that the “story”, the constructed, fictional element, can never be taken out of the “history”.

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In the exhibition, tanzimat, at the Augarten Contemporary, the conflicted symbol of the fez appears in the work, Carousel, by the Turkish artist, Esra Ersen, for which she recruited students at a high school in Cologne (from various backgrounds, including Turkish) to create clay models of Turkish heads, and the work, In the Eyes of a Mute, by the Romanian artist, Viktor Man, which juxtaposes a comic-like drawing of Turks he drew as a child against conceptual pieces addressing the same period in history. We also find these fez-donning depictions of Turks in the work, Trophies, by the Austrian artists, Franz Kapfer, which in this case, are not children’s portrayals, but rather reproductions of trophies that are still displayed in the Spanish Riding School today.

The exhibition, tanzimat, is named for a period of reformation in the Ottoman Empire which occurred from 1839 to 1876, and was notable for its various efforts towards modernization, which included the enhancement of civil liberties and the establishment of technological, financial, and social reforms. The term is not capitalized for the title of the exhibition—as opposed to the term for the historical period—an indication that the original meaning of the word, “arrangement” or “rearrangement”, is even more significant to the exhibition than the historical period. Artists from various Middle European backgrounds, Turkish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek, and Austrian, were invited to challenge and confront this process of rearrangement within their own histories. Developed in parallel to the major Prince Eugen of Savoy exhibition at the Lower Belvedere, tanzimat examines the continual reorganization of historical constructs and devices that underscore the neverending project of modernity. (jn)

Since the beginning of 2008, Open Space, the Center for Art Projects, has been in full swing in the Vienna art world with its ambitious program. Open Space’s repertoire of exploring artistic variety and multilayeredness corresponds to its self-conception as an open space for international networking. Under the direction of Gulsen Bal, Open Space has realised a marathon of exhibitions with a density of international participation that is unusual for Vienna.

Last year the art space opened in Lassingleithnerplatz in Taborstreet with an exhibition curated by the Vienna-based artist, Fatih Aydogdu. Aydogdu, who artistically feels at home somewhere between the categories of installation, video, graphic art, and music, and who also had boundary experiences in his life as a geopolitically sensitized migrant, made the boundary signal the conceptual starting point of his interdiscplinary exhibition.

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Ten artists and artist collectives followed the request of the theme of the boundary signal. CastYourArt visited the exhibition at Open Space recording sounds as fields of experimentation and boundary signals beyond the act of speaking and music, as well as artistic positionings emerging from historically political moments in relation to current events. (wh/jn)

At a time when the economy has been taking a turn for the worse and funding for the arts has been cut all over the world, cultural sponsoring from the Austrian bank BAWAG PSK is thriving. They say that timing is everything, and the Viennese Jazz Club, Porgy & Bess, could not have asked for better timing when BAWAG PSK suddenly stepped up as their newest cultural sponsor. BAWAG PSK had been looking to change their image, and jazz as an art form fit the criteria for their own revamped identity perfectly: coming from a long tradition, but always innovative, creative, and contemporary.

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BAWAG PSK’s bold move paid off in more ways than one, their collaboration with Porgy & Bess—the largest external undertaking in the bank’s history—landed them the 2009 Maecenas Prize for Best Overall Concept/Large-Scale Enterprise in Art Sponsoring. Through their collaboration, they have not only modernized their image, they have improved and solidified their overall reputation among both their customers, employees, and the economic and cultural world at large.

BAWAG PSK takes a three-pronged approach to their sponsoring concept, covering culture, education, and charities, and all three fields have been combined within the Porgy & Bess enterprise. Through a collaboration between Porgy & Bess and the new Galerie “BAWAG Contemporary”, the artist Stephen Mathewson installed a commissioned work in the art space located in the foyer of the club. Jazz legend Carla Bley put on a benefit concert for the charitable organization, Wiener Tafel.

BAWAG PSK not only receives prizes, they grant them as well. In the field of education, a winner was announced for the Fidelio Competition at Porgy & Bess, in which one young musician is recognized among three hundred from the Konservatorium Wien University and then given the privilege of performing later at the music salon at the BAWAG PSK.

Taking chances, making informed choices, forging new paths—the concept for BAWAG PSK’s culture sponsoring strategy seems to keep one particular goal in mind, perhaps learned after many ups and downs: Keep your eyes on the prize and your investments will pay off in the end. (jn)

Violins are often only spoken about when they are stolen. However, before they can be stolen, they have to be built, and this is the aspect on which we focus in this podcast.

The “New Viennese Violins“ Association came about based on an idea from Christoph Schachner, to bring professional and amateur musicians closer to high-quality, newly manufactured instruments. These offer a better alternative to the mystified, often overestimated old instruments. “As a result of violins being treated like antiques, a myth has developed around them which is often incomprehensible. Hence, a new violin often costs only a quarter or fifth of what an old violin of similar quality costs“, says Nupi Jenner, a member of the association.

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The production of violins is a complex experience, a craft which involves an intuitive process. The knowledge required for the selection of the wood that is suitable for building stringed instruments developed over many generations. The cover is frequently made from spruce and the remaining parts from maple. It can be very difficult to find the right kind of spruce to build the instruments, even in a dense forest. For larger instruments, like the cello or double bass, willow and poplar trees are also used. The selection from a wood dealer who specializes in instrument-making is left up to the discretion of each instrument-maker.

In order to develop instruments of equal high quality, it is necessary to keep the parameters as consistent as possible. Nevertheless, in the end, each instrument has its own character. Achieving consistency in the production can be almost impossible, even when scientific procedures and computerized measuring techniques are utilized. Thus, the virtuosity of the violin craft always remains a bit mysterious.

Since objective assessments of a certain quality level are difficult to establish, the purchase depends very much on the personal approach of the musician, his/her sensitivity to tone, physical requirements, financial options, and the kind of advise and maintenance he/she expects from the violin-maker.

Once a year, those who would like to produce, play, and/or listen to the “New Viennese Violins“ gather at the Radio Kulturhaus in Vienna. In the context of instrument presentation, the partly newly-built stringed instruments of renowned musicians are played. There, one can directly encounter violin-makers, musicians, and experts involved with the new stringed instruments and become convinced of their sound quality in person.
(jk/jn).