Salzburg Art Projects Finale

0

|

1

The Salzburg Foundation is a private initiative devoted to art in the public space. Since 2002, a number of renowned international artists have realised outdoor projects: Anselm Kiefer (2002), Mario Merz (2003), Marina Abramovic (2004), Markus Lüpertz (2005), James Turrell (2006), Stephan Balkenhol (2007), Anthony Cragg (2008), Christian Boltanski (2009) and Jaume Plensa (2010) have developed works of art for the Salzburg Art Projects. As a tribute to the country hosting the Salzburg Art Project, three internationally acclaimed Austrian artists have been invited to contribute to the 10th and final project: Brigitte Kowanz, Manfred Wakolbinger and Erwin Wurm.

Brigitte Kowanz – „Beyond Recall“
Brigitte Kowanz (*1957) is famous for her light installations. In her project "Beyond Recall" on the Salzburg Staatsbrücke (or State Bridge), she has intervened judiciously and strikingly in the structure's architecture. On top of the bases of the four bridgeheads Kowanz has erected semi-transparent mirror-faced cubes containing letters of neon light. These illuminated characters between the mirrors are space-forming elements and information carriers. The space created is without boundaries. Interior and exterior space converge. A simultaneity of space and time, lettering, image and sculpture is generated and can be experienced on a sensuous level.

Neon inscriptions:

• beyond recall
• dedicated secret
• en vision
• In memory of the hundreds of prisoners of war and forced labourers, who were compelled to work on the construction of this bridge against their will from 1941 until 1945 and made great sacrifices.

Manfred Wakolbinger – „Connection“
Manfred Wakolbinger (*1952) is well-known for his organically curved objects, that seem lik creatures from another world. For his Salzburg Art Project Manfred Wakolbinger chose a site on the Rudolfskai, a quay between the old city wall and the River Salzach, which he conceives as a stage for his approximately 11-metre-long sculpture "Connection", which references the cultural self-identity of the city of Salzburg. This project is meant to express the realtionship between the inside and the outside, the human being and the city.

Erwin Wurm - „Gurken“ ("Cucumbers")
Erwin Wurm (*1954) is a mastermind of subtle and whimsical humor. With his hallmark wit and irony, the artist retraces social and civilizational developments and interrogates the conventional concept of sculpture. The essential point of reference in Erwin Wurm's oeuvre is the human body, in all its multifaceted individuality. He is fascinated by the multitude of forms - no object looks like another one. Just like cucumbers - each one is individual, each one looks differnt, but all of them are classifiable as being a cucumber. Just like men. And after all: Don't we all feel in a bit of a pickle sometimes?