VIENNA’SARTGROUND

1. EDITORIAL

Dear fellow U-Bahn users, look around you: even during your more hectic day, when the next visit to one of Vienna’s finest museums looks uncertain, prominent Viennese and internation-al artists are there for you. Where? On the platforms, along the passages from one U-bahn line to the next, right before the exit of the stop of your destination!

This e-magazine is ambitious; it is more than a guide to the artworks implemented along the Viennese U-bahn lines; this is an open project, where both locals and tour-ists - in other words, all of us, the everyday u-bahn us-ers - engage in an ongoing dialogue about the aesthet-ics, the functionality, the importance and the role that the “U-Bahhn Kunst” play in our transportation experience.

2. Our GroupThe four of us are members of the 4 Cities 7nth cohort; while living and studying in Vienna we were asked by our professor Ramon Bauer to come up with a data-driven ur-ban narrative about the Austrian capital. We thought “why use already existing files of data, when data are out there

to be found?”.3. I.D.Data Gathering-Data Handling-Conceptualization -Visualization-Interview-Editing-Pic-turesdone by Ogul Buber, Artemis Fyssa, Birgitte Witt, Balint Horvath

The Challenge: Treating Artwork as Data (?) We then pretty much literally embarked upon a journey of documenting the artworks that are found within the metro stations; we cross-referenced them by the info pro-vided on the Wiener Linien website, however we soon discovered that this would not be enough: new pieces of art have been scattered along the u-bahn lines, while in the vicinity of the stations “real” street art has been emerging more and more of-ten, creating an interesting dialogue between the commissioned and the spontane-ous artistic expression. We managed to create 4 over-arching categories (Installation , Sculpture, Street Art and New or to this point Undocumented Pieces of Art), under which several sub-categories where placed: mural-installations, video-installations, photo-installations and so on. Some degree of over-lapping is to be expected, as art - no matter how much we tried to treat it as data - always remains a bit elusive.

Content-wiseIn this unique issue you can find the i.d. info of our team; you can read the inter-view that Johann Hödl gave to two of our group members, on a sunny Friday, the 19nth of June, 2015; then feel free to browse through each one of the artworks we have been able to track down - do you think there are some missing? Do you actually know more about the artist or the artwork itself? Even more, could you contribute either as an artist or as an art-lover to the next project that will be undertaken by the Wiener Linien? We cordially invite you to get on board and leave a comment or post a picture on the “Open Forum” section of our e-magazine and rest assure; your input will not go un-awarded: every month Wiener Linien shall reward the most in-sightful comment or the most original picture with a free weekly pass! Hop on, then!

4. Interview with Johann Hödl , Wiener Li-nien department manager

As part of our exploration of the art world of the Vienna Under-ground, we had the chance to conduct an interview with Wiener Li-nien department manager, Johann Hödl. A dynamic, humorous and remarkably up-to-date guy, he was more than happy to share his ex-periences and knowledge with us on the joys and difficulties of bring-ing contemporary art to the public through the channels of public transportation. The following is a brief summary of our talk with him.

First we wanted to know how the whole initiative was started and if it was influenced by examples from other cities. Professor Hödl explained us the historical development of the underground net-work from the time of the construction of the former Stadtbahn lines at the end of the 19th century up until the building of the actual, modern underground network since the late 1970s. He pointed out that in the past architects were closer to art than they are nowa-days as academic fields and professions became more fragmented.

Otto Wagner and his art nouveau style entrances and exits for the Karlsplatz Stadtbahn in 1899 came up as an example for an architectural piece interwoven with artistic elements. Opposed to this, the U1 metro line, which started operating in 1978 and which was the first modern line in Vienna, had narrow spaces unfit for giving room to artworks, and remained as it was functionally determined to be, a chain of metro stops.

Volkstheater finished in 1980, at the intersection of U2 and U3 on the other hand offered a spacious open and transparent surface, which seemed ideal for artworks to be displayed that could improve the everyday experience of passengers while also contributing to the image of Vienna as a global cultural capital. However, Wiener Linien consisted of technicians, lawyers and engineers who had no real professional connection to art. Therefore, in order to find the right artists and artworks and to choose locations that fit best, Wiener Linien formed a col-laboration with KÖR (Kunst in Öffentiches Raum Wien) and contacted local politicians. Hödl emphasized that the whole thing is an ongoing, step by step process, there is no big budget for it, it is rather done when opportunities arise.

Architects of the new metro stops were informed in their contracts that Wiener Linien might install artworks at the stop so there would be no room for objection from the architects, which sounds weird at first, but as professor Hödl explained it, for Otto Wagner there was no question about who is going to do the artworks at “his” metro stop, and Wiener Linien wanted to avoid such difficulties with architects.

Another challenge was to pick artist who could deal with the proportions offered by such large spaces as some of those at larger intersections of metro stops like Volkstheater and Karl-splatz. According to Hödl, “the bigger the better” in such places meaning that the art piece is easily noticeable and people can get a glimpse of it quickly instead of having to stop and carefully investigate a scene and spend much time marveling at the artwork, but this meant that artists had to switch scale from the seize of their studio so significantly larger scales.

On the other hand, art is not only about putting a piece of artwork in front of the audience but also about creating an atmosphere people pass through and that has an impact on them. Such is the work of Ernst Caramelle at Karlsplatz. The aim is to create a dialogue between architect and artist in order to ensure that the ambience of the place created by the architect is not broken by the artist(s) and the art-works are not just randomly put there with an attempt to full up every patch of empty space with artworks

Professor Hödl shed light on other issues they had to keep in mind. For example, if they set up something very spectacular and people would line up or gather around the piece, it could create mobility problems, which hold further security risks in case of emergency for example. Respect-ing religious, ethnic or other types of sensitive characteristics of identity is essential when using public space for art’s sake. Even the colors of football teams located close to a given metro stop where an artwork would be installed are taken into consideration in order to avoid the provoca-tion and confrontation with disappointed football fans going home after their team was defeated.

As for feedback and reactions from passengers, our interviewee indicated that there were no studies done on how people perceive the artworks until now. However, he highlighted that to his knowl-edge, no artwork has ever been vandalized or seriously damaged. Promotion and advertisement of the U-Bahn Kunst project is quite challenging according to professor Hödl. He argued that con-temporary art in Vienna does not have a great reputation and it is not as much appreciated and in demand by the public as classical and other music events or theater for example. This is further sup-ported by the fact that journalists also show little interest in writing on the Wiener Linien art pieces.

Regarding future plans, professor Hödl mentioned further sites that are considered to be added to the list of metro stops that already have artworks on their premises: the planned Altes Landgut and Troststrasse metro stop to be finished by 2016 as an extension of U1 and at the last stop of U2 at Seestadt. According to him, it is always easier to install artworks at new or relative new sites than at already finished, older metro stops as funding comes easier in case of the former and because they run into various administrative and bureaucratic organizational problems in case of the latter.

4. Artworks

In the following pages of our magazine, you will be able to browse through all the piec-es of art that have been implemented along the Viennese U-Bahn. We categorized the art pieces according to the u-bahn line on which each of them is placed. However, if you click on the tags on the bottom of the description text, you will be transferred on another part of our website, where the artworks are presented according to genre.

U1

Artist: Peter Kogler Title: U-Bahn Station KarlsplatzYear: 2012Medium: Wandinstallation Where: Karlsplatz, on the exit of U2 metro line. Is there additional info provided for it? Yes, a detailed explanatory text is placed on a plaque, next to the installation. Who is who? Peter Kogler was born in 1959; he lives and works in Vienna. He first gained attention on the international art scene in the 1980s.His work adopts an approach based on architecture, cinema and the new digital media, as well as the major art trends of Minimalism and Pop Art. Using the computer to create his motifs, Kogler reinvents the idea of the fresco and decorative wallpaper in a more global ar-chitectural perspective. It is in fact a profound blend of inspirations drawn from the corpo-ral and figurative domains that gives rise to the artist’s motifs, which are often quite clear in meaning and immediately recognizable, things like ants, pipes or the brain.Source: http://graduateinstitute.ch/home/about-us/campus-de-la-paix/works-of-art/peter-kogler.htmlLast visited on 20/06/2015Our perspective: This is quite an extended piece of artwork that feels like it follows around and along the escalators; the intertwined lines create a pattern that resembles some sort of connectivity. Tags: Wandinstallation Mural Installation Kogler Karlsplatz U-Bahn Kunst Pipes Lines

U2

Artist: SpetoTitle: 3 BrothersYear: 2014Genre: ‘Urban art’ – paint on concreteWhere: Between stations Krieau and StadionIs there additional info provided for it?Who is who? Spato is one of the most prominent Brazilian graffiti artists. Our perspective: Brazilian folk-art inspired walkway with motifs relating to nature, family and indigenous culture. One of the few commissioned artworks implemented outside the u-bahn lines. Another one is to be found on Taborstraße, on U2 u-bahn line. Tags: Street Art Urban Art Paint On Concrete Speto U-Bahn Kunst

U3

Artist: Kurt HofstetterTitle: Planet der Pendler mit den drei ZeitmondenYear: 1993Medium: VideoinstallationWhere: Landstaße, inside the ticketing area, directly on the platformIs there additional info provided for it? - Who is who? Kurt Hofstetter was born in 1959, in Linz. He lives and works in Vienna, focusing mostly on such artistic domains, as artistic domains: concepts, sound-, light-, computer-, video-, internet- and time sculptures, media installa-tions in public space, experimental art videos, music compositions, mathematical reflections - tilings and patterns. Source: http://hofstetterkurt.net/ Last visited on 20/06/2015Our perspective: The piece is the oldest piece of public computer/video art in Austria. It uses a fisheye camera that shows commuters entering the station, which looks like a planet. It re-produces the sounds of their footsteps and makes you think of the neverending movement within the station, like the orbit of a planet.Tags: Hofstetter Videoinstallation Landstaße U-Bahn Kunst

U4

Artist: Ken LumTitle: PiYear: 2006Medium: Permanente Medieninstallation Where: Karlsplatz; along the underground passage between the lines U1, U2,U4Is there additional info provided for it? Yes, a detailed explanatory text is placed on a plaque, next to the installation. Who is who? Ken Lum was born in 1956, in Vancouver, Canada. He works in a number of media including painting, sculpture and photography. His art ranges from conceptual in ori-entation to representational in character and is generally concerned with issues of identity in relation to the categories of language, portraiture and spatial politics.Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Lum Last visited on 20/06/2015 Our perspective: A series of mirrors counting numbers relevant to major historic events (like the days that have passed since the Tschernobyl nuclear accident), as well as rather every-day activities (like the number of schnitzels consummed in Vienna since January 1st, 2015). The importance of numbers - or the most data-driven piece of art, in the Viennese U-bahn at leastTags: Lum Permanente Medieninstallation Data & Art Karslplatz U-bahn Kunst

U6

Artist: Adolf FrohnerTitle: Ca. 55 Schritte durch Europa Year: 1993Medium: WandinstallationWhere: Westbanhof; along the underground passage from U6 to U3Is there additional info provided for it? Yes, a detailed explanatory text is placed on a plaque, next to the installation. Who is who? Adolf Frohner was an awarded Austrian painter, graphic artist and sculptor. (1934, Großinzersdorf, Niederösterreich - 2007,Wien). He co-signed, along with Hermann Nitsch and Otto Muehl, the manifesto of the Viennese Actionism movement, while he later served as a dean at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Our perspective: One of the first artworks that were ever implemented within one of the major u-bahn stations; a mixture of different textures and materials, alongside a few letters from the Greek alphabet, create a rather intriguing aesthetic result, depicting - probably - the European amalgam. Tags: Frohner Europa Wandinstallation Westbanhof U-bahn kunst

6. Open Space

This is an interactive e-magazine; do you think we ‘ve missed something im-portant?

How do you relate to the pieces of art that are scattered within the u-bahn stations?

Are there new artworks (formal ones or semi-formal ones) that you would like to see documented here?

Would you like to contribute as an artist?

You are more than welcome to leave your comment and/or post a picture below - and who knows?

Maybe you ‘ll be lucky enough and Wiener Linien decides to award you by giv-ing you an on-the-house 7 days pass.