IMAGES

2016

SKULPTURENPARK WESTAUTOBAHN (Western Motorway Sculpture Park)

 

In Summer 2016 a sculpture park was created at the Linz interchange, the junction of the A1 and A7 motorways. Almost unnoticed by the world outside, eleven artists installed projects on this quasi-insular expanse. The odd atmosphere and the characteristics of this isolated patch of land provided the impulse for the artworks and at the same time determined the working conditions. The Western Motorway Sculpture Park constitutes an attempt to question space utilisation concepts, to exploit the specific qualities of the site and to recast a non-place as exhibition venue.

 

The current outlook of this area dates back to 1964. It is entirely surrounded by traffic lanes and moreover encircled by high noise barriers. There exists no public access to the site, nor is it possible to obtain a glimpse of its interior. Despite its seemingly convenient location, the sculpture park therefore remains inaccessible to visitors. Its vegetation has been allowed to run wild since the area is largely left to itself, without human intervention.

 

The implementation of the projects was strongly impacted by the near-inaccessibility of the site as well as by the necessity of setting up the various artworks as unobtrusively as possible. The projects for the Western Motorway Sculpture Park refer to the area either formally or through their subject-matter. The special fascination of the venture as such lies in the very knowledge that it is impossible to visit this exhibition in a no-man’s-land.

 

Concept development and organisation: Eginhartz Kanter / Rainer Noebauer-Kammerer

 

 

OPEN

Installation in public Space | Flourescent letters in treetop

metal grid with LED stripes, 60 x 130cm, steel construction, solar panel, control box with timer

C-Print, 66,5 x 100 cm

 

An illuminated sign with the text "OPEN" protrudes beyond the treetops of the traffic island. In the midst of the surrounding highway lanes, the project becomes a sign for the Sculpture Park. Formally, it picks up on the neon signs of truck stops and commercial zones, which are visible along highways. This sign marks an island, isolated by noise barriers and traffic arteries, as a supposedly accessible place and raises questions about the limits of the public space. The insular character of the place is once again highlighted by the "OPEN sign". Realized as a solar-powered installation, the light sign is visible from a nearby bridge.

 

Special thanks to: Aurel von Arx, Fabian Erblehner, Eginhartz Kanter, Julia Kirchstetter.