lost in translation

A site specific permanent installation of artworks in a university building in Lower Austria, the "Universitäts- und Forschungszentrum Tulln", that opened in 2011.

The work is focused on the two main themes of the building. One is the cooperation between the "Austrian Institute of Technology" and the "University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna". Working together since many years, the two institutions now share their scientific infrastructure in one building. The teamwork was the main inspiration for the large format painting job ladder and the take-away-sculpture. Another key aspect is the environmental issue of the research center and the methodology of science, its investigation and study. This is shown in a large-format ink drawing with watercolor.

The drawing job ladder is hung opposite a panorama elevator with glass fronts. Its 10.5 meters length spread over three floors and can only be fully seen in its details while using the elevator. The passive movement of the spectator's body corresponds with the vertical movement of this drawing and raises questions about one's own position in the hierarchical system. The organical forms of the bodies face the geometric pattern of the bricks and create an action, seen while moving up and down.

The bricks in the hands of the the painting's figures can be found modeled into the take-away-sculpture, consisting of 400 single ceramic parts. The bricks are numbered and signed (ed. 400 + 10 AP), made of ceramics with black glaze, stapled on a solid wooden pallet. All the people working in the research center got a letter press printed certificate, which allowed them to take away one part of the sculpture. The public installation will disappear and the object spreads over the whole building in a form of privatization. In the more intimate atmosphere of an office or laboratory it remains there in its single parts which recall the idea of collaboration.

The drawing lost in translation bears in its center the figure of a painter or scientist, looking over his shoulder we see him interpreting the black and white lines of a natural background into a watercolor drawing, like creating something new on the basis of an existing citation. On the left side the renewable primary products are fondly taken care of, while on the right side the raw harvesting process can be seen. All together the equilibrium of the scenes lies in the translation and abstraction process on the easel and the ongoing process of interpretation, balancing the composition in every moment. A sketch explains the removal procedure of the sculpture and remains in the lobby after the sculpture has disappeared.