Found, the “Czernowitzer Austria“

As reported by Dr. Sergij Osatschuk from Czernowitz, on 8^th May 2003, during construction work in the courtyard of the former state and trade museum located on the corner of Liliengasse and Mickiewiczgasse, the torso of the Austria Statue was unearthed, which, until the end of the first world war, has stood on Austria square before disappearing.

This statue, erected in 1875 as part of the centennial celebrations of the occupation of Bukovina by Austria, from a design by Prof. Karl Pekary, was found missing its’ head, but otherwise in good shape. An immediately assembled committee of historians and magistrates now have to decide about “Austria’s” further fate.

Helmut Kusdat, Vienna 2003

A Torso raises questions about the function, effect and reception of political symbols

In effect, everything began in 2003, when we received a short message noting that the Czernowitzer “Austria” had been found without its’ head or arms, but otherwise in good shape. We found this subject very interesting, especially in light of our long lasting activities in central- and Eastern Europe, however set our ideas and thoughts on this subject aside, mainly because apparently no one could provide us with specific details regarding the “Austria”, and the encyclopaedias on Austrian symbols, that we consulted, all gave the answer: “Austria – see football club Vienna Austria”

During the course of the Orange revolution in Dec. 2004 we picked up our train of thought again, since, in our opinion, during such times of significant political changes, positive signs from outside are absolutely necessary. Talks regarding the opening of the Ukraine in the direction of Europe are important and helpful, however, these talks are usually held in nicely refurbished locations, far away from the people they concern and far away from the people whom we want to get in touch with.

The Project itself is about political symbols, signs and metaphors and how we deal with them. We see the “Austria” statue as the basis for an artistic debate on this subject. We found the statue interesting, because it was once a symbol for (national) identity and power that simply disappeared after 1918. Thus it also begs the question, for example, what actually remains of the powerful installation and system, when its’ symbol disappears?

So we took the “Austria’s” allegory as an example for political symbols in public spaces in general, and invited eleven artists from five different countries to each interpret a full-scale torso of the “Austria” (in the shape of a plaster-cast) based on these ideas: What is meaning of belonging and identity? How is identity constructed? Can identity be provided through symbols? Which symbols have a future?

The project lasted 5 years and consisted not only out of exhibitions, but also a multitude of other events, such as readings, lectures and discussions, clubbings, book-presentations, etc… The emphasis of each event was always on how we deal with political symbols in every day life.

The new works of art were presented as an artistically symbolic gesture to the republic of Ukraine represented by the Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, as part of an exhibition in Chernivtsi

We would like to thank all of our friends, partners, sponsors and the many people not personally mentioned in the catalogue provided, who, over the years, have worked on this project and even helped us carry it! – Statues can be quite heavy sometimes! We would especially like to thank our artists and curators, who put a lot of emotional dedication into this project.

Institute for culture-resistant goods: Barbara Zeidler + Abbé j. Libansky

Austria project.

Our concept deals with two aspects with which every political (more or less relevant) sculpture is being confronted when for various reasons it has been removed from the spot where it originally was placed. Already immediately after its removal the sculpture finds itself in a precarious ‘existential’ situation. It can be destroyed, or it ‘survives’ its definite destruction for various reasons in a hiding place – buried in the ground or taken to a hidden place that is only know toa small group of selected individuals (and that often only for the duration of their lifetimes). The first aspect that inspired us here is the discovery of the sculpture – respectivly its torso – in relation to the problems that a return from oblivion to the reality of the present brings in its wake. The desire to present something, to place it and to take part in it has changed since. Mostly there is no space for the re-errection of the sculpture. But despite that finally a location is found and may it only be provisional. Often a single civil servant fights rather cluelessly for this until a solution is found. Our project consists of two parts that deal with sculptural substance of the torso phenomenon. The first part refers to the issue of unsuitable placement of sculpture, the situation when an object is hidden, put aside for many different reasons- political or even banal. We plan to work with the untouched plaster torso, searching for the most unsuitable place in each exhibition space and placing the sculpture in there. This activity is meant as something between performance and installation. It will be happening under certain architectural conditions, special for each show. The other part of the project also works with the torso, but in another way. We made a small scale (20 cm) model of plastics, multiple, a souvenir for sale. Our intention is to produce about 10 pieces of multiple for each show and offer them on a visible place, ideal would be a ticket seller table with catalogues and stuff like that, usually available in a gallery. We can discuss all details about selling later. We originally intended to use a vibrating mechanism for large plaster torso, but then we decided to divide the project in two parts, emphasize difference in scale, in visual and also ‘haptic’ perception of the Austria sculpture. Dealing with monumental sculpture, for us, 2 aspects seem to be most important: The placement/position in space, and a scale- measure. Well, the most important is always the topic-subject of imagery – of course. But now, in the Austria project, this isn’t the point for us, because we were given this sculpture, better said its torso. So we focused purely on sculptural questions mentioned above, but thinking intensively of many political monuments in Bratislava and Slovakia in general, with the same destiny as the ‘Austria’.

Matej Gavula, Milan Tittel ( xyz), Bratislava, April 2006

Austria (Europe) has lost it’s head

The title itself and the project idea are a broad field that offers many possibilities for selfreflection and general considerations about the past, present and future. Art teaches, motivates action and enlightens even if in the beginning it may incomprehensible. In particular the complexity of ‘understanding’ stimulates curiosity and innovative thinking. It may lead to trust and tolerance. By proudly exchanging the most valuable and peculiar in our cultures we can get closer to each other. This is especially true when the confrontation takes place in the public domain, when:’…the for our time relevant confrontation between Islam and the secular western society which in its roots relates back to Christianity and even further to Judaism…’ is being dealt with by artists, writers, illustrators, translators and theatre people. The modern western society is unacceptable for some muslims. They demand a special status when they insist on special attention towards their religious feelings. This is not compatible with western democracy and the freedom of selfexpression. I am firmly convinced that art as a non-elitist form of exchange of rare as well as general information represents a colossally peace inspiring force which hopefully leads to a broader understanding amongst us for the benefit of all. For the realization of my project I chose the richly traditional rite named ‘Malanka’ from the Christmas/New Year period which is rooted deeply in the past but was interrupted for years by the communist regime. On the Soborna Square in Czernowitz on the spot where once the ‘Austria’ stood every year around Christmas a carnival takes place in the independent Ukraine. This event provided the impulse for the realization of my project. Using elements of the performing arts, game playing and entertainment, through sacred rituals, representations of humans, animals and even occurrences in nature in gestures and language in order to reflect the ‘Seen and Sensed’ – this is within all societies on all stages of their development. In the Ukraine (Bucovina, Galicia) theatrical elements in folk rites and games that are based on songs and dances are know since ancient times. When people in costumes during carnival and in satirical forms of expression represent values and norms of the public morale these rites also execute ‘educational functions. I wish – in a postmodernist form – to integrate the Austria sculpture as a full member of the theatrical performance of the ‘Malanka’ and motivate an atmosphere of general celebration in the hope that Europe finds ‘its head’ which it once lost.

Tutelman Bronislav, Czernowitz, April 2006

Soap opera

What, wherefore, why

Delighted I look at the delivered sculpture: ‘antique’, an original antique. Such a thing is usually recovered near my home from the bottom of the Black Sea. Only this here – that is plaster, isn’t it? One of ten plaster copies. The one who once in sweet abandon stood on the Angora appeared 1875 as a faraway echo in the form of the Austria on the Austrian square in Czernowitz. Created by a certain Karl(o) Peckary, not quite a Pheidias, but at least in marble. The subsequent echo – 10 plaster casts from 2005. The echo of echos, the copy of the copy. The creator is not named, pure technology. ‘Bodylessness’ of the antique prototype – marble 1875 – plaster. Pheidias – Peckary – Copy production technology. I arrive at a merciless decision: my copy of the copy (plaster 2005) of the copy (marble 1875) I will make out of …soap. I create the form and make its impression/copy from soap. What is the fate of all Athenas, Aphrodites, Austrias today? They are turned into brands. To some cosmetics soap. For better marketing. ‘Bodylessness’ – marble – plaster – soap – Pheidias – Peckary – technology of copying – following that logic I cook and form the soap myself. There will be a lot of soap – as it is ultimately a commodity. I exhibit it in shops on shelves that are mounted on a white wall. What is the fate of soap? It is washed away. Onto the soap, the white wall, on the Austria standing beside it I pour streams of water (video). The waters of time. I have not discovered or invented this. It has been around since those Greeks, since Heraklit&Company. And to this plays, of course – Mozart. In the concentration camps where the Jews (actually the main inhabitants of Austro-Hungary) were turned into soap, Mozart sounded from the speakers. I am an artist from Lemberg. Therefore a more subtle appreciation points at Mozart’s son. He composed for 30 years in our ‘Palestine’ He also isn’t the father. Only his/an echo. And here you say: Austro-Hungary Culture decays to soap! When it’s all soaped down maybe something new and pure will appear.

Anna Sidorenko, Lemberg, April 2006

Monument of No Erase

A monument to the impossibility of disposal

The classical sculpturing is one of the most costly artforms that is maybe only topped by land-art or Hollywood. Basically it is so expensive because its nature is in permanence. As our long lasting materials are costly only the Power can finace itself the luxury to errect the monument of its selfdepiction. When a sculpture placed in a public space has to signify a particular location or event the obsession of the Power with its selfrepresentation will through a particular social context be charged by means of the symbolic significance of the monument. A monument outlives itself and its context physically when the ruling ideology changes. When a political turnaround occurs then the reference points connected to the past are rearranged and put that which for some reason was intended as eternal into motion. In the best case scenario monuments are remodelled but without the original context they only remain standing, and sometimes sitting human figures. In other cases they begin to move, they are being relocated, in certain situations they are taken to museums. In the worst case the once from valuable and lasting materials produced works end on the rubbish heap. How is it possible to turn a symbol that has lost its meaning – that has almost expired and was degraded to rubbish – into a new symbol? The gigantic monument of the ‘Empires Muse’ transforms into the monument of an incidental irrelevance. From the Austria monument – a macro symbol – once symbolizing the Empire comes now the monument of a micro event in which two worthless products meet: the secration (juice?) the result of healthy bowel functions – the organic waste – and the cigarette butt – as prime example for the anorganic waste of civilization. The recycled Austria stands ready for the next loss of context.

Sugar Janos

Budapest, March 2006

In fact I was tired of all identity discourses when Barbara and Abbe first visited me in Budapest. I am currently searching for new ways to exchange these questions (that for years we called ‘identity problem’) finally for something else in art. In a certain sense I have for years exploited my identity and through that my private life in order to create art. Having been raised in Germany of half Syrian, half Hungarian descent the multiplicity of my national identities and conflicts seemed to be a great basis for my art projects that could contribute to the public political debate. Whether in projects that dealt with personal and immediate fears and depressions triggered by the war in the Near East or exhibitions where the east-west conflict in Europe after the fall of the Wall was analysed – always the responsibility was present to express oneself artistically linguistically precise and radical just as those officially responsible do (in their own ways). With the Austria project I first thought: No, not another project where ‘political correctness’ is demonstrated, social injustice made transparent or even be counterbalanced through art (the last mentioned is an especially strange strategy of many political and radical-activist project of recent times). At first I only agreed because I was broke and my daughter had promised to complete the sculpture instead of me. But during recent month the ‘Czernowitzer Austria’ has become one of my favourite projects. Also the engagement of Janos Sugar has infected me as he showed in a very individual way his obsession when he told us about his draft drawings for his Austria and found this place in Hungary. And naturally Barbara and Abbe have contributed by travelling time and again to Budapest to talk to my daughter without being scared off by various problems like my suspicions and a certain heavy handed approach. My daughter Anna and I will create the Austria sculpture together. Anna is 12 years old, likes to draw many Mangas and loves trips to Vienna. The curators and also Anna be assured that the portion of ‘Childlabour’ will not be overdone and that the political-critical aspect shall not be exchanged for the image of a ‘perfect world’. Rather Anna helps me to incorporate playful elements into the art. The knowledge about the problems of extreme social discrepancies between Czernowitz, Vienna and Budapest as well as the postcolonial structures of arrogance can never be denied. At the same time the potential of art and music can be used not to think in categories – in order to place a postcolonial inquisitor with the impossible name ‘Austria’ and her stiff white body in a huge Music-Café like the Tüzraktar, to buy beautiful red-white buttons for her hairdress and enrich it all with Annas slightly japanese imagery…

Roza El-Hassan + Anna Csörgö

Budapest, April 2006

Following WorldNet Dictionary

ALLEGORY is an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances Yes, but what does the Miss of a wet t-shirt represent? Is she again a symbol of fertility? These days an allegory of Austria may offend somebody’s feelings, because if the “Austria sculpture” shows up in a public space today it could be seen as a pornographic sculpture?! Any sculpture as a national symbol has the power of representation. For political reasons nations are producing their allegories which are turning into national puppets.[It also reminds me of national puppets for big sport events]. The sculpture is a kind of display stand, advertising Austria. The symbol of Galicia’s power was a cultural development. High culture and interest in art comes last in society. Somehow it means that the society is “full” of all other things necessary to live. In undeveloped society’s we can search just for folk art or handicrafts. PUBLIC SPACE The proof for the number of cultural events shows up in a public space. Posters- advertisement of culture is pinned to the different kind of board. They are shown as light boxes, on bus stands. In Kraków special columns are used for sticking posters. am planning to turn the “Austria allegory” into one of these columns for posters. I am going to stick layers and layers of posters on the sculpture, to let the sculpture turn into a stand. In every city of past Galicia the sculpture-stand will later go on exhibition, It should be placed close to the gallery in a public space, and it should be used for sticking posters reminding the public of cultural events.

Kowalska Karolina

Krakow, December 2005

My starting point for the project was:

1. I’ve dealt with the idea of ‘nation’ in some of my previous pieces and it has been something I’ve been thinking about quite often although mostly in negtive terms. ‘Nation’ as an idea that politicians use to create hatred and control people. That notion can be traced back to 19th century when the idea of ‘Nation’ as we know it know first appeared. So basically a Nation is something definitely negative for me. It also translates into my personal experience – I’m not really tied to Poland. I could live (and think of) in a completely different, cosmopolitan environment. After living in London for half a year the only thing I missed (not counting my parents and friends) was polish food, and that’s probably the only positive thing I can think of when it comes to terms connected with the idea of nation. I think that for example that the feeling of being proud of Poland’s achievement etc. is very dangerous and definitely something politicians want to create to control us (i.e. die for your country, work for your country etc). You should identify with your neighbourhood, with your friends, with your ideological position, etc but never with something as big and political as a nation. That’s my first point -probably the most important one. Most of the early ideas about the sculpture involved destroying it in various ways. I knew that my answer deals with this subject in general without going into other details of the project’s background (Ukraine, Austro – Hungary, etc).

2. I come from a conservative family with a strong nostalgia for Austria-Hungary era (my grand-grand father was a high official in the Austro-Hungarian administration of Galicia). As at some point I rejected my family values quite radically I didn’t want to comment on this part of the background (Austro-Hungary as a mythology, small homelands etc as my point in this theme is very negatively biased.

3. I’m not a historian nor do I think history is important. It should be (and probably is for some time) a function of the present, not opposite. So I didn’t want to make any historically relevant statements and comments in my project. I wanted to concentrate on the present – what a nation is now, or how it changed since the sculpture was created. I attended a very interesting and inspiring lecture by Albrecht Göschel (a German ‘urbanist’) recently. The main theme of the lecture was a description of different strategies cities use to compete against each other. Most of the strategies involved creating a distinctive , coherent identity , even if it was not really based on real facts – there are of course different strategies of creating those identities (historic traditional city , future city ,dynamic alternative conomical models city etc.) . It turned out that cities that openly used that strategy were much more successful in bringing in new dynamic inhabitants. That obviously can be applied to nations too. We can see nation’s advertisements on CNN and on the streets. Most of them address tourism, but that’s not the only point. Nations see each other as brands in these times. Creating a cool brand out of a nation is essential for its success in the global competition. So my projects ironically comments on these aspects – nations tend to become cooler in their media image – exactly as Nike trainers or luxury cars. Of course it’s a mass spectacle most of the times and there is no place for any sophistication. My project will involve plastic surgery of the sculpture – trying to get its shape as close as possible to a new simulated woman beauty canon – Lara Croft.

Simon Janek

Krakow, April 2006

A Video Intervention and Interaction with “Austria”

The projection surface is an allegorical female figure, a copy of a monument symbolizing “Austria” which was first erected on the main plaza of the capital of an occupied nation on the centennial of the date of occupation. Projections are performed from several angles, using diverse levels and orientations. The major axis of projection originates in the headless figure’s interior and is cast on the ceiling or on an overheadpanel, from below to aloft. Projected are men’s headspersonifying power, replacing the monument’s missing head. These heads essay to replace the lost original, and in the arbitrariness of their selection demonstrate the exchangeability of ruling powers and symbols. By means of “morphing” (uniform transmutation of a given source-portrayal into a whollydifferent target-portrayal), the heads metamorphose almost imperceptibly and glide smoothly into one another. Placing the heads of males above the female body is intended to illustrate roleplaying and positions of power; this basic premise defines the entire multilayered project. This theme occurs repeatedly, an allusion to the discrepancy between the sexes in the way society apportions those positions of power. So in a second video a woman’s bared breasts are projected on the scantily-clad breasts of the figure, and in another, a female hand occupied in housewifely activity— cutting food, for example—replaces the figure’s missing left hand. A fourth video projection The Birth of Austria on the lower section of the “Austria” figure is of course also a distaff theme. An Interaction should involve the viewing public in the pregnant symbolism of the happening. Each observer is invited to kneel down in front of the “Austria” figure upon a red-white-red cushion which bears the multilingual imprint “Please Kneel Here,” and by doing so the following reaction occurs: within a red and white police barrier-grid a small Austria-effigy on  tion occurs: within a red and white police barrier-grid a small Austria-effigy on wheels moves in a circular path to the melody of the Danube Waltz. The liberty to choose or to abstain from this interaction with the Austria-effigy is open to everyone, and coincides in duration with the kneeling stance. Taking part in the event as an outsider makes it possible for the (presumptive) participant to symbolically intervene in a closed political system. Intrusive engagements are limited and the sequence of motions is preset, although at any time the gyration of the effigy can be started and stopped by the act of kneeling or rising. A surveillance camera simultaneously views the one who is kneeling, and shows him or her on a monitor screen. The monitor can be situated in another room if space permits, or alternatively located in the same room in such a way that those kneeling do not immediately see and recognize it as a surveillance

Huber Bernadette

Steyr, December 2006

They can be seen everywhere – the symbols of the Power or the system, symbols of wealth or the persons-cult or simply just symbols of vanity. Are they at all in our awarenes? Does one have to explain symbols or are they making themselves transparent? What are they symbolizing: for whom, for how long? And especially – what happens when they eventually disappear? Can symbols only be dissolvedby symbols? Is resistance against symbols a symbolic resistance?

When the physical symbols disappear disappears also the ideology, disappears the system, is the national identity or historical continuity broken – what disappears, what remains? And what remains after 100 or 1000 years?

Libansky Abbé

Vienna, December 2005

Installation:

The empty cast of the Czernowitzer Austria stands in the space. A mighty construction – once symbol for a powerful monarchy. Monumental, heavy and complex. Plaster, metal, wood and stone. Destroyed, dusty and corroded. And empty.What the content was you must now. Or sense. Or interpret your own into it.