Bawag Contemporary, Vienna 01.04. - 03.05.2009, www.bawagcontemporary.at
The show is derived from a piece of land next to which I lived some years ago, the Aspanggründe, where the Eurogate has been planned in 2000 and now will be built over with a green housing/commerce/office complex. As I went on the site, I encountered a motive I already worked with in Geneva with Les Roncières – A housing project: Blackberry bushes. From this point on I got interested in the phenomenon of exclusion and codification of both the integrated and the neglected public space. A full text I wrote about the whole show and its context is available here as pdf.
Behind the wall, 3 "blind" vitrines were lighting, showing, or rather refusing to show and discussing the past, the present and the future planned for the Aspanggründe. Two vitrines were discussing the past history and the future plans, while the third one hosted a series of field recordings from my first exploration into the area.
The Bawag Contemporary is located in a former bank space, in front of a church that opened at the same time a dorm for homeless people who might also be summer residents of the Aspanggründe.
The name of the station of the regional train who runs between the city and the airport. Right above are the Aspanggründe, waiting to become the "bio center"...