Imagineering

Zusammenfassung

Konstruierte Bilder über Scheinöffentlichkeit In Meditations haltun, ganz in sich versunken, sitzt ein Mensch inmitten des Treibens einer Shopping Mall. Zwei Männer in Businessanzügen liefern sich und den unbeteiligten Passanten eine wilde Verfolgungsjagd kreuz und quer durch ein Einkaufszentrum, tauschen dabei immer wieder ihre Rollen. Im mit Zierfschen reichlich besetzten Kunstteich der Shopping City geht jemand baden, eine Frau forstet die Pfanzeninseln links und rechts der Rolltreppe auf.

Abstract

Constructed Images of an Illusory Public Sphere Amidst the hustle and bustle of a mall, a man sits meditating, completely immersed in his inner world. In front of innocent bystanders, men in business suits chase each other helter-skelter through the shopping center, constantly switching roles. Someone takes a dip in the shopping mall’s man-made pond, which is full of ornamental fish. A woman plants small trees on the green islands to the right and left of the escalator. In 2008 the artistic duo zweintopf (Eva and Gerhard Pichler), known for their subtle interventions in public space, was responsible for the Forum Stadtpark’sarchitecture program and invited a total of seventeen artists and artists’ groups to examine the concept, phenomenology and psychology of shopping centers in such commercial spaces. Many of the invited artists implemented their ideas in action-oriented interventions that took place in three Graz malls in July and August 2009. Afterward, a documentation of the results was displayed in the covered market on Lendplatz.