Galerie im Taxispalais

THE WORLD AS A BACKDROP

with Emanuel Danesch / David Rych, Judith Fegerl, Christoph Hinterhuber, Siggi Hofer, Sonia Leimer, Werner Reiterer, Gregor Sailer, Sofie Thorsen, Jun Yang

Thematically and spatially, the exhibition The World as a Backdrop traces the positions of nine different artists living in Austria and so investigates the increasingly staged, emblematic quality of our real environment.

As a result of mass media such as mobile telephones, Internet, show-facades or advertising décor, we perceive the reality around us more and more as a space defined by the media; as a permanent experiential and artistic sphere designed and developed for cultural performances like sporting and cultural events, tourism or the evolution of social identities. Landscape and architecture are interpreted as signs and – supplemented by factors such as language, music or social interaction – used as the basis for the generation of identity. Landscape and the city become a theme park capable of being transferred into different contexts and always appearing authentic, since it is a mixture of shifted or manipulated reality and invention from the outset. The subject him- or herself becomes an actor on the stage of everyday life.

In different media like sculpture, spatial and light installation, video, photography and interactive works, the artists participating in this exhibition examine the range of mechanisms and visibility fields which turn the world into a backdrop for productions and performances of the everyday. The works, some of which have been conceived specifically for the venue, pursue different emphases such as the debate with illusionary cinematic techniques, investigation into optical or acoustic perceptual patterns, and cultural design processes that adopt media processes such as montage, symbolisation and shifts in meaning.

An exhibition catalogue will be published, including illustrations and essay contributions by Julia Brennacher, Beate Ermacora, Christina Nägele and Jürgen Tabor.