zweintopf

Stattegg is a municipality with 2,800 inhabitants situated to the north of Graz at the foot of the Schöckl mountain. The village square as the hub of the social structure of the place is framed by the municipal offices, an open chapel, a food and retail building, a multi-generation house, and a day nursery. A residential development with local shops is currently being built to the north. This reflects the wide range of modes of living together in society and the importance of public space.

The square is dissected by a country road. The aim of the local authorities is to overcome this dividing line by transforming it into a connecting line and to emphasise the understanding of community.

With their project …wo deine füße stehen, ist der mittelpunkt der welt… (where your feet stand is the centre of the world), that serves as an aesthetic link between the two divided areas and all spheres of life, the artist couple zweintopf, Eva Pichler and Gerhard Pichler, won the invited competition intended to resolve this problematic situation.

Classical questions concerning public space, for example what constitutes it, who uses it and in what form, occupy the artists along with structural change in society or the theme of the world as a commodity. Here again they have studied in depth the history, composition, fluctuation of the population, the stability and mobility of the municipality. Taking different architectures and their various uses into account, zweintopf keep their eyes on the overall situation of the square, in a 360 view, incorporating passers-by and users of the centre into their work.

In thirty-five aluminium boxes they installed mirrors of differing refractive arrangement at the same height and at irregular intervals on all buildings surrounding the square. The mirrors are covered with mouth-blown glass panels in the appropriate colour spectrum. Created not industrially, but specially for this unique application, they stand for the individuality and diversity of our society.

Where we usually find the words and logos of consumption, mirrors now reflect the colours on the square depending on the position of the sun. Without any mechanical intervention, the square becomes an immaterial, changeable and permanent part of the sculpture. Like a luminous shadow, the reflections creep along, striking people and following the seasons.

The colour circle with RGB transitions thus underscores a moving centre that is at the same time framed. Both playfully and scientifically/empirically, we can follow the changing course of the objectless media of colour and light. Time, transience and continuity are other themes that people can experience and witness here. With the aid of a special aesthetic, sociopolitical democratic positions such as variability, diversity, equality and individuality gain significance. Even without sunlight, the boxes – containing, as they do, all colours – possess countless opportunities for worlds of imagination and, in the sense of the title …where your feet stand is the centre of the world…, they invite us self-confidently to discover and develop ever new perspectives for flourishing life in society.



 

Supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas, as well as Hügel- & Schöcklland.