Graz – Day Two
In between looking for sounds in the streets of Graz I have decided to have a closer look at Kunsthaus Graz; an extraordinary building designed by London architects Peter Cook and Colin Fournier, standing on the bank of river Mur. The oblong dark-blue structure juxtaposed against the read tile roofs enhances beautifully the skyline of the city.
“The aesthetic dialogue between the new biomorphic structure on the bank of the Mur and the old clock tower on Graz’s famous Schloßberg (Castle Hill) is the trade-mark of a city aiming to create a productive tension between tradition and avant-garde. In content as well as from an urbanistic point of view, the new Kunsthaus Graz acts as an interface between past and future” (http://www.museum-joanneum.at)
I was amazed to find out that there is a permanent sound piece installed on the outside walls of the building. The sound comes up 10 minutes to every hour from 8.50 am till 9.50 pm. It is an amazing haunting sound which gives a impression that the actual building resonates with humming noise. The sound piece entitled: “Time Piece Graz” was created by Max Neuhaus; a pioneer of artistic activities with sound art. The piece came to life as the building had been constructed in 2003 and it is a new addition existing time references in Graz. http://www.museum-joanneum.at/en/kunsthaus/time-piece-graz
The Kunsthaus building is equally interesting inside as well as outside, although I can imagine this very architecturally stimulating structure can sometimes compete with the artwork presented in the exhibition space. It certainly invites and challenges the curator and the artist to work with the inner structure of the gallery. Michael Kienzer “Logic and Self –Will”, presented in the Space01 certainly does play with the space context, blending the boundary between the exhibition space and his sculptures. “…he has integrated a large-scale sculpture that surveys and covers the room, where one could imagine the line of a drawing gone out of control or a billiard ball that has crashed into the room. The other related pieces, all sculptures made over the past few years, were adapted to fit into the new circumstances of the presentation. The sculpture goes beyond the usual formats of what can be visually grasped and shows a level of relativity with respect to viewer perspectives”” (http://www.museum-joanneum.at)
Sofie Thorsen’s work was presented in the exhibition Space02. Thorsen’s work investigates how we perceive architectural places when we see them for the first time? She is interested in spaces where the stories of past and present are connected within the identity and representation of the place.
It is a shame I had a very short time to spend in both of the exhibitions.
