"As if he could guess my thoughts, he suddenly looks at me and smiles in a really sardonic and scornful way. He sometimes has a horrific appearance, as if he had mysterious, supernatural powers. I start thinking if he would hide that kind of powers to me and the answer is evidently YES. I say to myself ‘Walter, you are a bastard', and smile back at him scornfully.
The beer tastes delicious because it isn't too cold, and from the bottle emerges that slight and comforting smell-of-homeland-is-just-around-the-corner".
Denis Mikan, "Das Licht bleibt draußen", in Zum Glück gibt's Österreich [Young Austrian literature] Berlin, Ed. Gustav Ernst & Karin Fleischhanderl, 2003
It is not easy to define the factors determining the feeling of attachment to the mother country referred in Denis Mikan's story Das Licht bleibt draußen [The light remains outside]. As a direct reason, Mikan mentions the bottles of beer produced in a local brewery. But this beer could be bought elsewhere. Is it then that place we call our hometown, or maybe our everyday pub? The scene takes place on a warm summer Sunday in Vienna, in the inside of Café Europa in Zollergasse Street, close to West Train Station and the busy commercial district of Mariahilfer Straße. Or maybe are the people involved those who create the feeling of being at home? Is it the first-person narrator or his friend Walter? Is it a social, friendly relationship? A relationship of smiles, suspicion, distrust, or insults that, particularly in Vienna, are said at other people's back? Familiarity? Shared experiences? There is only one thing to be sure of: the feeling that "the mother country is around the corner" has been triggered both by the locally brewed beer and the sight of Walter.
In order to get one or more answers, we must analyse contemporary art using photography as a medium. Photography, the focus of this exhibition, is generally considered as the closest medium to reality, but the approaches are as different as the materials used (...). As far as possible, fourteen artists have presented different views on the country through their artworks, not only on Vienna, but also on the different federate states, people, landscapes, buildings and objects.
As for the Austrian subject matter, it must be emphasised that the only famous picture of the country present at this exhibition, the Hohen fortress in Salzburg, would not have been possible if it had not been for Lois Renner's methodical refraction and, therefore, is reproduced in an indirect way. Nowadays, artists seem to avoid "postcard-like" pictures. The way in which Renner uses an image of this kind -that is, a castle that was already a popular motif among romantic landscape painters- makes clear his position as an artist and helps him immerse himself in the world of painting by means of photography. As for "Austria" as subject matter, the other artists focus on everyday life and Austrian people, unfamous places or the artistic milieu. This is, therefore, the environment that surrounds them every day. When the main characters are politicians or people from the high society, they are interpreted making use of the mass-media, as in Elke Krystufek's work. This is how recent art takes place outside the borders of fame. This distance allows Helmut Kandl to comment on current politics, or Norbert Becwar, among others, to talk about Austria's past.
The motifs depicted by two of the fourteen exhibited artists -Muntean/Rosenblum and Eva Schlegel- are not directly attachable to Austria, so as to approach the feasibility of exchanging people and places, synonym of the idea of social globalization. On the contrary, and despite their international approach, there is a reflection of the mother country in the images used by the rest of the artists, even if it is only upon second glance that we realize, as in Erwin Wurm's series Brothers & Sisters.
If we grant the idea of the existence of real Austrian art and art history, we may classify this tradition into two trends that even today are influential: on the one hand, the dialogue with Actionism, reflected in the consideration of images as performative actions, and in connection with them, the focus on the body, including the naked body, as in Elke Krystufek's famous work. On the other hand, Friedl Kubelka's and Norbert Becwar's interest in psychology, following Sigmund Freud's ideas.
[Back to the introductory text] I did not mention that neither Walter nor Denis were born in Austria. One of Walter's parents is Russian and Denis comes from former Yugoslavia. Immigration from these countries is very common in Vienna -Peter Dressler was born in Romania. However, one wonders if the feeling of Austria as a mother country can be authentic in somebody who was born abroad. At least, this could partly explain the expression "a smell of homeland is just around the corner".
But we must still answer to one question: what does homeland and its culture mean? Ancient art classifies art history according to artistic landscapes usually referring to regions. The attachment to one of them is justified not only by the motifs and the forms of representation, but also by the composition, colour and stylistic links to the local art history. This classification is based upon contents, as well as aesthetic and scientific criteria. However, this is also why twelve out of fourteen of the exhibited artists may be attached to Austria. Contrary to the idea emerged as a result of globalization that considers the world as a "global village" and the Earth as a melting pot of different cultures, what this exhibition demonstrates is that the land itself has a decisive influence. Nowadays, it is possible to use appropriately the old concept of cultural landscape: culture develops and evolves through the inspiration we draw from our travels or the incentives of immigration. All in all, we may conclude that today's Austrian cultural mix represents a cultural landscape with a personality of its own.
