Austria 2017

Erwin Wurm and Brigitte Kowanz present separate projects in the shared space of the Austria Pavilion, under the show title “Licht-Pavillon” (Light Pavilion).

Kowanz uses light to create not as a pictorial continuum but also as literature. She doesn’t just use light to expand the picture into the space; she also uses words to expand thinking space, using mirrors and poetic techniques to develop self-referential systems. Her conceptual and analytical methodology investigates the mechanisms of codes such as language and writing.

In Wurm works, sculpture and performance blend: he encourages the individual to participate in social action. Instead of passive consumption, you have to interact with art. All his works hint at a critical, analytical consideration of the concept of sculpture and its media: he straddles the boundaries between object and performance, architecture and design, sculpture and photography, artist and public, meaning that his work also provides a broad basis for reflection on social and cultural questions.