STOPs and STATIONs
Signalling
Sack sledges, textile sculptures, traffic signs, printed sandbags
The artistic process is a journey. Walking, travelling, waiting, stopping, turning round, starting again and repeating. The empty rooms in the railway stations are used as a workshop and exhibition space. You can now find an art(ist at) work there.
Who would think that artists think practically?
The Waiting Place
Textile sculptures
Textile, filling material, cardboard
At railway stations, we do what is only coyly mentioned behind closed doors in the meritocracy: We wait. Someone is always waiting. But waiting is being rationalised away – along with station catering and waiting rooms reminiscent of hotel lobbies. After all, waiting is unpleasant.
No one says it better than Dr Seuss in Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
“The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.”
Waiting is only created by setting a goal that you yourself cannot contribute to achieving. Otherwise it is just time. Waiting is a question of definition. Waiting makes you headless. Waiting is uncontrollable. Stoic people probably never wait.
The basic equipment of a waiting room: a seat, a clock, the timetable, a roof to protect against the weather. The deluxe features of a waiting room: a cushioned seat, a snack machine, a luggage locker, possibly a houseplant What 5 things would you take with you into a lonely waiting room?
Can you practise waiting? Do you have to be good at waiting?
Dr Seuss, on the other hand, decides: “NO!That’s not for you!”
Accessibility
No barrier-free access
Traffic area of the ÖBB – children only under supervision
Public toilet
Salt Lake Cities
Regional empty spaces as places of experience and meeting points for art: the Capital of Culture 2024 invites young artists from Germany and abroad to research, live and work in these spaces and to activate them with artistic contributions.
More about the project at salzkammergut-2024.at
