Kunsthalle Wien Museumsquartier Artists Susanne Kriemann Kasper Akhøj David Maljković Heba Amin Jumana Manna Monica Bonvicini Ingrid Martens Mark Boyle Isa Melsheimer Andreas Bunte Olaf Metzel Tom Burr Maximilian Pramatarov Thomas Demand Heidi Specker Werner Feiersinger Ron Terada Karsten Födinger Tercerunquinto Cyprien Gaillard Sofie Thorsen Isa Genzken Klaus Weber Liam Gillick Tobias Zielony Annette Kelm Hubert Kiecol Curators Jakob Kolding Vanessa Joan Müller Miki Kratsman Nicolaus Schafhausen 25/6 – 16/10 2016 Booklet www.kunsthallewien.at The building material concrete is a style of building evolved which both solid and flexible. As it can be bore a strong relation to the moulded into the desired shape material – so-called Brutalism, on site, it constantly offers new named after the French word for possibilities. High-rise buildings, raw concrete: béton brut. Brutalist pre-stressed concrete bridges, architecture signified intransigence and other spectacular icons of the and radicalness. The flexibility 20th century would not have been of the material with its potential conceivable without concrete. for expressive design allowed Nevertheless, concrete was for for an experimental approach a long time perceived as a material and an exploration of its inherent without qualities, the refractory possibilities to the very limit. of modern mass society. Many But concrete also stood out due associate the “inhospitality of to its significant social element: in cities” with the grey anonymity post-war times, extensive projects of hastily constructed, uniform for social structures such as council buildings. However, the innovations buildings, educational institutions, of the 1960s and 1970s connected and cultural centres were often with concrete construction carried out in concrete. After falling and the urban development it into disrepute in the late 1980s, this enabled are often overlooked. material is currently experiencing The uncompromising nature a renaissance: contemporary of the material, its affirmation of artists are fascinated by the duality the present, and its break with of expressive aesthetics and the traditions, reflects a time defined “Human Modernism” associated by the emphatic belief in the with concrete architecture, or at architectural malleability of the least, its underlying concept. future. The economic and cultural Despite the fact that some of these boom of the post-war era and its structures remain only as ruins dreams of a different, more socially today – as though testimonials of integrated society resulted in a failed ideology – they still convey buildings that no longer aspired the modernist promise of creating to modernist timelessness, but innovative designs for real living instead saw the present as a vector conditions. Hence, the exhibition pointing towards a time yet to come. takes a retrospective look ahead City blocks, floating streets, and in order to reactivate the potential space age design: urban planning of concrete for the present: as a of late Modernism was about more projection surface for the quality than mere construction. It was that is often missing in residential concerned with implementing and functional buildings of today, a “concrete utopia” based on the and as an appeal to always most advanced material of the time. perceive architecture as a design To this day, concrete is perceived for social coexistence. as progressive and continues to provide new possibilities for structural design. In the 1960s, 1 Kasper Akhøj * 1976 in Copenhagen, lives in Copenhagen 999, 2015 Concrete, seven modules, each 60 x 60 x 25 cm Courtesy of Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam Kasper Akhøj, 999, 2015, Courtesy of Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam 2 3 Kasper Akhøj’s series of bush- especially while under the leadership environment that occurred in São Courtesy of the artist hammered sculptures signify a lot of president Juscelino Kubitschek Paulo in the 1950s and 1960s. more than the material they first (the “father” of modern Brazil who His casted blocks assert the qualities On 27 January 2011, the Egyptian and foremost represent. The seven held office from 1956 to 1961), regarded by Vilanova Artigas to affect authorities shut down the internet monolithic pieces are decidedly an intense albeit contradictory phase consciousness, the intrinsic nature of in response to the increasing poetic in their presentation and of democracy was experienced by the material to affect the people who number of protests against conception. The artist cements the people of the nation. Architects came into contact, or indeed inhabited the government, which had social, political and anthropological had from the early 1950s questioned its rawness. been mainly organised via social reflections into the substance of how their profession could contribute media. However, over the course his sculptures. 999 stands, in one to the social revolution and one of of a weekend a group of program- respect, as a monument to João the ideas put into play was envisaged mers developed the platform Vilanova Artigas (1915–1985), by revolutionary housing plans for Heba Amin Speak2Tweet, which enabled the the celebrated Brazilian architect the Brazilian bourgeoisie. Vilanova protesters to post news on Twitter of such notable brutalist creations as Artigas devised an educational * 1980 in Cairo, lives in Cairo via voicemail despite the internet the Londrina Bus Station (1950–51), architecture, one that utilised blockade. Consequently, thousands the Morumbi Stadium (1952–60), exposure to béton brut – whose of Egyptians posted messages and the Faculty of Architecture and rawness was considered to have between hope and rebellion. Urban Planning Center (FAC) at the profound effects on the people who Heba Amin’s video installation University of São Paulo (1962–69). came into contact with it, connecting Project Speak2Tweet is based on He is widely considered as the them to socialist ideology. Far from this archive of a collective mind, and founder of the São Paulo school, decorative and superficial, the modest reopens it to some extent. While otherwise known as the Escola and austere material was argued many voices have long since van- Paulista movement. In contrast to to encourage collective thought. ished into the depths of the internet, the smooth concrete sheet structures He emphasised the physical weight this project has unearthed individual hailing from Rio de Janeiro, initiated of his structures and the high degree stories and connected them to the Heba Amin, Project Speak2Tweet, 2011 ongoing, Installation view, by architects from the earlier so-called of technical expertise and engineering Kunstverein in Hamburg, 2016, Photo: Fred Dott present. In her constantly growing Carioca School (whose most well- necessary to support them. archive of experimental films, Amin known exponents include among The combination of sophisticated Project Speak2Tweet, 2011 ongoing creates a dialogue between the mes- others Oscar Niemeyer, Machado engineering with concrete and the Videoprojection sages shared on the Speak2Tweet Moreira, and Affonso Reidy), the crude, raw execution of the material, platform before Mubarak was work of the Paulista school embraced both linked with the political and The Flag, 2011 overthrown in February 2011 and rougher finishes, exposed surfaces, economic situation in Brazil. On the Voice recording: January 31, 2011, the imagery of deserted buildings. and was characterised by chunkier one hand utopian motivations as well 2:11 min. These construction projects yet massing. Akhøj’s sculptures recall as familiarity with global architectural to be completed reflect the lasting the brutalism of the Paulista School, developments, and on the other, the The Gecko, 2014 effects of a corrupt dictatorship. and in particular, the relationship of backwardness of labour and capacity Voice recording: February 2, 2011, In her film project, Amin uses the architecture, politics, and the animist for industrial production. Actively 2:39 min. interplay between different voices to beliefs held by Vilanova Artigas with incorporating the abundant unskilled question the re-imaginations of an respect to the magical nature and labour force available in Brazil with I’m the Son of the Nile, 2013 urban vision in the face of the ruins of potential of concrete. The period forward-thinking designs marked Voice recording: February 5, 2011, modernity. It shows how inner mono- saw the political programme of the ways in which the architect sought 2:43 min. logues can conjure up an imagined Brazilian Communist Party vouch to suggest strategies to combat the city and inspirit the visible concrete for societal transformation through Latin American economic crisis. My Love for You, Egypt, Increases backdrop, while simultaneously the moral re-education of the middle Akhøj’s work draws attention to by the Day, 2011 questioning historical narratives on classes. During this highly active the development of an alternative Voice recording: February 8, 2011, the basis of jumps and omissions period in the country’s history, discourse of concrete and the built 6:18 min. in the digital memory. 4 5 Monica Monica Bonvicini is interested Andreas Bunte in the boundaries between public Bonvicini and private space, the way in * 1970 in Mettmann, lives in Berlin which physical space becomes * 1965 in Venice, lives in Berlin a psychological and social sphere, and the mechanisms which Add Elegance to your Poverty, control our behaviour in certain 1990/2016 environments. Architecture