I'm back in San Francisco, decompressing after a three-week adventure in Austria. I was invited back to beautiful Anger, Austria for the KOMM.ST "Ten Days" art festival as an artist-in-residence.
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They named a bridge after me in Anger, Austria.
from photos by Chri Strassegger 2014
Buried Alive for Art and Experience
Art provocateurs Monochrom buried me and several other brave patrons as part of their 20th anniversary closing exhibition at MUSA gallery.
The exhibition featured several dioramas that recreate different happenings and events of historic importance to Monochrom. The casket is a recurring piece that has traveled the world, appearing at the sex and culture summit in San Francisco, "Arse Elecktronica". For that event, partners were allowed to be buried together. Monochrom co-founder Johannes Grenzfurthner explains that it's about recreating the sensationalism and mythos around the possibility of being buried alive. "It's an experience. Americans love experiences."
My Int'l Spy Name is "Jetlag Freelance"
Getting to work on some stuff after a 13+ hour trip to Vienna. This is my make-shift studio on my friend's kitchen counter.
Zehn and the Art of Anger, Austria-bound
Closing Night for monochrom's 20th Anniversary
On Saturday, May 27th I'll be attending the closing night of monochrom's 20th anniversary exhibition at MUSA in Vienna. I created a portrait of Johannes Grenzfurthner and Franz Ablinger, the founders of monochrom and it will be great to see the artwork in person at the gallery. Also, there will be a performance art piece in which I will be buried alive with other brave volunteers.
MUSA
Tue, Wed, Fri 11 am- 6 pm
Thur 11 am - 8 pm | Sat 11 am - 4 pm
Closed on Mon, Sun and holidays
Free entrance
"Zehn and the Art of Anger", 10-day Art Residency in Styria
From May 10th-20th, I'll be a visiting artist in the small village of Anger, Styria, smack-dab in the middle of Austria. This is the third installment of their KOMM.ST "New Art - Old Places", in which modern artists are invited to create works in an old-world setting. For my residency, I'll be creating a mural on bridge pilons at the entrance to the village. My concept is to pay tribute to pioneering astronomer/mathematician Johannes Kepler and his semi-fictional description of the Moon, "The Somnium". Kepler studied and taught in Styria at Graz in the late 1500s-early 1600s where he dreamed up his story of beings from the Moon that could be summoned to Earth and subsequently transport humans with them back to the lunar surface. His story, in manuscript form known as "Lunar Geography", is considered the first published science fiction and caused problems for Kepler throughout his life with the Church and a populace of superstitious witch-burning villagers.
KOMM.ST
Here are some of the sketches and plans for my mural in Anger. I'm excited to get started!
Carl Sagan best described the plight of Johannes Kepler in this segment from "Cosmos.