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Competition

Competition for the Permanent Artistic Contextualization of the Dr. Karl Lueger MonumentWinner of the Competition: Klemens Wihlidal

Competition for the Permanent Artistic Contextualization of the Dr. Karl Lueger Monument

The subject of this Artistic Realization Competition was to obtain a design proposal for the artistic contextualization of the Dr. Karl Lueger-Monument in Vienna's first district.

The competition procedure was carried out as a single-stage and invited competition. The invitation to submit a concept idea went out to 15 national and international artists (and artistic groups), of whom 13 submitted competition works/concept ideas.

The thirteen-member jury with voting rights decided in favor of Klemens Wihlidal's design during the three-day jury meeting in May 2023.

Winning Design Proposal: Klemens Wihlidal – Schieflage (Karl Lueger 3,5°)

"Thirteen years ago, the University of Applied Arts Vienna initiated the questioning of the Lueger-Monument at the Stubentor with a symposium and an open competition. Klemens Wihlidal's proposal emerged as the winner from this competition. Since then, there have been lively discussions about the Lueger-Monument and the square in politics and civil society. Out of these debates emerged the competition for the artistic contextualization of the monument, which was launched by the City of Vienna.

After extensive discussions of the submitted competition entries, the jury came to the conclusion that this project proposal by Klemens Wihlidal has lost none of its relevance: his design transforms the monument into a disturbance in public space. The minimal formal irritation proves to be a strong sign in the city. The artistic proposal raises questions and keeps them open.

The sculpture is tilted by 3.5 degrees and visually loses its balance. The inclination breaks the claim of monumentality. This visual punch line opens up even without prior information and leads to a continuation of the debates.

Klemens Wihlidal's project shows how a public debate conducted over years leads to a heightened awareness in civil society. The transformation of the monument undermines the affirmative view of Lueger's politics of exclusion and his racist and anti-Semitic hate speech. The 'skew' changes perspectives on the past and present."

-- Jury Statement

"With my design, I do not want to change the existing monument, but the view and perspective on it. With the 'minimal' intervention of tilting the statue and pedestal 3.5° to the right from the viewer's perspective, the venerability is to be broken and the sincerity questioned. In doing so, I want to trigger an irritation, or even more, a moment of uncertainty that may only become noticeable upon a second look.

The tilted position is also reminiscent of a sinking ship or evokes a sense of transience and impermanence, as if one has to watch the monument just about to topple over, or at least reckon that it won't stand for much longer."

-- Klemens Wihlidal

All submitted design proposals (see gallery below) will be on display from June 19-23, 2023 at the Wiener Planungswerkstatt (Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz 9, 1010 Vienna) from 2 pm to 7 pm each day.

Location

Dr. Karl Lueger-Platz, 1010 Vienna

Further Information

One-stage, invited, artistic realization competition to obtain a design for an artistic contextualization of the Dr. Karl Lueger Monument in 1010 Vienna.

COMPETITION DURATION

October 11, 2022 until May 2023

AWARDING AUTHORITIES

Kunst im öffentlichen Raum GmbH

Cultural Department of the City of Vienna (MA 7)

PROCEDUARL ORGANISATION

Kunst im öffentlichen Raum GmbH

PRELIMINARY TECHNICAL EXAMINATION

Werkraum Ingenieure ZT-GmbH, Monika Trimmel

ARTISTS INVITED

Ignasi Aballí
Anna Artaker
Yael Bartana
Catrin Bolt
Clegg & Guttmann
Ramesch Daha
Eduard Freudmann
Anna Jermolaewa
Martin Krenn
Tatiana Lecomte
Hans Schabus
Heidi Schatzl
Milica Tomić
Simon Wachsmuth
Klemens Wihlidal

VOTING JURORS

Iris Andraschek, Artist
Aleida Assmann, Scientist of Culture (Professor Emeritus of English and General Literature at the University of Konstanz)
Katharina Blaas, Curator
Markus Figl, District Head/Lucia Grabetz, Deputy District Head, ( 1st District of the City of Vienna)
Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek, Judaist and Curator
Sonja Huber, Cultural Department of the City of Vienna (Director Department of Visual Arts and New Media)
Franz Kobermaier, City of Vienna MA 19 (Head of Municipal Department for Architecture and Urban Design)
Hanno Loewy, Literature and Media Scholar (Director Jewish Museum Hohenems)
Herbert Posch, Historian (Senior Scientist at the Institute of Contemporary History, University of Vienna)
Eva-Maria Stadler, Curator (Professor of Art and Knowledge Transfer, University of Applied Arts Vienna), Jury Chairperson
Thomas D. Trummer, Curator and Art Historian (Director Kunsthaus Bregenz)
Herwig Turk, Artist
Heimo Zobernig, Artist

EXPERT ADVISORY BOARD, Non-Voting Jurors

Friedrich Dahm / Irene Humenberger, Federal Monuments Office
Patricia Davis, 1st District
Gerhard Dully, MA 33 - Vienna Lights Up
Sarah Ehkampf, MA 42 - Vienna City Gardens
Franz Eschner, MA 22 - Environmental Protection
Clarissa Knehs, MA 19 - Architecture and Urban Design
Sonja Moissl, MA 37 - Municipal Building Inspection
Cornelia Offergeld, KÖR GmbH, Curatorial Director
Peter Peternell, Wiener Linien
Robert Reich, MA 28 - Road Administration and Road Construction
Franz Roth, MA 46 - Traffic Organization and Technical Traffic Affairs
Martin Scherer, MA 34 - Construction and Facility Management
Gabriele Steinbach, MA 46 - Traffic Organization and Technical Traffic Matters
Martina Taig, KÖR GmbH, Managing Director
Laurentius Terzic, 1st District
Monika Trimmel, Werkraum Ingenieure ZT GmbH, preliminary technical examination
Ursula Schwarz, Cultural Department of the City of Vienna (Cultural Heritage Department)
Heidemarie Uhl, Chairwoman Scientific Advisory Board

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Competition

Competition for the Permanent Artistic Contextualization of the Dr. Karl Lueger MonumentWinner of the Competition: Klemens Wihlidal

Time Period

Prospective implementation: 2024

U3 Stubentor

In cooperation with the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna (MA 7).

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