The following six winning films were ultimately chosen from some 150 competition entries:

Melanie Hollaus: mirror.grid_passage, 2013

mirror.grid_passage by Gerold Tagwerker consists of a tiled pattern on the walls that is interrupted by reflecting lines of tiles. On walking through the passage, the reflections create a multiplication of the space. The passers-by find themselves in an illusory situation as different levels become visible simultaneously as a result of their own movements and reflections. The outside area is brought inside, light is intensified and refracted, passers-by walking through are duplicated and triplicated and additionally “thrown” onto the opposite wall.

The video by Melanie Hollaus picks up the different levels of perception that are created by the reflections, intensifies and extends them by the feature-film level. Thus on the one hand people walking through become “actors” on location in the passage, on the other hand the different levels enter into a dialog with one another.

Iris Julian: the in/visible performance, since 2009

How small and inconspicuous can movements in public space be in order not to be seen as a performance? In order to find answers to this question, choreographers were invited to show movement sequences that one generally does not associate with the term “performance”: for example a streetcarstop shelter opposite the State Opera. Although it is small and there is little room for maneuver, the expression and technique of the choreographers can be felt. Subsequently, this research resulted in videos, installations and performances: extracted from everyday life, the movements became very well (very) visible in the white cube of a gallery or the black box of a theater.

die unsichtbare performance (the invisible performance): an inquiry into unusualness with Martina Ruhsam was shown in 2011 as part of 20 Seconds for Art.

Concept, choreography, video: Iris Julian

Video contributions by Markus M. Bruckner, Satu Herrala, Lisa Hinterreithner, Sabina Holzer, Anita Kaya, Iris Julian, Philippe Riera (Superamas), Martina Ruhsam, Oleg Soulimenko, Linda Samaraweerova, Lena Wicke-Aengenheyster

Emilie Kleinszig, Michael Luger and Christina Schraml: Do We Know Each Other?, 2013

Cities are complicated, their structures complex and diverse. Against this background the contribution Kennen wir uns? (Do We Know Each Other?) not only focuses on art in public space but also on the public space itself and its users. The pictures show moments in the life of an art object in quick succession, with the perspective being chosen in such a way that the watchers become observers: one sees the artwork at the center, the city and its inhabitants that move around the work.

The following works appear in the film: Lemurenköpfe (Lemur Heads) by Franz West on the Stubenbrucke, Pi by Ken Lum in the west passage of the Karlsplatz subway station, the Street Art Passage in the MuseumsQuartier and Yellow Fog by Olafur Eliasson at the historic square Am Hof in the middle of Vienna’s old city.

Christoph & Jakob Listabarth: Art Can Do it, 2013

The short film Kunst kann’s (Art Can Do It) focuses on the facade design by the artist Heimo Zobernig in the passage of the underground tramway station Laurenzgasse. Here on the one hand it addresses the field of tension between the watchers driven by everyday life and the effect of the art work itself. On the other hand it explores the question of how the presence or absence of such artworks shape city life. What is certain is that art in public space has rightly found its place, because art can do it.

Sebastian Mayrhuber & Marcell Andor Bándi: Glowing Streetart, 2013

Sometimes garish, often colorful and always an expression of an opinion: street art and graffiti art in Vienna always offer a new stimulus for attentive eyes. They are found almost everywhere and enrich every day. Diverted by everyday life, one does not usually give them the attention they deserve.

Using light painting — in particular the depiction of this effect in videos — the media technology students Sebastian Mayrhuber and Marcell Andor Bándi direct our gaze at this contemporary art: light sources are moved in space and captured on long-exposure photographs. If one repeats this and then plays the images quickly one after another, it creates the impression of movement. A homage to and a pleading for looking closely.

Michail Michailov: 736 cm, 2011

Michail Michailov’s method of work is subversive — not because of his clandestine actions but above all because of their powerful symbolism. The artist employs various methods and uses camouflage techniques. With self-irony he shows a subliminal critique of society, religion and the art market. In the intervention 736 cm Michail Michailov plays with size and masculinity and in the process, without permission, uses a sculpture by the artist Franz West as a pedestal for himself …