Peter Sandbichler has created an experiential ambiance by means of relief-like wall installations on both sides of the 120-meter-long tunnel under Vienna’s Main Station. These installations are intended to be perceived not from a static position but rather while walking or driving through, thus responding to the function of the site as a passage. The work consists of alternating concave and convex ceramic modules in twelve colors, arranged according to serial principles. The profiles of the modules are designed in such a way that overlapping shapes and colors produce constantly changing visual effects when passing through the underpass.

Sandbichler thus takes up issues and design principles explored in Op Art from the mid-1950s. Its works literally confront our eyes with the deceivability of our senses and—like Sandbichler’s instalaltion—turn the reception of artworks into a physical experience as they keep changing depending on the viewing angle.

At its specific location, in the tunnel beneath the new Main Station, which connects two socioculturally very different districts, Sandbichler’s installation also presents itself as a plea against rigid positions in favor of openness and tolerance.

The title of the work, 12 Tones, alludes to the twelve-tone method or serialism in music, which, like this work, operates with a fixed limited sound material and serially varied arrangements.