Art at the railway station. Matt Mullican at the GKB-station in Graz.
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From the beginning the artistic design of the GKB-station in Graz was the logical consequence and one of the elements of the art project LokoMotive. Mullican’s work is to be appreciated – like all his individual works – as part of an enormous sheet of pictures in which his world order is described. His world is organized in the sectors of elements, things, creativity and art, symbols and ideas, as well as mental powers. Setting his general cosmology into the focus of interest he specifically deals in content with the subject of traffic, taking up his already frequently used „boiler sign“, a contributor of energy, as the main symbol.
The self-image of the GKB Graz Köflacher Bahn- und Busbetrieb GmbH as a modern company and its philosophy showing clear parallels to the nature of art implies that the GKB decidedly identifies with contemporary art. The central commission of the railway company as well as of art can be expressed in two words: movement and innovation.
LokoMotive is an art project that took place as part of a thematic focus on Art and Traffic – Arriving in Graz in cooperation with Graz 2003 – European Cultural Capital. The main sponsor of this project is the Graz-Koeflacher train company (GKE). Six prominent Austrian artists were invited in the LokoMotive project to reflect on the theme of movement and to design the outer membrane of the double-deck railcar of the GKE which was then to move through the countryside with mobile imagery.
idea and realization: Werkstatt Kollerschlag
artistic director: Prof. Edelbert Koeb, director of the Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna
The project ‚Kunstmeile Guertel‘ (Guertel art mall) was commissioned in 1997 by the Austrian Federal Chancellery (art department) and by the art department of the City of Vienna. It was developed by Werkstatt Kollerschlag together with Expanda Gesellschaft, Vienna.
Curator: Dr. Ulrich Krempel, director of the Sprengel Museum, Hannover.
With the Concrete Art project a series of individual large-scale sculptures produced by seven internationally renowned artists was presented in the public town space of Graz. The one common feature of the works shown here is the fact that they were all made out of concrete. The participating artists – Chris Burden, Anthony Cragg, Magdalena Jetelová, Hans Kupelwieser, Matt Mullican, Haim Steinbach and Manfred Wakolbinger – all employ a very different approach to the material and to public space. They present individual artistically significant positions that are able to stand their ground against an urban space that is literally swamped with stimuli. Concrete Art took place in the context of „Graz 2003 – Cultural Capital of Europe“ as a joint initiative with „Bauwirtschaft Steiermark“ (Styrian Building Industry). Financial support was provided by the Austrian Federal Chancellery – Art Section as well as more than twenty sponsors from the private sector. Werkstatt Kollerschlag was responsible for the concept and realization. The project was curated by Prof. Edelbert Köb, director of the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna. The catalogue published for the exhibition provides information on the production of the individual works.