The Grid

The project had an interactive and participative outline: research, observation, establishing contact with people in the region, developing a storyboard – on location. An excursion with all the students in Autumn 2020 as the point of departure.

But that didn't work out. Lockdown number two made travelling impossible; distance learning was imposed. Gathering experience as a group and exchanging with the locals were not possible; participation and intervention were kept at a distance. Instead, we have been pushed into the underground, each one for herself/himself, as single entities. Against all odds, the group is highly motivated and starts getting active out from the underground. It pierces through the myths of the region. Highly significant in the Salzkammergut region, the myth turns into the factor that drives the Festival of the Regions group (FdR Group). The myth is a thing of the past, while today we talk about fake-news – Is there a correspondence? Fiction and reality merge into new formations. A bronze object appears – a sign for what exactly? A prophecy? Happening on an island? How much is our reality immersed in fiction?

Everywhere we hear about platforms, physical and digital ones. Which ones can we set our feet upon? Our will we get buried under them? But the work continues; there are new ideas, plans, visions, still from a distance, as travelling to the location remains difficult.

Lockdown three, four, five – we’ve lost orientation; every time schedule becomes invalid shortly after being decided upon; every planning attempt is rendered obsolete in the next instant. Can we still envision a manifestation in real space – active and interactive participation? Or is the mere thought of it fictious?

The group gathers its strengths. "We want to go there!" "We need to be on location!" The next lockdown is casting its shadows. The last days before it approaches have to be used. Two students pack their rucksacks, taking a journey in the last instant, since the lockdown will start the following day. "If you are not back in Vienna by midnight, then..." This is the moment in fairy tales when we can expect a magical metamorphosis.

But this is not a fairy tale.

Students: Theo Bartenberger, Jakob Ehrlich, Evi Jägle, Marlene Jobe, Karl Kilian, Philipp Moritz, Alexander Nefedyev, Pål Rees, Olga Steiner, Kajetan Uranitsch, Patrick Winkler

Under Day / Underground
Festival der Regionen 2021
Bad Ischl - Bad Goisern - Hallstatt - Obertraun in the historic Salzkammergut region
Opening Festival der Regionen, Friday, June 25 at 2 p.m. in Bad Ischl
Opening in Hallstatt: Saturday, June 26 at 2 p.m.

The Festival der Regionen is one of the most important festivals for contemporary art and culture in Austria. Since 1993, it has been held every two years outside the urban agglomerations and cultural centers in Upper Austria. With its approach of dealing with social issues and everyday life worlds with contemporary art, the festival aims at a dialogue between the local population and local, regional and international artists.

https://fdr.at