The end , part II

 

 

 

KP: So, where are you now?

 

KP2: Vienna.

 

KP: All in all, are you a professional?

 

KP2: Shut up.

 

…………………..

 

I knew about the trick from last time, from the ending of the open day of the first group. I knew about the end even before the second group of classes started their work and decided not to be so attached. Passing few classes in Alte Saline and at the Hohensalzburg Fortress I wondered sometimes how the students will take their works back with them, or even if they will take  them. After all, we know that the Heinzelmannchen are probably working on cleaning the space faster than I am coming up with words to describe the last open day of this year’s Summer Academy.

 

The day started earlier then last time. This time we had three different locations to visit, and the Kiefer Stone Quarry was the first on the list. (KP: Oh, mention the weather, this seems to be your thing. KP2: It was sunny.)

 

To visit the stone quarry in the morning, was what I needed. The small gallery space, underneath the rooms where students were sleeping for four weeks, showed us some of the work that the students did. The collaboration between two students, Nina Nowak and Ragnhild May, continued and it showed itself to us in another video work. What was really nice to hear is that the two students who met here will go on to exhibit the video made at the Stone Quarry in Denmark. This is just one of the amazing things that happen at the Summer Academy. People meet and decide to continue on together.

 

I enjoyed seeing that the quiet atmosphere of the space, and I know that this is really a paradoxical idea since probably this was the loudest space to be in during the Academy since the early start of the working machines would carry on for few hours, was not disturbed. Some of the sculptures of the students presented to us close to the entrance of the quarry, differed really slightly from the stones that were there before the students came and worked on them. The difference would be noticed only if you come in close, look and touch the polished surface of the stones. Again this subtlety in the intervention at the stone quarries and in the way of working with stones is in the end very important for the lecturing artist who for the first time took over the sculpture class, Doris Schälling and Jörg Enderle. The works on display did show us that lingering and important idea.

 

The visit later to Alte Saline was a surprise. It seemed to be more buzzing and with maybe more things to see. The building was truly used to its last capacity. Well, this is what I thought since in relation to the last time more rooms were used, the ones I didn’t even know existed. The photography class of Katharina Sieverding at the entrance hall to the building transformed the space with the printed large scale photographs. Black and white on the white wall, I got the feeling straight away that this group means business and it was not surprise to hear about the great team work and the open spirit of the lecturing artists and her assistants. The focus was photography but some students decided to showcase video works as well. This openness was evident in all other classes at Alte Saline in fact and there was a lot more to see so you could not help it but walk around the buildings many times.

 

The Hohensalzburg Fortress came later in the day and it was nice to see that the atmosphere was also very much alive, even though by the time I got there most of us were feeling the strains of the time we spent here.

 

The works of all the classes stood with this aura of professionalism. I know, one needs to be aware that this is not simple word to use but I feel comfortable in using it here. The video works of the Olga Chernysheva and Anna Jermolaewa class really requested time from the visitors and it was great to see that they got just this. Visitors didn’t give the works the usual glance that is more often than not noticed at different art openings. People were sitting down and were engaged in the space and the works. This was also evident in the two other classes at the Fortress,” Narratives through text and image” by Sarnath Banerjee and “Rock the Paint” by Hanspeter Hofmann.

 

Let me admit that while I am writing this I feel like I don’t want to exclude anybody or leave out any work or class. This is something that would make this text go on for miles and miles and at the moment it seems that it could go on forever. So, I need to finish and think about writing something more again. What happened here  requires time for all of it  to slowly come down to the bottom of my cup and give my words its flavor. The flavor of the Summer Academy in Salzburg requires time to process and no rushing.

 

As I hate goodbyes I will only say, I will write to you all soon.