The Zoologartist

During the entire talk held by Peter Friedl this Wednesday at the Alte Saline Hallein, sentences like " When I was 9 years old living in Upper Austria I was drawing ...", keep appearing, which gives the impression he has always been an artist. Even though he warned the audience by saying he presents himself through his exhibitions rather than presentations, the one he then gave was very interesting and engaging and allowed a deeper glimpse into the work, and also the mind of the artist.

He explained how he discovers the concepts behind his work by getting involved with his surroundings, the history of the places he travels to and all the stories that happened there. When

people, mainly taxi drivers, he says, ask him what he's doing, he simply answers "I paint animals", which is a bit of an understatement but as good a fleeting explanation as any. He in fact does a lot more than that, playing with spaces and the stories they contain, often venturing in the medium of film, a couple of them showing to the audience. They span a wide range, like a tiger fighting a stuffed snake in a museum, an idea born from finding a 19th century painting there of exactly that topic, or a man on a park bench reciting a poem in the suburbs of Johannesburg. Often present in his videos are children, looking, laughing, running around ...

The artist even says himself "When I'm invited som

ewhere, I often tell the people who want to work with me there that I much more want to work with their children. I really like doing this."

In that case, the Summer Academy can consider itself lucky that Peter Friedl agreed to teach a class for grownups. Maybe we should start thinking about asking him back to teach one for children next year. [mp]