BUBBELS, 2008 - Installation by Pepi Maier with two visual poems by Walter Pilar
Presentation for Media Outlet Representatives
Tuesday, July 29, 2008, 10 AM
Seeschloss Ort
Ort 1, 4810 Gmunden
Seeschloss Ort in the city of Gmunden is a magnificent castle surrounded by the waters of the Traunee lake. Pepi Maier’s installation entitled BUBBELS (2008) can be observed from the bridge leading out to the castle. Effervescent rings of bubbles emerge from the depths of Traunsee , briefly remain on the surface of the water and then disappear—a phenomenon that takes observers somewhat aback and gives rise to a bit of reflection on their part.
The installation is “accompanied” by plaques displaying two poems by Walter Pilar that establish a link to the regional context.
Guests include Linz09 Financial Director Walter Putschögl, Andreas Murray , head of the region’s tourism agency, Norbert Schweizer, director of the Tiefenrausch project, as well as artists Pepi Maier and Walter Pilar.
Air bubbles emerge from the depths of Traunsee.
Effervescent rings of bubbles periodically appear on the surface of Traunsee in the vicinity of Schloss Ort , a magnificent castle surrounded by the waters of the lake. The bubbles can be observed by passers-by on the bridge between the castle and the shore. But no sooner is a ring spotted than it disappears, only to pop up shortly thereafter at another location nearby. Those encountering this uncanny occurrence, this mystery—perhaps visitors to the Province Expo exhibition in the castle or guests at a wedding there—are somewhat taken aback and given cause for a bit of reflection. The aim is to motivate them to get to the bottom of these puzzling events.
Weights are used to affix rings to the floor of Traunsee ; they in turn anchor in place a Gardena micro-drip system through which air flows. A compressor produces the necessary pressure. The effect can be observed from the bridge leading from the lakeshore to the Seeschloss : effervescent rings of bubbles emerge from the depths of Traunsee , briefly remain on the surface of the water and then vanish. They obey the elementary dynamics of structures in water, structures in which transience is already inherent at the moment they originate and become visible. And this is also a “phenomenon” in the figurative sense of what secret lies behind this seething water?
Is this a local thermal phenomena or even an ephemeral manifestation of some mystifying Traunsee marine life?
The installation is “accompanied” by plaques displaying two poems by Walter Pilar that establish a link to the regional context. With their strikingly distinctive visual form and linguistically puzzling content, they function not as an explanatory text but rather as the continuation of a mysterious story through the use of literary means.
Pepi Maier was born in 1959 in Passau , Germany. He now lives and works in Linz . From 1984 to 1991, he attended the master class in metalwork at the UfG – University of Art and Industrial Design in Linz . Since 1995, he has taught a class in space & object there, and has been a staff scientist since 2005. Selected exhibitions: Museums of the Province of Upper Austria (1989); 7th Triennale New Dehli, Kunstverein Hamburg / Deichtorhallen (1991); Ludwigsmuseum, Budapest (1997); Galerie Winter , Berlin (1998).
Walter Pilar was born in 1948 in Ebensee , Austria . He lives and works as a writer, graphic artist and “art-wall-worker & space installer” in Linz. Since 1968, his credits have included numerous readings, performances, actions and exhibitions, entries in mountain summit logbooks, and contributions to art and culture journals in Austria and abroad. Among the grants and prizes he has received is the 1990 Province of Upper Austrian Culture Prize for Literature.
Details about TIEFENRAUSCH
Download:
Walter Pilar: Kleine Odyssee vor Ort(h)Walter Pilar: Bla-Blasenfussi & Schwanenbussi
