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Tapetenwechsel / A Change of Scenery

Press Release
Monday 23 March 2009

Lentos, overcome with curiosity, seeks contact with the world. “The Inquisitive Museum” is a request addressed to art lovers—those who create it, those who seek it out—to give some collaborative thought to the art museum per se and do some brainstorming about its mission and future direction. The next intervention in this series is entitled CHANGE OF SCENERY.

Four works of art from the permanent collection of the Lentos Art Museum Linz have expressed the wish for a change of scenery. Now, the freundinnen der kunst (Girlfriends of Art) are making this wish come true and bringing each of the four painting to a new location. The process of calling into question the limits of a museum’s approach to fulfilling its mission and an expansion of the understanding of art itself are essential elements of the CHANGE OF SCENERY project.

Each of the four works is a portrait. The freundinnen der kunst have invented four stories that correspond to the appearance of the individuals portrayed and make them into tangible, almost real persons. The respective narratives suggest four locations that can be said to be the places the protagonists themselves would have chosen to spend their vacation. What the four individuals have in common is a form of longing—all four are in search of something and all four are granted scant attention or recognition by society at large. Accordingly, they’re each going on display at a public place in order to highlight this yearning to be seen.

On April 4, 2009, Lentos Director Stella Rollig and the freundinnen der kunst will turn over the works of art to their new temporary custodians at the four publicly accessible locations in Linz that have been selected as the spots where they will spend the next 26 days. The hosts will see to the artworks’ well-being for the duration of their stay.

This change of scenery is sure to be accompanied by some changes—definitely on the part of the guests and perhaps among the hosts too.

The freundinnen der kunst speak in terms of “undergoing change” as a result of the works’ literal shift in physical location from the Lentos Art Museum Linz to the sites where they are temporarily on display, and “self-modification” in the sense of the change that accompanies spending some time at ones favorite place.

On homecoming day, April 30, 2009, the four works of art will be picked up by the freundinnen der kunst and returned to the Lentos. At 7 PM, the Lentos Auditorium will be the site of a gathering featuring performances by, among others, D’Quetschnspüla. Hosts and others will give an account of the artworks’ outings, which the freundinnen der kunst will have documented in the form of a diary and photo album.

Saturday, April 4, 2009
Departure from the Lentos Art Museum Linz, Ernst-Koref-Promenade 1, 4020 Linz
Arrival times at the paintings four new locations:
2 PM: Altes Rathaus, Hauptplatz 1, 4020 Linz, “Un Othello” (1884) by Lovis Corinth
3 PM: Haarschneider Franz, Herrenstraße 8, 4020 Linz, “Der Invalide” (1927) by Axl Leskoschek
4 PM: Linz Zoo, Windflachweg 1, 4040 Linz, “Ila” (1920) by Albin Egger-Lienz
4 PM: Bindermichl-Spallerhof Landscape Park, “Mittagsschlaf” (1996) by Johanna Freise

3:30 PM Shuttle bus departs from Promenade on the corner of Herrenstraße
6:50 PM Return trip from Bindermichl to Hauptplatz

Thursday, April 30, 2009
7 PM Homecoming celebration at the Lentos Art Museum Linz

Produced by the freundinnen der kunst in conjunction with “The Inquisitive Museum” series under the joint aegis of the Lentos and Linz09.