026 ON VIENNA ... IN Vienna
. . . a drift in (for neighbours) Beč, Becs, Dunaj, Videń, Viedeń, Wien
the post was put together in Vienna; the title IN Vienna, thus, might be more appropriate than ON Vienna; but, let’s stay consistent . . . what follows are several (un)structured visual, textual, textural takes on what Vienna is, what it might be, what constitutes its urban self? and . . . what Vienna makes me think . . .
in such inquiries the key word is – complexity; as eminently ungraspable, IT (the word itself and what the complexity stands for) must be at the focus of all attempts towards understanding the urban; as in the Situationist cry – Soyez réalistes, demandez l'impossible
_ _ _ this is not my first time In Vienna; this post is as much (or as little) about a particular city in which I am writing (about) it, as it is about contextualisation of seeing, of what one actually can see, feel, say – (t)here; the shades of (my) own (ir)relevance, the variously entitled opinions
_ _ _ our sensibilities encountering and sensing what seems to be particular to this city, in this moment (to us, to Vienna, in Vienna, now), that must be the resultant; various insights provide (only) glimpses, the glimpses as much into the limits and licenses of the observer(s) (in this case two of us, drifting, in an endless dialogue, between us and between us at this city) as they (f)actually might also be about the observed . . . about the city (that part of which our very presence itself promotes into our “Vienna”) itself; only dialectisation of such insights could/might/do (sometimes, perhaps, when lucky) move the thought further, deeper . . . even a slim possibility (or just a pleasure of experiencing it) makes such efforts worthy of our time
_ _ _ over the years of living in Japan (“living”, as captured in Jullien’s insight how for a foreigner only enterings might ever be possible) in those fragments of time, I still have truly, fully lived there); on the other hand, in a culturally and geographically much closer Vienna, I stay an odd visitor; superficial, of course; even when immersed – ignorant; judgmental and profoundly prejudiced, of course _ _ _ yet, thanks to, or despite the geographic and historic placing of that culture in close proximity of, for (too) long periods of time even overlayed by, opposed to the original culture of mine; when one is conscious of them, prejudices (those one is aware of) do help _ _ _ when thinking Vienna (here, anywhere), I feel an irresistible urge to dig into those complexities (knowing that they will stay beyond me); in this post I will not even try to climb that mountain, but only summarise some of the OBServing Wien moments . . . again in the urbophilia – haiku – alla prima (but, I believe, not superficial) way . . . as they happen, when they happen (to me, to us, filtered by my own experiences)
_ _ _ the rich past of the city, thus the culture into which I have been born includes the layers and traces of Austro-Hungarian rule, both faded and vivid, memories and stories, scars, old and new . . . sometimes – a macabre sense of presence of the future, too; when it comes to (both personal and collective) memory, prejudices go both ways . . . we will not go there; . . . perhaps, only as a provocation, here is a reference to the earliest book by Georges Perec: L’Attentat de Sarajevo (Sarajevski atentat, The Sarajevo Assassination; a draft written 1957, abandoned and unpublished until 2016) – an unusual essai with a cheeky reference to the 28 July 1914 assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Prince Franz Ferdinand, that triggered the 1st World War; there is also a good Balkanian joke, which I should not upload here)
_ _ _
but – what do I, what can we see these days, in the streets of Vienna?
_ _ _ there are innumerable references to the Austro-Hungarian Empire
_ _ _ there are some buzzing, new urbanities at work
_ _ _ there are the hints of (yet another) political shift to the extreme right (which is, in my mind, always wrong)
or . . . let’s relax and simply notice how
_ _ _ there is (a lot of) art in Vienna . . . (as always, local galleries, interesting international exhibitions . . .)
_ _ _ there is sky in Vienna . . . (for mid-October, unusually sunny days) – and, we will begin from there, from the sky, framed we will drift to explore art, framed and unframed, point at some random encounters, generally seeking beauty, creativity . . . a precious sense of discovery, excitement, occasional repulsion, but always – inspiration; visually . . .
SKY, framed
designed
regulated
managed
ART, (un)framed, unframing
» lukasfeichtner Galerie, Gerhard Kaiser, “Images never end”
and more . . .
and then . . .
ART, very much framed – another blast from European colonial times, when France was powerful . . . Gauguin unexpected, which we had to see
yes, it was . . . a strong experience
that is . . . IT . . . in painting, seeking, and finding the echo of clogs hitting the granite ground
a fascinating set of notebooks, diaries . . . to me probably the strongest impression of all . . .
. . . besides this, painterly white stroke, the sparkle of life
my conclusion (as if it matters) is that Gauguin was not a draftsman, he was a painter; he couldn’t draw, but the way he couldn’t draw was beautiful !
_ _ _ and then . . . on the way out, in the Kunstforum bookstore . . . Freud (of course) and an unexpected, streetwise XXI century reference . . . ich comme . . .
STREETS, fragments
central
schmeck of the olden times
patina (of detail)
polished old glory (at large scale)
reinterpreted
STREET, only one, an atypically relaxed one
and this is Vienna . . . what one of the Viennas still wants to be . . .
a perfect expression of spatial projection of imperial power . . . an inhuman scale
this . . .
< that . . . where the majority of us come like . . . this >
P.S.
Bogdan liked his life in exile in Vienna (as much as liking a refuge could ever be possible); exiled from Belgrade, he has chosen Vienna over Paris as, in his own words, Danube was giving him a sense of direct connection with his native city; in Vienna, he felt safe and supported; while I was able to visit him there, Vienna felt warmer
much appreciated . . .