Hello everyone! I’m currently in Vienna and thought I’d be crazy enough to sign up to an initiative by Craft + Design. It’s for the month of July and participants are given a daily prompt word to revolve around the theme rewilding. I must admit, trying to this while teaching and working in another time zone has been full on. I’m also a bit obsessed with research and in-depth exploration to ensure I push my own boundaries.
I decided to create drawings rather than focus on my ceramics practice. The practical reason is that when you are overseas and travel small – there is no room for your studio to come with you!
To get started, I bought a little artist’s notepad and circle template (from Gerstäcker Art Store), the latter inspired by a sticker from Welt Museum. I wanted to create a bird’s eye view (looking down) or binocular view (looking ahead) to bring the viewer into my tiny art. I brought my pencils/fine black pen with me from Australia.
Each word prompt has been centered around me being in Vienna and connecting with my ‘grand tour’. So far it’s been art, psychology, beauty, cobblestones and redesigned furniture. I can’t wait to see what I create when we arrive in Spain on Monday 14 July to start our holiday. All of these daily postings can be found on my Instagram and Facebook. For now here are the first six. I’ll then try and do weekly postings pending how our travels go.
First image | Infinite | The Oxford dictionary has 13 meanings and multiple examples of early usage! I was taken by the 1658 example of ‘infinite’ as an adverb using the quote, ‘Nature is so infinite various in colours and shadows of the face’ by W. Sanderson. The full title of Sanderson’s work is “Graphice. The use of pen and pensil. Or, the most excellent art of painting: in two parts”.
I chose weeds as Vienna has a lot of cobbled streets where green weeds are untamed and grow wild in between the cracks. One place I visited with my husband was Spittelberg – an upmarket part of town. A community micro forest bloomed in contained garden boxes on the pavement while surrounded by the natural forces of weeds. For me, this juxtaposition demonstrates weeds = infinite rewilding.
2nd image | Water | This time, I searched ‘water Vienna’ in my photos on my iPad. Up came the blue swimming pool I do laps in, green ponds in parks and a multi painted (inc. blue) courtyard floor mural at the Heidi Horten collection. The search could not differentiate that water is a liquid without colour as per the Oxford Dictionary.
When researching the court artwork created by Holla Hoop (basketball art) I discovered it was a “ … project not only visualizes the increasing global CO2 emissions and the often careless handling of it, but also serves as a cooler: the colour reflects sunlight, which leads to a measurable cooling in the yard – and on top of that environmentally friendly … “.
I decided to do a bird’s eye view looking down and capture how museums/theatres in precincts, sports collectives and artists communicate messages about “climate awareness and smarter urban design”.
3rd image | Ripe | is defined 12 times in the OED. I’m focusing on 3c. Of a person: mature in judgement, experienced, or informed in (also upon) a matter, quality etc.
As I’m currently in Vienna, my thoughts turned to Australian National University CASS students being tasked to see the Sigmund Freud Museum and make observations as psychology and / or criminology students.
Freud is considered as Vienna’s ‘famous visionary’ and the father of psychology. Johannes Luxner says, “ …Freud identified sexuality as one of the most powerful motivators of human behaviour …”.
The couch (which is now in the Freud Museum London) was where his patients would talk about their “ … dreams and fears … inner most fantasies…”. Luxner also states “ … Freuds famous couch, the symbol of psychoanalysis … and the evolution of contemporary depth psychology is inextricably linked to this apartment …”.
Wien + Freud = birthplace of psychoanalysis + (ripe) informed in a matter of the ‘human self-image’
1st image | Release | is defined 25 times in the OED. I’m focusing on 2. to stop holding something or stop it from being held so that it can move, fly, fall, etc. freely. The synonym is let go, let loose.
I booked a beauty appointment as the Viennese women are immaculate in what they wear along with perfect nails. My friend Ebru recommended her ladies who are from Ukraine and “Absolutely Fabulous”. Which is the name of the salon!
I had to let myself go as they are very different with Australian pedicures and manicures. Nearly 2 and 1/2 hours of dremil drilling and sanding, UV light machines, precise line brushes and incredible focused attention. I had to sit back and accept this process. I’m super happy with the results and feel I’ve gone from wilding untamed hand and toe nails to the perfect artistic look. This time instead of a drawing I’ve photographed nail beautician Karolina’s perfect creative nails 💅 .
beautician + tools = dewilding and release
2nd image | Moon | While we all know how many planets there are did you know there are 42 moons in the solar system? As I love small, I was curious if there was a small one and if it had a name? Adam helped me out and found that Jupiter had a moon called Europa! How could I not include that in my drawing given we are in the heart of Europe now!
Galileo discovered this moon in 1610 and named it Europa. One of the lovers in Greek mythology of the god Jupiter. Europa lends her name to the continent we are now on. So it is appropriate this art connects with this moon rather than any of the others.
Adam and I headed to the Kunsthistorisches Museum as we figured there must be a painting or object on Europa. He checked out the Greek and Roman section and I went off to the coin collection given the size of my round drawings. Bummer was that it was closed off! So off to another level, where I found a brooch, we found a sculpture and painting. Gotta love museums!
Also, to connect to the the theme of rewilding NASA says, … “There is strong evidence Jupiter’s moon Europa has a saltwater ocean that may be one of the best places to look for environments where life could exist beyond Earth … “. Perhaps through science, we can ‘connect with the raw, natural forces that shape both art and life’ (HerCanberra interview with CEO Jodie Cunningham, Craft + Design Canberra).
Europa’s myth + Galileo’s science = Jupiter’s moon
3rd image | Abundance | I’m in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library) Two key exhibitions are closed on Mondays, so I decide to research in one of five reading rooms and 420 individual places to read!
With its high arched entrance doorways, ornate columns and decorative ceilings it’s abundantly clear that I’m in a special building. There are also 8 departments, 4 museums, a State Hall, Centre of Information and Media Literacy, legal deposit, databases, Institute for Conservation and Museum Digital.
I look up About us to find as early as 1806 the library has three purposes, “ … it is the national library of the Austrian Empire. Both locals and foreigners expect to find here the most sought-after literary rarities. It is finally the library of the imperial court, from which it receives its name. This is associated with typographical splendour … “.
I feel very lucky to be sitting here today with my research hat on as an artist and as a “foreigner” experiencing an abundance of history (28 million pages from historical newspapers and magazines, more than 600,000 volumes from the historical books collection), archives and collections (5 million pages legal + Statutory texts, 3.5 million digital objects, 400,000 selected objects and finally 75,000 historical postcards from all over the world). Wow!
Finally, connecting the theme of rewilding – the Library has been awarded the Austrian Ecolabel through their “ … consistent sustainability management in all areas in the light of the current challenges of climate change and dwindling resources … “.
Knowledge = abundance