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Art Taxi
Graz Speaks Many Languages
Taxis as moving art galleries. In 2003, people did not have to go to special places or exhibitions to look at art, they could take art with them. In art taxis, for the standard taxi fare. Riding a taxi one could watch and experience art. Conspicuous design characterised the art taxis 2003 on the exterior, while artistic contributions marked the interior. During the ride, monitors in the rear presented video art by artists of different genres. 15 Mercedes "Vaneo" art taxis represented Graz 2003 while driving in downtown traffic. They were ordered by calling "878 - art taxi" or found at normal taxi stands and at one specifically marked for them.
Individual film contributions included productions by different artists of the INTRO-GRAZ-SPECTION association, as well as ten new works designed especially for 2003.
Already the first festival of INTRO-GRAZ-SPECTION entitled "SUBURBIA STRIKES BACK" launched the career of Werner Schwab, one of the most frequently performed German-language theatre authors of the present day, by premiering his play "Das Lebendige ist das Leblose und die Musik" ("The Living is the Lifeless and the Music"). Their further festivals emphasised the importance of interdisciplinary approaches, while the installation of "The Legends Always Die" by Ertl and Marczik in the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York was one of their most widely discussed projects. New art spaces such as a tramway, an elevator, an observatory, a soccer stadium, post office building, parks, streets, shops and deserted factory halls invite people to discover new artistic points of view.
The motto of the new works is "Graz Speaks Many Languages" - foreigners living in Graz acted as "art ambassadors" together with protagonists of the "Art Taxi" project.
"ARAYIS": Together with Tamer Granit from Turkey, who runs a restaurant in Graz, the art taxi team travelled to Istanbul to find his childhood hero "LEMON ALI". They brought a film documentation back to Graz, accompanied by a temporary installation.
"DROP-IN CITY SAUNA": Together with architect Susanna Ahvonen the typology of Finnish saunas was determined in her home country; for 2003 an art sauna, which served as a communication centre in the Cultural Capital of Helsinki 2000, was set up at Mariahilferplatz square.
"SJUNGANDE VÄGAR": In her project "Singing Paths" in Göteborg, the young singer Moa Janes combined Swedish and Austrian sounds into a symbiosis of consonance.
"THE BRUTON GHOST": With his story of the Bruton Ghost, Rob Cheese, composer and musician living in Graz, took us to southwest England.
"GRAZVÖHRINGER KIRCHENLIFT": The German-born, Graz-based architect Reiner Schmid created a new urban dimension by fusing images of the Schlossberg elevator he designed in Graz and of the church in his hometown Vöhring near Stuttgart.
In addition to these projects, the Austrian artists Max Gad, Georg Altziebler, G.R.A.M., Franz Pichler and Herbert Soltys created new works for the "Art Taxi" project.
Franz Pichler’s prominent installation just beside the 03 shop in Herrengasse underlined the significance of the place. The four words ”Heute keine Kunst” (Sorry, no art today) were randomly combined to new sentences on a screen.
Idea and concept: Fedo Ertl, Christian Marczik
Realisation: Fedo Ertl, Christian Marczik, Intro-Graz-Spection, Radio Taxi Group 878 A co-production of Graz 2003 - Cultural Capital of Europe, Intro Graz Spection and Jöbstl Ges.m.b.H. |
