PLAY SCULPTURES

2010-2011
 

Gouache on paper, variable dimensions

The drawings in this series form the initial investigation in the Viennese play sculptures of the 50ies and 60ies. Based on archival photographs, the shapes of these sculptures are analysed in a series of black and white gouaches.
 
The drawings in this series form the initial investigation into the Viennese play sculptures of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Based on archival photographs, the shapes of these sculptures are analysed in a series of black and white gouaches.
 
Throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, the city of Vienna had quite an extensive program for art in public space, which was part of the rebuilding of the city after WWII. In the framework of this program, artists also developed sculptures for many playgrounds around the city, objects that were thought of as sculptures, as well as tools to be played with, the so-called „Spielplastik“ or “play sculpture”. Many of these were artistically at the level of their international counterparts and suggest a formal language and playfulness that was otherwise rarely present in the Austrian architecture and design of the time.
 Today, almost all of them have disappeared, removed due to wear or security issues.