OPEN SPACE

The 20th century modernist and postmodernist movements changed profoundly considerations relating to art and these changes are continuing towards to our contemporary time. Changes effected not only the forms of expression, which influences our perception, but attempted (and continuously attempts) to expand the boundaries of the definition of art it self, its position, role and functions within a social-cultural context. As part of these attempts, art moved out from the exhibition room and conquered new places. At the same time, the sculpture - even if with renewed form and with actualized vocabulary mostly remained in the same position and function in the public space.

In the German language the word public (~ öffentlich) is derived from the word open (~ offen). The symposion “open space”, intends to investigate the rapport of the open and the public, the use of public space, and the forms, the place and the function of artistic and non-artistic expression in it.

In collaboration with a municipality of the area, we invite artists to work for a specific context. Instead of creating a singular sculpture-object, we expect that they analyse and take consideration of the characteristics of the environment, and interact with it. We would like to orient the artistes to rethink the relation of sculpture and the public space, and with their artistic interventions, they create new aspects for a better understanding of our environment.

To achieve these goals, we will maintain a conversation on the subject throughout the symposion in form of regular meetings; we invite scholars and experts of diverse domains and organize open conferences and collateral events.

With the program of the symposion 2020, we aim to set a new reference in the domain of sculptors' symposion and the 53 years long continuous existence of [kunstwerk] krastal.