August 15, 1998 .
Telecommuting and working in my studio had put me (unbeknownst to myself) into a stupor. It ’s all nice and good to cut down on the commute and on the social interactions. More time to be productive, yeah! But as Johann Wolfgang Goethe put it so aptly: "Grey is all theory"; the more you operate in isolation the more isolated you get.
Feeling the onset of a severe case of functionalism, I had to break the mold and shed the shackles of my provincialist life in California and head (yes you may shudder at the political incorrectness) to the usual source of my inspiration: Vienna, Europe.
In the summer there is little that hasn't been seen before in Vienna. All the action starts in the fall: gallery openings, performances, concerts, theatre, fairs, etc. There is little excitement, I thought. Among the many things I had forgotten is a one-man art industry named "Hundertwasser" and his work in Architecture.
Friedensreich Hundertwasser was already a name to be reckoned with when I first met him in the sixties. (He appropriated my newspaper at the Cafe Have a couple of times while I wasn't looking). I a young student at engineering school, he an eccentric emerging artist on the Austrian scene, a self-proclaimed continuation of Vienna's distinguished tradition from the turn of the century: Hans Markart, Ferdinand Hodler, Gustav Klimt , Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, paralleled by Rudolf Hausner, Ernest Fuchs, Wolfgang Hutter and others of the school of the Fantastic Realism. Friedrich Hunderwasser's success in the graphic arts took an unusual turn. His work evolved towards the enrichment and improvement of architecture.
One could probably have guessed that this might happen from looking at his imagery, but let's leave such speculation to the retrospective creativity of art historians to come. For me the success of his work lies in having made the world a lot better and having made a good deal of money in the process. Make it a point to seek his images out, there are plenty of them.
I set out to speak about the rush of delight I experienced upon seeing his accomplishments in person. Allow me to explain by means of a typical project: He managed to get a contract to create appeal for a basic public relations disaster, a garbage incineration plant in the center of Vienna where the emissions blow straight into the city no matter which way the wind drives. He managed to turn this absolutely repugnant piece of architecture into a site of such playful delight, that it has become a focal point for tourists from around the world, with an eye for art and architecture. Each of his creations, or to be more accurate "modifications," has become a visitor center for these pilgrims. Each site is now surrounded by a rich panoply of art shops, boutiques, cafés, Gasthouses, bus tours and such. Shop upon shop is full of art-related souvenirs. There are culinary establishments everywhere, all doing a roaring trade.
Please consider the implications: Success with art? Art making money?! Hunderwasser's success proves that this is possible; art can be a winning proposition. The sad part is that Americans have to travel abroad to get a bit of inspirational delight and perhaps some lessons in the economy of art. Art appears to be richly supported by European companies that elect to use artistic endeavor for advertising purposes, yes even controversial ones.
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