Outdoor Art – Part III

28 February 2022

Post originally written in: Italiano

We continue our journey among the open-air works of art in the city of Innsbruck. Often you pass by them absent-mindedly, sometimes you don't see them at all; other times you barely notice them, as if they had always been there and have now become part of the city, like a building, a street or a square. But what are the thoughts and messages that lie within these artistic works? Today we're taking a few moments to take a look at three of them.

The light installation by Austrian artist Peter Sandbichler is entitled 47.16° North and is located in the transition from Sparkassenplatz to Maria-Theresien Straße, right in the heart of the city. The title refers to the geographical coordinates of Innsbruck. One wall of the passage is completely covered with panels with large light spots. Two colors (or two groups of colors) represent day and night. The hours of light and dark - which differ from day to day - are transformed by a computer into a luminous composition. Don't expect the lights to move or react to your passage, however. The image changes twice a day and follows the seasons, not humans!

Leaving the old town behind, we cross the bridge over the Inn Innbrücke. On the left stands the crucifix of Rudi Wach, which I have already mentioned in this post. Once on the other side, on the right is a small park - the Waltherpark - with a children's play area. Here we are.
In 1495, during his journey from Nuremberg to Venice, Albrecht Dürer stopped in Innsbruck. On this occasion he must have come to stroll along this riverbank. And, while he was there, he watercolored the view of the city, which was a little different than it is today. The watercolor is in the collections of the Albertina in Vienna and is entitled "Innsbruck von Norden". Today here on the bank of the Inn is the work "Dürer Blick" (which I would translate as "Dürer's viewpoint") by Katharina Cibulka.
The artist reproduced, in an existing concrete structure, the skyline of Dürer's work, creating a dialogue with that of the city today.

Today's third stop takes us to the Ferdinandeum museum, at Museumstrasse 15. To tell the truth, I recommend going there when it starts to get dark. The work is in fact a light installation mounted on top of the Ferdinandeum building. Christoph Hinterhuber is the author of this work, which is titled "de-decode, de-recode, re-decode and re-recode". And that's just what it reads in the bright pink lettering. The Austrian artist combines the English words "recode" and "decode" with the prefixes re- and de- in a loop, creating a sort of endless process. The focus is on decoding and recoding then. And the fact that this flow of words crowns the facade of a cultural institution that deals with art inevitably gives rise to further associations.