Traveling with Vienna artist Kay Walkowiak - Vienna Würstelstand

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Traveling with Vienna artist Kay Walkowiak


(Maybe that’s just us.)

And did you ever think about how if a European and an Asian stand side by side looking at the same object, they’d have completely different thoughts about it?

Young Austrian artist, Kay Walkowiak, current exhibition, “Forms in Time,” at the MAK plays with the theme of form. The brilliant and creative use of this topic in the central film of the exhibition, and the complimenting sculptures and pigment prints, will also play with your mind.

We spoke with Kay about the discoveries from his travels in Asia which inspired the exhibition, and what it’s like to be a young artist in Vienna.

Vienna Würstelstand (VW): Describe the exhibition in a few words.
Kay Walkowiak (KW): It focuses on different topics I’ve been working with in the last 5 years. I use film, pigment prints and sculptures to explore the difference in how Europe and Asia perceive space and form. I’ve always been very interested in how we experience an object in a space, based on our backgrounds. For example, if we see a chair, we know what to do with it because of our memories of how we interact with the object. So what is triggered in our mind when we see an object in space is what this exhibition explores.

VW: A lot of the inspiration for the exhibition is from travel. Let’s talk about traveling.
KW: My love for travel already began during my years at university. I’d take the chance every break to go traveling and I was always drawn towards Asia. It didn’t matter if I had wanted to go elsewhere, I always ended up in Asia. It began as just a hobby, but then I began doing small photography projects on the side and after university I applied for a residency in India, in Varanasi, a city between New Delhi and Calcutta. It’s one of the oldest and most traditional cities in India.
I was able to go deeper into the place during this time. I’ve realised since doing my residencies that to really get to know a culture, you can’t just travel through, but you need to stay in the place for a longer time. It also takes time to digest all the new experiences you’re having when traveling.

Getting back to the exhibition, what I’ve tried to do is to explore how form and space is perceived in different cultures. So some works deal with the intersection of European and Asian thoughts.

© Kay Walkowiak/ still frame from films, Island

 

VW: How do the European and Asian perceptions differ in terms of space and form?
KW: If we start in Europe, we have a long history dating back to Greece, where our thoughts on form are rooted. If you look at Plato’s ideas of the ‘ideal form’ – this has forever been there in Europe: a set of ideas of what the ideal looks like and constant forms are used that shouldn’t be questioned. If we switch to Asia, the only constant idea regarding form is change. Buddhism has a deep impact in this and before Buddhism you have the animistic, nature spiritual beliefs. And if you look at nature, it’s the perfect example that everything is constantly in change.

© Kay Walkowiak/ still frame from films, Island

 

VW: What’s it like being a young artist in Vienna?
KW: Like with many things, there are two sides: As young artists in Austria, we have the advantage to apply for funding for our projects. The disadvantage, or maybe this is also an advantage, is that the scene in Vienna is kind of off the map. Things are a bit too quiet and not really happening. Sometimes I have the feeling we have great artists in Vienna but I see that they have trouble going beyond and entering the scene here, and also going international. But I have the feeling that it’s changing and opening up.

VW: How should people who aren’t art history majors or art enthusiasts, approach and understand your work when seeing it for the first time?
KW: For me when I look at works, my first thoughts are spontaneous and instant. I pay attention to the form and material of the object and already at this stage I have some first emotions and impressions triggered. With my works, you’ll experience associations with the forms instantly. The many layers in my work you can interpret, regardless if you have a background in art history. All of my works have connections to everyday life. For example, one is a modernist birdhouse and you wouldn’t know it is a birdhouse as it is just a concrete cube, but there are a few grains, like bird food, on it so an association will be triggered there. And the titles of works give hints as well on how to interpret the piece.

VW: Are there any places in Vienna that inspire your work?
KW: If we talk about the ideal form again, still one of the buildings I enjoy the most is the Secession – how the structure is laid out, you feel – almost too comfortably – in the midst of a perfect place.
Word rap
We say a word, and you respond with the first word that comes into your head.

VW: space
KW: body

VW: Spring
KW: Summer

VW: india
KW: a thousand layers

VW: travel
KW: freedom

VW: sculpture
KW: to be continued

VW: film
KW: time

VW: life
KW: short

VW: artist
KW: difficult

VW: Vienna Würstelstand
KW: vegetarian

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