Christian Philipp Müller :
City of Krems an der Donau Municipal

Ines Doujak, Christian Büchel and Christian Philipp Müller were invited to lend the City of Krems' municipal winery a little sparkling pep with artistic interventions. At the very first visit it was already clear to the concept artist where his piece was to transpire: in the tasting room, a typical local rural snug with a pine interior. In this space, instead of an atmosphere dominated by hefty local produce, Müller wanted to celebrate and convey the fine wine culture of the City of Krems and the Wachau appropriately. To achieve this, the exterior wall was to be removed and replaced by a real vineyard. Instead of concrete, a classically built Wachau stone wall was to close off the space and form a changing living membrane. It was to be covered with earth from one of the Krems vineyards – Sandgrube, Pfaffenberg or Steiner Hund – and planted with traditional grapes like Riesling, Veltliner, Sylvaner and Müller Thurgau. Müller has often addressed the five senses, and the sense of taste in particular. He succeeds like hardly any other artist in bringing knowledge and research into a form and translating content into material manifestations. It is both exciting and fascinating to watch the growth of the sculpture. Artworks by Christian Philipp Müller require ongoing servicing, they need to be cared for and nurtured. Just as the winemakers cultivate their own vineyards, so one of the winery's staff would have looked after the living sculpture, and the process of life would have completed the piece.
(Brigitte Huck)