Renate Kordon :
Jahreszeiten-Sonnenuhr

Schottwien used to be a key crossing point on the way over the Alps. It has become quiet since the completion of the Semmering road. Now one of the largest concrete span bridges in the world casts its daunting shadow over the market community. Renate Kordon uses this situation for her artwork by combining the factors of time, light and shadow. She looked for a measurement of time that does not seek the smallest unit in a chronological succession but that draws on the natural phenomenon of the seasons, and articulates this. She confronts chronos with kairos, the solstice. Using light and shadow she captures precisely this moment and casts it onto the main road in Schottwien. This road runs North-South and, in conjunction with the motorway bridge forms the dial and the gnomon to produce an over-sized sundial. The exact sections for the relevant shadow zones were gleaned from years' of observation by the artist on location, these were measured out and marked with large colourful dots that bring the passage of life alive, that give the shadow zone new strength and lend vitality to the community. Renate Kordon has developed a stringent formal solution for a topographically conspicuous location. The simple markings allude to a highly complex cosmic phenomenon, and provide a visual sign that marks the uniqueness of this location as the 'place under the bridge'. With the colourful accents on the road surfacing the artist reinterprets the shadow, in addition returning a hint of its former international status to Schottwien with the visual axes marked on the former powder tower.
(Christiane Krejs)