Flora Neuwirth :
Clubblumenlodge No. 1

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Flora Neuwirth's clubblumenLodge No. 1 has been located on the square between the Kulturhaus Winkelau, the adjacent campsite and the theatre and multipurpose venue, since Autumn 2011. It is a small piece of multifunctional architecture named after the Verein clubblumen which the artist founded in Vienna and that she defines as "a space for contemporary art, music, eating, drinking, communication…" The idea behind the timber modular pavilion clubblumenLodge No. 1 is to combine everyday experience with culture on a number of levels, and developed from the original space for activity and thematic engagement. The pavilion is a structure where the art arena and everyday social experience mesh. Those familiar with the work of Flora Neuwirth will suspect that "No. 1" is not to be understood as 'the best of' but for the first one, the beginning of a numeric sequence. This also means that the pavilion can be erected wherever it is needed. The exterior wall elements can be varied to meet a range of requirements. They can be slid or turned outwards or inwards on three sides. The pavilion can be locked and contains a storage space. So visitors can take a rest in it, or even spend the night. Small concerts can be held there or theatrical performances. A step in the floor provides a small raised section that can serve as a place to sleep, as a seat or as a stage. The artist offers the location for rent online between April and October; sanitary facilities and a Gasthaus are close by; equipped with a futon, folding table and chairs, a place to cook and an espresso machine. It is a flexible system intended for use by as many people as possible according to their own individual ideas.

So it would not be amiss to talk of a functional sculpture as introduced into public space since the late-1960s by Scott Burton or Siah Armajani. Its usability opens up (play)rooms for activity through which the artwork can be appreciated by the public. Flora Neuwirth goes a step further here, though. She does not balance the social issues with the aesthetics, but permits them to stand alongside one another, and calls for active intervention in the form. As in many of her works, she employs a special systematic colour scheme for clubblumenLodge No. 1. The four wall/door elements are each painted in one of the four standardised basic colours used in modern printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, key. Flora Neuwirth loves to mix elements from graphic design with codes from the field of Fine Art for her objects, and so to combine — adhering to an idea of social utopia — so-called 'high' culture with everyday culture, to lift the distinction between art and not-art. And to demonstrate one of the possibilities for its use, at the inauguration on a rainy afternoon in autumn, the group ALBERS played in the opened-up clubblumenLodge No. 1.
(Cornelia Offergeld)