During the Cultural Capital Year, a floating island structure made up of several platforms moves across Lake Traunsee with PLATEAU BLO.
Research station, sauna, venue for performance and exhibition
The starting point for PLATEAU BLO, a project by raum&designstrategien at the University of Art and Design Linz, is the treatment of the coveted shore zones of Lake Traunsee. Shore areas are assigned to private houses and hotels, are bordered by thoroughfares or are inaccessible and can only be reached from the lake. PLATEAU BLO adds a new platform for exchange to the coveted properties on Lake Traunsee: PLATEAU BLO expands the landscape and backdrop with thoughts, space and area. It is clearly visible from the shore and yet not easy to reach. The result is a place of desire that differs significantly from the usual tourist attractions. PLATEAU BLO shakes the body and mind, creates a slight dizziness, stimulates reflection and makes subjects sweat. Instead of rigid images of the lake, a living image is created, a floating tableau vivant.
The project started in 2022 at the University of Art and Design Linz. From fall 2023, students and lecturers will adapt a vacant building in Gmunden and live and work there for several months. They will build platforms and spatial modules, experiment with materials and constructions and at the same time activate previously vacant spaces. An open workshop for experimental building culture, a meeting place for guest artists and workshops on social questions about how art interacts with spaces. PLATEAU BLO is a statement against exclusive ownership, a dynamic position for open thinking, a fluid place for new perspectives on the sea, landscape and architecture.
AVANTGARD/EN ist das Artist-in-Residence Programm des Kulturhauptstadt-Projektes PLATEAU BLO der Kunstuniversität Linz. In Zusammenarbeit mit den Ordensgemeinschaften Österreichs und der Diözese Linz ist die Öffnung
des Karmelitinnen-Klostergartens in Gmunden nach fast zwei Jahrhunderten zweifellos ein Ereignis. Gärten sind oft intime Orte, welche nicht von der Öffentlichkeit eingesehen werden können. Das Projekt trägt dazu bei, den Garten zu einem Ort des öffentlichen Dialogs, der Begegnung, der Reflexion und des kulturellen Austauschs zu machen, der Menschen unterschiedlicher Hintergründe und Perspektiven zusammenbringt, um Gegenwärtiges zu verhandeln. –> Instagram: avantgard_en
Project team:
Sabine Pollak (raum&designstrategien)
Simone Barlian (artist and curator)
Sophie Netzer, Kerstin Reyer (Artist collective raumarbeiterinnen)
raum&designstrategien, University of Art Linz (Cooperation partner)
Eva Mair, Christina Jaritsch (Program Management Building Culture & Crafts)