KUB Square
Lois Weinberger
01 | 05 | 2021 – 15 | 02 | 2022
For almost a year, hundreds of plastic buckets filled with soil have been arranged in a square on Bregenz’s Karl Tizian Platz, air-born seeds fertilizing the soil and generating arbitrary growth. The work Mobiler Garten, like other projects by the artist created together with his wife Franziska in public space, has been installed at a range of sites over the past decades, including for the Center Pompidou in in Metz in 2017.
Lois Weinberger had already formulated the concept as early as 1994: “Plastic buckets with soil sourced in nature are placed on a concrete surface. Since there are seeds in the soil anyway / the work will develop on its own. Over time, the containers will become merely brittle / colorless plastic splinters on an overgrown surface. They, in turn, will also decay and the blossoms will be the only memory of the initial colorfulness. Later still, my work will no longer be recognized / the author will have disappeared.” During the last ten months, native wild plants which as pioneer plants colonize ruderal sites, rubbish dumps, fields, fallow land or, as in this case, fresh soil, together with grasses and flowering plants, have been growing in the white plastic buckets situated in the center of Bregenz.
“Lois Weinberger is one of the most important contemporary artists. Experiencing the work of this poetic field worker for almost a year, during the changing seasons right in front of KUB, has been a particular privilege. We are pleased that this major work by Weinberger will be living on as a loan in Lustenau,” stated KUB director Thomas D. Trummer.
Mobiler Garten is now moving to Lustenau, to the heart of the flagship Millennium Park. In frequently visited and future-oriented surroundings, between Hotel Amedia, the new MP 15 buildings, and the Gless Hub at Millennium Park 6, the work’s new home comprises an area of around 130 square meters. Mayor Kurt Fischer is delighted by the new arrival, this time from the art world: “The internationally successful companies based here appreciate an innovative atmosphere and attractive environment. For 95 companies (incl. SPs) and their approximately 900 employees, the Millennium Park offers not only workspaces, but also an extensive network, services and infrastructure, such as childcare, restaurants and cafes, hotels, and events. Now its cultural attractions are being expanded by a new work of art in public space, a sculpture by one of the most important contemporary artists in Austria, providing new added value to the quarter.”
Lois Weinberger
Mobiler Garten, 1994 / 2021
Limited edition 1 / 5
A collaboration between Kunsthaus Bregenz and Marktgemeinde Lustenau