With her work,
Judith Fegerl stages the dramatic relationship between space and time. New times, new sources of energy that if they disappear everything fall apart. The same happens with the individual components of
Judith Fegerl's work, which would simply fall if there is no power supply (the installation has safety cables). The instability of the construction is dramatized by the inclination of the solid steel tubes generating a perceptible tension, which reveals the state of tension of dependency and need for energy.
Elements such as the inverter, battery storage, and distribution box are mounted unstable, staging the power lines. The work is completed with five tubes, used as steel steles, slightly inclined with a diameter of about 30 centimeters and a height of three meters. Each "stela" is divided into two unequal sections that are connected by a copper-colored element. The position and orientation of the stelae are based on the five historical jib cranes, to which the stelae were connected by a steel cable.
Inside the exhibition space,
Judith Fegerl leaves a door open that allows a view of the back of the solar installation.
“on/” by Judith Fegerl. Photograph by Günter Richard Wett.
Judith Fegerl combines elements from her past exhibition dubbed "moment", her artwork coming full circle by demonstrating the existential dependency of work and energy in a specific and almost techno-poetic way. It deals with the temporary connection of the steel elements and the contrast with the massive materiality with fragile arrangements. The integral concept of contemporaneity is addressed, and this connects the inherent processes of the art system and the challenges that arise with social reality.
“You can't see it, you can't hear it, and to a certain extent you can't feel it either. Nevertheless, electrical energy is the basis of our modern, technologized life: progress and development, utility and luxury, but also conflicts over distribution, provision and, above all, environmental issues – energy is highly political stuff."
Judith Fegerl
“on/” by Judith Fegerl. Photograph by Günter Richard Wett.
Her artistic work stems from the Austrian artist's fascination for the transforming processes of forces and materials based on time that open up an experimental space. Linking an aesthetic of the functional with the autonomy of art makes a contribution to current debates on exhibition practices and their responsibilities and possibilities, but it is also a comment on a general social attitude in our increasingly complex present.
