Univ.-Prof. Hans Schabus
The Sculpture and Space program explores the diverse possibilities of sculpture in relation to material, context,
and its interaction with society and the environment.
The focus of the course is on connecting and locating the
production of artistic works
with and within their social environment. Engagement with the material is an important starting
point. In the in-house studios, wood, metal or pre-cast materials are worked on with the support of artists. This hands-on
mentality is seen as a necessary corrective to an increasingly digital world, and demand for this approach has grown steadily
in recent years, influenced by a new awareness of objects and materials. Since 2016 Sculpture and Space has shared its Paulusplatz
location in Vienna‘s third district with the department of Site-specific art. This former dairy factory contains workstations
and seminar rooms as well as a dedicated exhibition space. Where milk used to be sold students now design their weekly presentations.
The courses offered include advanced workshops (e.g., woodturning or blacksmithing), the teaching of theory and production,
and regular field trips.
Part of the weekly class meetings, in addition to their detailed discussion of a presented work,
is a joint lunch.
The central focus of the program is artistic practice and the examination of one‘s own
work,
which is developed and discussed in dialogue between the teachers and students.
Projects of the class that address
a public are, on the one hand, the exhibition series
„Pfeiler“, in which graduates present a new work.
The Skulpturinstitut
is a non-site-specific, curatorial format of the department, within which experts are invited to an event. For example, lectures
by artists are regularly held as part of the ALSV (Artist Lecture Series Vienna), organized by Ezara Spangl and Rainer Spangl
in cooperation with the Skulpturinstitut.
