INTERVIEW WITH VERENA TSCHERNER AND JOERG AUZINGER
THE COLLECTIVE ACTION VIEWER
-by Barbora Horská (Curator / Editor-in-chief of Improper Dose)
“Tscherner & Auzinger were in the same department at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. They found their common ground in the interest of interactive media, human perception and the pressing issue of the climate crisis. With their first collaborative project Collective Action Viewer they joined forces in building a telescope which challenges humans in their perception, questions socio-political topics of its location, and visualizes the awareness for climate care. A dystopian scenario of a flooded square, seen through the telescope, turns into a positive perception through the attention of the viewer. This project will be shown in public space within the Biennale for Change 2021 in Vienna from the end of May until October 2021 at the central Karlsplatz.
The Collective Action Viewer questions our viewing habits. Through the media sculpture Collective Action Viewer, we deal with socio-political issues at their location. The Collective Action Viewer consists of a viewing telescope that challenges people in their perception and at the same time makes the effects of climate change visible in an artistic way and in this way more understandable for the viewer. The function of the telescope is taken ad absurdum and we pre-set the section and the view. A virtual flood scenario, only visible through the telescope, is resolved by the attention of the observer and indicates the individual’s ability to act. This project will be shown freely accessible to everyone in public space. ”
COLLECTIVE ACTION VIEWER is the latest piece that came out of your collaboration. In the installation, the viewer is visually confronted with the imminent scenario of flooding, to comprehend better the consequences of global warming. However, in the installation, the visual experience goes from flooded back into the current state of watched space. Can this reversal of the scenario be seen as a metaphor for ignorance of the environmental issues? That the more we face the problem now the better the chance of slowing the process of global warming, while when no one is watching the place stays under water?
The Collective Action Viewer has the possibility to raise awareness on the issue of the regional effects of climate change. Within the interactive access to this installation lies the opportunity to feel a form of climate care towards this issue, rather than only making a statement about it. If people start to rediscover the ability to act through this work, rather than staying in a state of helplessness, we feel like this work is worthwhile.
As authors of the installation, what was your intention besides raising awareness? Do you expect or wish for some specific or practical impact on viewers?
This installation is not only about climate care. There are some more layers which it contains. For example, a telescope is usually positioned on a viewpoint, where people are meant to enjoy the view. By bringing the telescope to a central point into the city, we lead the function of the telescope ad absurdum.
Another issue is the choice of perspective. Usually a telescope brings something that is far away nearer to the person looking through it. But the location of the Collective Action Viewer is on a central square in the middle of the city, and the point where it is looking at is easily reachable by foot, and much closer than usual. We also decided to focus on one section which can be seen through the eyepieces and fixate the whole telescope on this special section.
Have you already collected some reactions from the installation in St.Pölten?
Due to the lockdown in St.Pölten we didn’t get so much feedback about the installation. For us it is very interesting to present this artwork in a public space, because there we can reach people who are usually not going to the museum. And because the Collective Action Viewer is available to everyone for free it also lowers the barrier to get in touch with visual art.Talking about impact, what role do you think the individual carries in the process of preserving the ecosystem? Should works like yours potentially inspire people to make changes on personal level and become more responsible consumers or do you consider putting pressure on the government to make systemic changes to be more important?
Sure, we think the individual plays an important role for the ecosystem. But since the Collective Action Viewer is also a political statement, it surely calls on the government to make a change and is meant to put pressure on it to reach our climate goals. But for sure we also need a critical mass to put some more pressure on our government.In general, do you think that artists have a responsibility to address injustice and draw attention to socially engaged topics? Do you see or feel the need for more activism from yourselves or others? Or on the other hand, do you have some favourite initiatives to highlight?
In times like these it feels like there is a need for artists to address and draw attention to topics like climate care and migration. We would not say about ourselves that we create political art. This installation is the first work where we addressed a topic like climate care and it was not our very first intention. Also there are many more layers in this artwork than only this topic, but it also means that we intend to raise awareness on socially engaged topics too in the future. The need for more forms of creative activism is indeed necessary. I think artist, who often think outside of the box, have special abilities to raise awareness of important topics, and we find it important that they do so.The installation that will soon appear on Karlsplatz will also be a part of Biennale for Change. Are there going to be any additional events where visitors could see you? Any discussions, Artist Talks…?
There will be an artist talk together with Dr.phil. Katharina Gsöllpointner within the preview program of this year’s Angewandte Festival since the Collective Action Viewer will also be featured in the festival this year. This talk will take place on the 8th of June 2021 at 5:30 pm at the site of the installation (Karlsplatz 14). There will be more events over the summer, which are not fixed yet. Just feel free to visit the website of the Collective Action Viewer to stay up to date.
The Collective Action Viewer is a contribution from the University of Applied Arts Vienna as part of the Vienna Biennale for Change 2021, co-produced by the Angewandte Innovation Lab.
Collective Action Viewer by Verena Tscherner & Joerg Auzinger © 2021
Born in Tyrol, Verena Tscherner moved to Vienna shortly after her graduation. She studied at the university of music (MDW) in Vienna and graduated in 2014 with a Bakk.art degree. From October 2018 to June 2019 she did her photography diploma at School Friedl Kubelka, school for artistic photography. Since 2019 Tscherner has been studying digital art as a second degree. She lives and works as a freelance artist in Vienna.
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Joerg Auzinger studied media art with Peter Weibel. Before that, he completed the Audiovisual Media Department at the Ortwein School of Art and Design in Graz with Richard Kriesche and studied film directing at the Vienna Film Academy with Axel Corti. He lives and works as a freelance artist in Vienna.
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