Sculpture and Space Department
JULIA STEINBACH
IN THIS SCENERY
The writer Bodil Malmsten once said that she hates
music because it is the one form of artistic expression that doesn’t take the detour through the intellect, but rather manipulatively,
goes straight to the heart. The same could be said about decoration.
The vases, the
tablecloths, the figurines, the candleholders, the flowerpots, the knickknacks, the lamps, the blankets, the carpets, the
pillows, the wallpapers. To decorate is to allow the subconsciousness of taste to surface. It is to lose oneself in the facilitation
of visual and spatial pleasure and comfort. It is to acknowledge all the objects and images that we, on a purely practical
level do not need, but depend on spiritually.
If we look at an artwork as an externalised thought
process, decoration could be seen as an externalised emotional or intuitive process. It’s all desire, pleasure and impulse.
As I write this I realise the same could be said for art. Maybe the real difference is that with decoration we don’t feel
the need to ask any clever, well-formulated questions, casually referring to the theorist du jour. We don’t expect there to
be a text providing us with a context and a point of entry. We don’t feel the need to understand, we just enjoy it to the
deepest and fullest meaning of the word.
Text: Albin Bergström
Julia
Steinbach (*1989, Avesta, Sweden) graduated from Sculpture and Space at the University of Applied Arts Vienna in
January this year. She has been living and working in Vienna since 2017.
“Pfeiler” is an exhibition
space in the Brückenpassage/MQ.
Every three months, a work by graduates of the Sculpture and Space Department
is on display here.
Please be aware of the hygiene measures against COVID-19
while on site. Thank you!
Skulptur und Raum
Paulusplatz
5, A - 1030 Wien
+43-1-7133-2400
