Skulpturenpark Westautobahn (Western Motorway Sculpture Park)

A project developed and organized by Eginhartz Kanter and Rainer Noebauer-Kammerer, AT, 2016

In summer 2016 a sculpture park was created at the Linz interchange, the junction of the A1 and A7 motorways. Almost unnoticed by the world outside, eleven artists installed secretly projects on this quasi-insular expanse. The odd atmosphere and the characteristics of this isolated patch of land provided the impulse for the artworks and at
the same time determined the working conditions. The Western Motorway Sculpture Park is an attempt to question space utilization concepts, to exploit the specific qualities of the site and to recast a non-place as exhibition venue. The current outlook of this area dates back to 1964. It is entirely surrounded by traffic lanes and moreover encircled by high noise barriers. There exists no public access to the site, nor is it possible to obtain a glimpse of its interior. Despite its seemingly convenient location, the sculpture park therefore remains inaccessible to visitors. Its vegetation has been allowed to grow in an uncontrolled manner since the area is largely left to itself, without human interven- tion.

The implementation of the projects was strongly impacted by the near-inaccessibility of the site as well as by the necessity of setting up the artworks as unobtrusively as possible. The projects for the Western Motorway Sculpture Park refer to the area either formally or through their subject-matter. The fascination of the venture lies in the knowledge that it is impossible to visit this exhibition in a no-man’s-land.

Concept development and organisation: Eginhartz Kanter / Rainer Noebauer-Kammerer

participating artists: Sarah Decristoforo, Stepha Farkashazy, Ulrich Fohler, Margit Greinöcker, Katharina Gruzei, Eginhartz Kanter, Thomas Kluckner, Colin Linde, Rainer Noebauer, Felix Pöchhacker and Oktavia Schreiner