Constanze Schweiger: Finished Ang Began In The Next One
Constanze Schweiger works in the fields of visual arts, literature, graphic design and publishing. Her practices enable and inform each other, and the results of her production relate to each other on a material, content-related, formal, conceptual and economic level. In her works, the artist uses textiles and textile processes to produce sculptures that address the relationship between time and composition as well as time and individual perspective. A central point of reference is an understanding of the human subject as part of a dynamic network of relationships with the natural and social environment, in space and time.
For her exhibition Finished and begun in the next one, the artist has invited the duo WIENER TIMES (Susanne Schneider and Johannes Schweiger) to present the series Doodle Hands, 2023, created in collaboration with Constanze Schweiger. WIENER TIMES are known for their stylistically eclectic everyday objects at the intersection of design, craftsmanship, art and decoration. A strong focus is placed on the textiles used and the handcrafted detail.
The textile material for both the Doodle Hands works and the work Eisenblauf盲rbung for Ballgasse 6, 2023, a cyanotype-dyed blue fabric hanging from a rope stretched across the gallery space, originates from a past exhibition by Constanze Schweiger at the New J枚rg exhibition space in Vienna. The reuse of material from works presented as finished works in 2017 corresponds to Schweiger鈥檚 understanding of her practice as the ongoing writing of a story whose material is constantly fed by all her various activities and subjective experiences.
In 2017, a fabric dyed yellow with turmeric hung from the ceiling of New J枚rg. Over the duration of the exhibition, it changed color due to the exposure to sunlight. Six years later, visitors to the gallery now encounter lengths of fabric dyed iron blue. As part of a residency at the Kulturverein Salettl, part of the Kleine Stadt Farm association in Vienna鈥檚 Lobau, Constanze Schweiger moved into a studio near the water last summer, surrounded by nature and numerous civil society initiatives. She took the curcuma yellow textile there and designated the content of the previous exhibition as the material for the upcoming one.
The proximity to the river and the adjacent grasslands made it possible to bleach the fabric in preparation for a new dyeing process: Schweiger used a centuries-old method to spread the cotton on the grass, soaking it in the river water once a day. The peroxides formed under the influence of light and oxygen, together with substances produced during the photosynthesis of the grass, caused the gradual fading of the yellow color. Following a traditional recipe for cyanotype, she dipped the now bleached fabric into a solution of iron salts, which together react sensitively to light. The subsequent exposure resulted in a dye called iron blue, Prussian blue or Berlin blue, depending on the emphasis of the chemical structure or the historical background.
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Constanze Schweiger works in the fields of visual arts, literature, graphic design and publishing. Her practices enable and inform each other, and the results of her production relate to each other on a material, content-related, formal, conceptual and economic level. In her works, the artist uses textiles and textile processes to produce sculptures that address the relationship between time and composition as well as time and individual perspective. A central point of reference is an understanding of the human subject as part of a dynamic network of relationships with the natural and social environment, in space and time.
For her exhibition Finished and begun in the next one, the artist has invited the duo WIENER TIMES (Susanne Schneider and Johannes Schweiger) to present the series Doodle Hands, 2023, created in collaboration with Constanze Schweiger. WIENER TIMES are known for their stylistically eclectic everyday objects at the intersection of design, craftsmanship, art and decoration. A strong focus is placed on the textiles used and the handcrafted detail.
The textile material for both the Doodle Hands works and the work Eisenblauf盲rbung for Ballgasse 6, 2023, a cyanotype-dyed blue fabric hanging from a rope stretched across the gallery space, originates from a past exhibition by Constanze Schweiger at the New J枚rg exhibition space in Vienna. The reuse of material from works presented as finished works in 2017 corresponds to Schweiger鈥檚 understanding of her practice as the ongoing writing of a story whose material is constantly fed by all her various activities and subjective experiences.
In 2017, a fabric dyed yellow with turmeric hung from the ceiling of New J枚rg. Over the duration of the exhibition, it changed color due to the exposure to sunlight. Six years later, visitors to the gallery now encounter lengths of fabric dyed iron blue. As part of a residency at the Kulturverein Salettl, part of the Kleine Stadt Farm association in Vienna鈥檚 Lobau, Constanze Schweiger moved into a studio near the water last summer, surrounded by nature and numerous civil society initiatives. She took the curcuma yellow textile there and designated the content of the previous exhibition as the material for the upcoming one.
The proximity to the river and the adjacent grasslands made it possible to bleach the fabric in preparation for a new dyeing process: Schweiger used a centuries-old method to spread the cotton on the grass, soaking it in the river water once a day. The peroxides formed under the influence of light and oxygen, together with substances produced during the photosynthesis of the grass, caused the gradual fading of the yellow color. Following a traditional recipe for cyanotype, she dipped the now bleached fabric into a solution of iron salts, which together react sensitively to light. The subsequent exposure resulted in a dye called iron blue, Prussian blue or Berlin blue, depending on the emphasis of the chemical structure or the historical background.
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Constanze Schweiger works in the fields of visual arts, literature, graphic design and publishing.
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