Lawrence Weiner: SMASHED TO PIECES (IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT) : University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria

5 May 2021 - 5 May 2022 

Lawrence Weiner's well-known artwork "SMASHED TO PIECES (IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT)"  can now be seen publicly again in a revised version: 

 

The artwork, the German-language version of which comes from the Austrian writer Ferdinand Schmatz, will be projected from 5 May 2021 until 5 May 2022 from MAK (Museum of Applied Arts Vienna) onto the outer wall of the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

 

On the initiative of the owner of the artwork, art historian Franziska Hausmaninger, the outstanding example of conceptual art will shine again in a public space and act as a temporary installation. The language sculpture will be projected in four colors onto the approximately 16 by 25 meter outdoor area of the university building for exactly one year.

 

Lawrence Weiner recently received the Oskar-Kokoschka-Award for the year 2022. 

 

Jury chairman, Gerald Bast, rector of the University of Applied Arts Vienna said in statement: “Lawrence Weiner, an outstanding conceptual artist active since the 1960s, is being honoured. With his unmistakable formal language, which oscillates between the poetic and the political, he has also dealt with public space in a powerful way. In particular through his impressive work Smashed to pieces (In the Still of the Night), which he conceived for the former Flakturm in the 6th district of Vienna and adapted for the façade of the University of Applied Arts Vienna, but also through his cooperation with the artist group Die Damen, he is closely connected to the city of Vienna. His work has been presented in numerous exhibitions in Vienna”, Bast quotes from the jury’s statement.

 

The Oskar-Kokoschka-Award is one of the most important prizes for fine art in Austria. A ten-member jury headed by the rector of the University of Applied Rats Vienna biennially awards the prize, endowed with Euro 20.000,- by the (former called) Federal Ministry for Science and Research in 1980. The Oskar-Kokoschka-Award is granted for outstanding contributions in the field of fine arts.