The Karlsplatz is seized by the Kunsthalle Wien. Semiannually the SCULPTURE and the SHOWCASE take reference to the square, quarterly artists program the LIGHT STRIP with LED-generated light/text images on top of the project space building.
Pascale Marthine Tayou (*1967) was born in Cameroon and currently lives in Belgium. Beginning from his nomadic existence between African heritage and life in Europe, Tayou?s oeuvre thematizes social, economic, and cultural gaps between the first and third world. He makes use of all media and examines phenomena relating to and resulting from a post-colonial and globalized world view.
One aspect in this context is the treatment of human and ecological resources. Tayou designed the installation ?Plastic Bags,? put together from 10,000 plastic bags, for the Kunsthalle Wien?s sculpture square at the neuralgic traffic node Karlsplatz. The plastic bag as an icon of modern disposable society becomes a memorial here, a mirror held up to civilization reflecting the opposite of glamour and beautiful appearances: fast living and decay.
Exhibitions include: Documenta 11, Kassel 2002, 51st Biennale Venedig 2005.