Bernd Fasching
Encyclopedia
Bernd Fasching is an Austrian painter and sculptor. He lives and works in Vienna.
A constantly recurring, central element in Fasching’s work is the creation of his pieces of art amidst his visitors and audience. There were 7 periods between 1987 and 2006 when, under the title 12 Tage 12 Nächte/12 Days 12 Nights, Fasching lived and worked in various galleries around the world, where he could be observed at work and was always open to discussions. During this time he did not leave the place of work. Fasching created 12 paintings with themes inspired by the talks with the visitors to his work sessions. For each of the seven stations of the project [Vienna (1987), Amsterdam (1990), Cologne (1991), Zurich (1992), Jerusalem (1994), New York (1997) and finally Vienna again (2006)] a special soundtrack was composed, which was played in the respective gallery for the full 288 hours of the project.
Fasching’s walk-in sculpture Der Hammer des Thors/Thor’s Hammer, created in 1990 in the entrance hall of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (Museum für Angewandte Kunst - MAK), also emerged before the eyes of the museum’s visitors, thus enabling them to follow the process of creation. A further walk-in sculpture was created by Bernd Fasching in the Dominican Republic
between 1996 and 1997. Terra Nova, the title of this walk-in formation of sculptures, depicts the landing place of Christopher Columbus
on the island as an incentive to reflect on the checkered, often terrible History of the American Continents
.
Based on these pieces, Fasching created the series Tools, making a sculpture of each of the tools required for sculpturing a monument. A bronze sculpture from this series, in the form of a spade, was revised by Fasching and turned into the Diva Award, an Austrian prize for sensational real-estate projects, which has been awarded annually ever since its creation in 2002, with Bernd Fasching himself as one of the jury members.
Life and work
In 2000 Fasching opened his project Westwerk (a western investigation of the occidental culture) in the more than 800 years old Vienna St. Stephan’s Cathedral. The project consisted of his sculptures, paintings and other work.A constantly recurring, central element in Fasching’s work is the creation of his pieces of art amidst his visitors and audience. There were 7 periods between 1987 and 2006 when, under the title 12 Tage 12 Nächte/12 Days 12 Nights, Fasching lived and worked in various galleries around the world, where he could be observed at work and was always open to discussions. During this time he did not leave the place of work. Fasching created 12 paintings with themes inspired by the talks with the visitors to his work sessions. For each of the seven stations of the project [Vienna (1987), Amsterdam (1990), Cologne (1991), Zurich (1992), Jerusalem (1994), New York (1997) and finally Vienna again (2006)] a special soundtrack was composed, which was played in the respective gallery for the full 288 hours of the project.
Fasching’s walk-in sculpture Der Hammer des Thors/Thor’s Hammer, created in 1990 in the entrance hall of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (Museum für Angewandte Kunst - MAK), also emerged before the eyes of the museum’s visitors, thus enabling them to follow the process of creation. A further walk-in sculpture was created by Bernd Fasching in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
between 1996 and 1997. Terra Nova, the title of this walk-in formation of sculptures, depicts the landing place of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
on the island as an incentive to reflect on the checkered, often terrible History of the American Continents
History of the Americas
The history of the Americas is the collective history of the American landmass, which includes North and South America, as well as Central America and the Caribbean. It begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an Ice Age...
.
Based on these pieces, Fasching created the series Tools, making a sculpture of each of the tools required for sculpturing a monument. A bronze sculpture from this series, in the form of a spade, was revised by Fasching and turned into the Diva Award, an Austrian prize for sensational real-estate projects, which has been awarded annually ever since its creation in 2002, with Bernd Fasching himself as one of the jury members.
Works/Experimental arrangements in the field of art
- Westwerk – Formation in the Vienna St. Stephan’s Cathedral, Austria (2000)
- 12 Days 12 Nights – Vienna, Austria (1987)
- 12 Days 12 Nights – Amsterdam, The Netherlands (1990)
- 12 Days 12 Nights – Cologne, Germany (1991)
- 12 Days 12 Nights – Zurich, Switzerland (1992)
- 12 Days 12 Nights – Jerusalem, Israel (1994)
- 12 Days 12 Nights – New York, USA (1997)
- 12 Days 12 Nights – Vienna, Austria (2006)
- Der Hammer des Thors/Thor’s Hammer – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), Vienna, Austria (1990)
- Kopf-Bahnhöfe/Railheads - Vienna, Austria (1993)
- Die Energie-Frage/The Energy-Question -Stuttgart, Germany (1994)
- Terra Nova. Una Formacion Americana – Casa de CampoCasa de Campo, Dominican RepublicIn 1975 Gulf+Western developed of its Central Romana sugar mill's land into the Casa de Campo resort. Situated in La Romana on the southeast coast of the Dominican Republic, Casa de Campo is a Ponderosa-style, tropical seaside resort.The first to enjoy the luxuries of this enclave were friends of...
, Dominican Republic (1996/97) - The Vienna Pillows
- Heads
- Women/Men Series
- Tools
- Herz Hirten
- Gaza Power Station – Gaza City, Palestine (Realisation postponed for indefinite period of time due to the second intifada)
- Vienna Mirror – the strong and vulnerable heart of democracy – Supplementing the LuegerKarl LuegerKarl Lueger was an Austrian politician and mayor of Vienna. The populist and anti-Semitic politics of his Christian Social Party are sometimes viewed as a model for Hitler's Nazism.- Career :...
monument at the Vienna RingstraßeRingstraßeThe Ringstraße is a circular road surrounding the Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria and is one of its main sights...
, Austria – Phase 1 (2003), Phase 2 in preparation - Band Eins/Volume One. Experimental Arrangements in the Field of Art. 9 Examples. German/English (pocket book, Edition Mailoi, Vienna, Austria 1996)
External links
- Bernd Fasching
- PIXELWING ARTSPHERE including a long list of secondary literature, Bernd Fasching on TV, his exhibitions since 1982, and pictures of his paintings and sculptures
- Diva Award (German only)
- Paintings of Bernd Fasching on Artnet