building >< against

With Lisa Bolyos, Cäcilia Brown, Bussi Gruppe, Tomash Schoiswohl, Julia Wieger

building >< against refers to the non-conformist production of space, resistant buildings, protest architectures, autonomous and functionally open architectures, the preservation and cultivation of places, radical reconstructions. And even more radical practices of not building at all.

The main element of the exhibition is a heavy-duty shelf laden with found and self-made building components. Old, historical, new, useless, and fantasy materials and other artefacts are collected, sorted, produced, and synthesised here. It showcases the rich legacy of uprisings, protests, and resistance in Vienna’s past and present.

For the duration of the exhibition, a wharf will be constructed as a setting for learning, workshops, and discussions. It is a place to read, rest, and plan. Together with the visitors, a resistant structure will be built from the materials at hand and ultimately inserted into the public domain in protest against real estate speculation, profit maximisation, and the destruction of the planet, while celebrating collective luxuries and democracy.

The exhibition building >< against will also feature works by artists who tackle aspects of defiant (non-) building and take a critical approach to materials.