For the 150th anniversary of the first Vienna High Spring pipeline, the artist group Gelatin has designed a fountain for Vienna Water that transfers the vitality and joy of the Baroque fountain system to the present and sets an example for responsibility and community . At least that’s what the press release for an invitation to an event says, in which curator Jeanette Pacher talks to Gelatin about the fountain. How one can actually recognize joie de vivre in these fat men is a mystery, and not just to art lovers. And so this Wednesday from 3 pm onwards the artists are to discuss the meaning of their work in the Helmut Zilk Park in Vienna-Favitriten.
There is nothing new for Gelatin members who allow themselves to be photographed only in skirts or even less. He had attracted attention 20 years earlier with a work in Hamburg: The Arc de Triomphe, depicting a man building a bridge and urinating in his mouth, had to be destroyed due to mass protests. “At the time, we were not interested in showing gender, but in a man who was completely happy with himself,” the group told the Standard.
The FPO district chairman in Favoriten, Stefan Berger, announces a local council inquiry into the cost of this “illustrative event”. “It is absurd that after spending millions of dollars on the anniversary fountain, a group of artists is now having to explain the meaning of this so-called building. Excess tax money is being wasted here, while many Viennese can no longer afford to live. I call on the Vienna SPO to stop this waste of money and cover its costs from the party treasury,” Berger said.
