Lois Weinberger1947–2020
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In his art, Lois Weinberger dealt with the complex relationship between nature and culture, thereby interconnecting regional and global histories of civilization. Weinberger’s specific interest was in the “peripheral zones of our perception of an invisible nature, a nature that comes from our minds.” In his inherently political concept of the inseparability of nature and culture, both the media and the materials he used were diverse—and he worked in a structural and symbolic manner, transforming the seemingly insignificant into art with inimitable aesthetic inventiveness and precise positing in his countless projects and works. Poetische Feldarbeit [Poetic Fieldwork], the title of one of his work groups, can in fact stand for his entire oeuvre.
Lois Weinberger exhibited worldwide, including twice at documenta 10 in 1997, where he allowed the plants that happened to germinate on an abandoned track bed to grow. 20 years later, at documenta 14, he had a strip torn out of the Karlsaue Park’s lawn and the earth thus removed piled up at the strip’s end. In these works, Weinberger was concerned with so-called ruderal vegetation (a term derived from the Latin word rudis, which means “uncultivated” and thus also “artless”); such plants, which are often referred to as weeds, occupy fallow ground, cracks in the pavement, heaps of loose stony debris, or unbuilt peripheries. For the Austrian Pavilion at the 2009 Venice Biennale, on the other hand, he originated a concept called the Laubreise [Journey of Leaves]: for this, Weinberger placed a compost heap—realized as a compact cuboid mass of rotting plant matter—inside a simple wooden walk-in mini-pavilion built along the canal and covered with a blue plastic sheet. “This heap’s decay is effected by time / which makes it possible / to recognize a fraction of the great change that occurs and to transform a space of art into a space of the existential.” (L. Weinberger). And in the “invisible nature,” Weinberger held, “being at one with nature” exists “only in death.”
It was long before the environmental movement—and without being an environmentalist—that Lois Weinberger developed his themes and ideas, and the fact that many young artists have picked up on these and carried them forward speaks to his great influence.
In addition to his activities in Austria, Lois Weinberger was involved in numerous exhibitions and projects in places including Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Germany, England, France, Holland, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Scotland, and the USA. He also created special public space projects in collaboration with Franziska Weinberger between 2003 and 2009.
Silvia Eiblmayr
Silvia Eiblmayr is a curator and author. She lives and works in Vienna.
April 2020
Lois Weinberger exhibited worldwide, including twice at documenta 10 in 1997, where he allowed the plants that happened to germinate on an abandoned track bed to grow. 20 years later, at documenta 14, he had a strip torn out of the Karlsaue Park’s lawn and the earth thus removed piled up at the strip’s end. In these works, Weinberger was concerned with so-called ruderal vegetation (a term derived from the Latin word rudis, which means “uncultivated” and thus also “artless”); such plants, which are often referred to as weeds, occupy fallow ground, cracks in the pavement, heaps of loose stony debris, or unbuilt peripheries. For the Austrian Pavilion at the 2009 Venice Biennale, on the other hand, he originated a concept called the Laubreise [Journey of Leaves]: for this, Weinberger placed a compost heap—realized as a compact cuboid mass of rotting plant matter—inside a simple wooden walk-in mini-pavilion built along the canal and covered with a blue plastic sheet. “This heap’s decay is effected by time / which makes it possible / to recognize a fraction of the great change that occurs and to transform a space of art into a space of the existential.” (L. Weinberger). And in the “invisible nature,” Weinberger held, “being at one with nature” exists “only in death.”
It was long before the environmental movement—and without being an environmentalist—that Lois Weinberger developed his themes and ideas, and the fact that many young artists have picked up on these and carried them forward speaks to his great influence.
In addition to his activities in Austria, Lois Weinberger was involved in numerous exhibitions and projects in places including Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Germany, England, France, Holland, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Scotland, and the USA. He also created special public space projects in collaboration with Franziska Weinberger between 2003 and 2009.
Silvia Eiblmayr
Silvia Eiblmayr is a curator and author. She lives and works in Vienna.
April 2020