DONAU-SOFAFAHRT KREMS / DOMINIKANERKIRCHE

In 2019 Josef Trattner created a foam installation for the summer summer branch of Kunsthalle Krems: For the Dominican Church, the Austrian artist manufactured a blue foam cuboid that spanned the entire nave horizontally. In the apse, he installed a tower of red and gray foam cubes, and the church was permeated by an acoustic live feed from the Danube. For performances, literary readings, and music events, the tower was disassembled into seating furniture, the cuboid served as a platform and installative sculpture.

“My installation emphasizes the dialog between the space, its colors, and the acoustics. The river Danube is also an essential component. As a raw material, the foam, which flows in the manufacturing process, all but forced itself on the content.” (Josef Trattner)

Participants: Cordula Bösze, Angelica Castello, Isabelle Duthoit, Agnes Heginger, Franz Hautzinger, Carl Ludwig Hübsch, Harald Kimmig, Sofa Surfers: Wolfgang Frisch, Michael Holzgruber, Markus Kienzl; Mani Obeya, Angelika Sheridan, Burkhard Stangl, Anika Vavić

In conjunction with the artistic intervention in the Dominican Church, Trattner’s project Danube Sofa Journeys was presented as part of the Land Art exhibition at Kunsthalle Krems by way of film screenings and a display of photography. The artist has been traveling Europe with his pink foam sofa since 2004, inviting artists, writers, and musicians to have a conversation. In 2016, Krems became a landing stage in one of Trattner’s Sofa Journeys, which followed the river from the Black Forest to the Black Sea.