Peter Noever / Sepp Müller /
Michael Embacher:
Modell CAT, 2000
CAT - Contemporary Art Tower
an incomparable enrichment for Vienna as an art location
Originated in 1995, the CAT project came into being when the 2nd and 9th floors of the flak tower in Arenbergpark were adapted to a depot for the MAK's collection of contemporary art.
The chief aim of the project is to transform this structure, with its bleak historical connotations, into a vibrant center for contemporary art and new media which accommodates to the complex requirements of today's artistic productions.
The solid reinforced concrete construction and the exceptional size of the spaces available for use make the flak tower in Arenbergpark the ideal environment for a dialogue between artists and the public. Thus, a direct confrontation with works made on-site contributes toward a better understanding for contemporary art. The production as well as the presentation of art works becomes public; CAT becomes a place of direct dialogue between artists working there and visitors. By way of this exchange a laboratory is developed where new positions in contemporary art are worked out. In the course of ten to fifteen years a collection which will be unique in Vienna will evolve because the chief aim of the project is the realization of artistic productions on-site and not the purchase of already existing works of art.
This space which currently has no function is to be opened to the public and integrated into Vienna's urban and social life. With the intention of encompassing different ways to access various forms of art, this project will provide studios, workshops, a "kitchen" and other informal "junctions" for digital and analog media. An auditorium, exhibition spaces, restaurants, a café, and a bar are also planned. In addition, a media and supply tower is to be erected on the south front (Barmherzigengasse), whose fragile and transparent construction will present a conscious contrast to the brutal and menacing body of the main tower. Jenny Holzer and James Turrell have created artistic interventions for the site which will become a permanent part of the architectural structure.
Peter Noever
7 Million Euro today
for a collection of enormous value tomorrow!
Also economic conditions would doubtless suggest the implementation of CAT – Contemporary Art Tower: in a Private-Public Partnership, the Austrian federal government and the Vienna municipality would have to contribute not more than 3.5 million Euros each of the total investment to realize CAT. This is only a small fraction of what would have to be spent decades later on retrospective purchases of now contemporary art. CAT guarantees that cuttingedge art is given today already its due cultural-political position in the “Kulturnation Österreich”.
Absolutely unique collection
The programmatic strategy developed by Peter Noever, Sepp Müller, and Michael Embacher takes account of the complex requirements of contemporary art production. It is to invite exceptional artists to make them respond to the ambience of the site in specially developed installations and interventions as Artists-in-Residence. Over a period of about 15 years, in which the interested public will be given regular opportunity to witness the creative processes on site and to expand their understanding of contemporary art in dialogue with the artists, a unique and irremovable collection will be compiled at the Gefechtsturm Arenbergpark. At the same time the flak tower, a foreign body in the cityscape, will be given new significance and reintegrated into urban life without losing its function as a memorial.
part of MAK NITE©
In relation to the historical significance and specificity of the site as a relic of national socialism and a bunker, artists will focus on the visionary idea of a constantly expanding and growing place of art by means of actions, performances and installations in one-night events.
Also in 2009, five CAT OPEN events are scheduled between May and November. [Program]
CHRISTO/CAT
Together with the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, New York, the MAK and the Österreichische Post AG presented on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, the stamp block designed by CHRISTO for CAT-Contemporary Art Tower.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude rank among the most important artists of our time. For decades, the artist couple has done Environmental Art projects and interventions in open landscapes and in cities as well as a number of selected wrapping actions, as, for example, in the case of the Berlin Reichstag building in 1995. Currently they are working, i.a., on a spectacular project entitled “Over the River” (Arkansas River, Colorado).
The artists have long advocated and supported the CAT – Contemporary Art Tower project for the Anti-Aircraft Tower (Flak Tower during WW II) in Arenbergpark. On a MAK initiative, Christo created a postage stamp showing a vision of the wrapped Flak Tower which subsequently transforms into the CAT. “Making the design and making it available for free is a convincing declaration of sympathy for the MAK and especially for the CAT project,” says Peter Noever, Director MAK. The CHRISTO/CAT postage-stamp block was developed in close cooperation between the MAK, the artists, and the Austrian Post.
PETER NOEVER / SEPP MÜLLER /MICHAEL EMBACHER
CAT-Designer
CAT-Designer
PAUL VIRILIO
Philosopher, urbanist and cultural theorist, France
Philosopher, urbanist and cultural theorist, France
EVA SCHLEGEL
Künstlerin, Wien
Künstlerin, Wien
WOLF D. PRIX/COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Architekt, Wien
Architekt, Wien
JAMES TURRELL
Artist, Flagstaff, Arizona
Artist, Flagstaff, Arizona
CHRISTO AND JEANNE-CLAUDE
Artists, New York
Artists, New York
[back]