The Kunstraum
Buchberg in Buchberg Castle on the river Kamp is a vibrant microcosm of
rural, architectural, historical, artistic and art theoretical spaces. The
rural space is comprised of steep, densely wooded hills. The Kamp river
structures the space with a meander that can easily make you lose your sense of
direction. It frames the castle grounds in a semicircle, brushes past the towering
castle rock, accumulates behind a weir where it is surrounded by meadows and
riparian forest, and then feeds a small modern hydroelectric power station on
the site of an old mill. The result of many centuries of anonymous
construction, the architectural space consists of expansive garden terraces,
courtyards laid out on various levels and a variety of spatial constellations
in the irregularly arranged wings of the building. The historical space is
palpable in the walls and towers that have been built and converted countless
times since the mid-12th century, in the portals adorned with coats of arms and
stuccoed vaults, in the carved doors and not least in myriad traces of everyday
life left by its inhabitants. The artistic space has engraved itself in the castle’s
landscape, architecture, history and surroundings over the past three decades
thanks to the permanent integration of contemporary artistic spatial concepts
in its interiors and exteriors, the amassing of a related art collection, as
well as the hosting of exhibitions, workshops, seminars and research projects.
The fusion of these heterogeneous elements into an overall ensemble – probably
the castle’s defining characteristic – has given rise to an interpretive space
that facilitates reflection on a multitude of levels.
At the heart of the Kunstraum Buchberg are thirty art projects that
react to the space. For their works the artists made use of the wide range of
different spatial settings in the gardens, courtyards, towers, rooms and
hallways of the expansive site. Their artistic interventions react to the
existing context and simultaneously alter the starting point for subsequent
concepts. A considerable impact on the character of the Kunstraum Buchberg is exerted not least by the restoration work and above all its restrained style
– even when it is carried out in emphatically slow and unobtrusive stages.
The dynamism that keeps the Kunstraum Buchberg going is not a homogenous
theory that has been set in stone. Rather, the secret is to constantly revisit
the question of which phenomena in contemporary art draw on historic approaches
and reinterpret them from a modern-day perspective, bring them up to date or
simply cast them aside and develop radically new techniques to produce art
constructively, analytically and conceptually.
The Kunstraum Buchberg is not a museum! Buchberg Castle’s unique
character is more a contradictory formulation: it is a private site that is
open to the public and characterized by a seamless fusion of living and art
spaces, of artistic production and artistic reflection, of art display and art
research, where visitors are welcome – not as an anonymous crowd but as guests.
Picture credits: (1) Roof shapes: square,
circle, cross. Photo: Joerg Burger (2) Ornamental garden, DAN GRAHAM, Star
of David. Photo: Rita Newman (3) Blue salon with works by THOMAS KAMINSKY. Photo: Rita Newman (4) Pergola, HEIMO ZOBERNIG. Photo: Joerg Burger