Stadtwerkstatt as Public Space

EVERYTHING GONE WELL SO FAR

The project “The Stadtwerkstatt as public space” was conceived as a long-term circulating research and art project in the public areas of STWST. The concept was conceived at the end of 2016/beginning of 2017 on the occasion of a call for projects by the City of Linz on the topic of “Publicity and Displacement”. The reason for this was a peek of problems in the public areas of the house, especially during the nighttimes, which were noticeable in many places in the city at the same time. In the concept, Stadtwerkstatt argued that due to the largely open accesses in the public areas of the building, it was not only necessary to deal with various situations, but that the displacement, that happened elsewhere in the city, increasingly had to be absorbed. In order to push the topic forward offensively, the approach was chosen to examine the Stadtwerkstatt and the Cafe Strom as the open space as it functions for years anyway - as a place of an autonomous and heterogeneous scene, determined and supported by informal rules and behaviour by house employees, but also by associated partners, project participants, cooperation partners, up to the guests.


At the beginning of the project, a text was published in the Versorgerin #116: Ich weiß, wo dein Beisl lebt, Dez 2017. Furthermore, a publicly accessible discussion on the topic took place in the frame of “Strom um sieben, March 2018: Bis jetzt ist alles gutgegangen? - Öffentlichkeit und Verdängung. Plus Filmscreening "La Haine", Mathieu Kassovitz - March 25th, 9 p.m., Moviemento



In a practical implementation phase from December 2017 to March 2018, the public areas of the house were declared as a circulating performative and scientific research area. Research of STWST, plus two scientists and eight performers were involved in the project from Nov 2017 to March 2018.

Several research projects, communicative processes and smaller interventions accompanied the project.

The results were communicated internally and partly externally, and form the basis for further artistic-scientific-social circulation.


On November 10th, in the early evening hours, the scenic reading “Social Sleep” was performed in Cafe Strom and in the public areas of the house - as the last part of the project in its original conception and at the same time as a potential beginning of a continuation of the project in further artistic circulation. Social Sleep

Under the title “The Public Space and the Open End”, a text has been published with the practical end of the project (the part sponsored by LINZim PULS) in the paper Versorgerin, Issue # 120 Der öffentliche Raum und das offene Ende



Additionally from the project context:

In 2018, artistic and scientific works have been implemented or are in the planning stage which additionally have developed from the project context.

A further theoretical and practical phase was implemented in winter 2018/19 by the Kepler University.


In the neighbouring Hinsenkamppassage in Linz's urban space, an artistic-discursive project was also implemented in summer/autumn 2018. This text was published in Versorgerin #120: Das Hinsenkamp Labor.

In a further theoretical and practical phase in winter 2018/19, the Kepler University took a further step towards “publicity and displacement” in urban space. Here the STWST was also integrated as a location. A text on the larger context has been published by the Versorgerin 122: Kapitalisische Landnahmen und die Stadt

This theme is an ongoing theme of the house - and a further processing of the project in an artistic way is also planned.



With support from LINZimPULS.