Audio Guide | Terminal Piece | Act 3

Audio Guide
Terminal Piece
Act 3

How do we confront a world that leaves us speechless? Act 3 on Level 2 turns to documentary and acts of witnessing. At its center is Leviathan by Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, projected at monumental scale. In the surrounding galleries, encounters with life and death recur throughout the works, from the intimate photographs by Annie Ernaux and Marc Marie to Jean Fautrier’s testaments to victims of fascism. This audio tour guides you through a selection of them.

Großformatige Projektion in einem abgedunkelten Ausstellungsraum mit roter Decke und Lichtleisten; das projizierte Filmbild zeigt eine Unterwasserszene mit einem hellen Objekt auf dem Gewässergrund neben einer vertikalen Struktur. / Large-scale projection in a darkened exhibition space with a red ceiling and strip lighting; the projected film image shows an underwater scene with a light-colored object resting on the seabed beside a vertical structure.

Intro

In the third act, the human perspective initially recedes into the background, only to resurface later in existential ways. How can we approach an overwhelming reality?

Großformatige Projektion in einem abgedunkelten Ausstellungsraum mit roter Decke und Lichtleisten; das projizierte Filmbild zeigt eine Person in glänzender roter Schutzkleidung von hinten in einer industriell wirkenden Umgebung. / Large-scale projection in a darkened exhibition space with a red ceiling and strip lighting; the projected film image shows a person in shiny red protective clothing seen from behind in an industrial-looking environment.

Verena Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor

In the video installation Leviathan, scenes from industrial fishing move across a wall-filling projection. The 2012 documentary by Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor is named after a biblical figure, the sea monster Leviathan, and immerses you deep in the rough world of a deep-sea trawler.

Großformatige Holzskulptur aus mehreren Segmenten eines Baumstamms, die von dunklen Metallringen umfasst und auf Metallgestellen präsentiert werden; die Arbeit steht vor einer weißen Ausstellungswand. / Large-scale wooden sculpture composed of several sections of a tree trunk, encircled by dark metal rings and displayed on metal supports; the work is positioned in front of a white gallery wall.

Magdalena Abakanowicz

The sculpture Booby Trap by the Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz belongs to the series War Games, in which she addresses the traumatic consequences of World War II.

An der Wand montierter Röhrenmonitor mit schwarz-weißem Videobild eines leeren, kastenförmigen Raums; im Zentrum ist ein kleines, schlingenförmiges Objekt zu sehen. / Wall-mounted CRT monitor displaying a black-and-white video image of an empty box-like room, with a small loop-shaped object visible at the center.

Bruce Nauman

Behind the mumok building, in the courtyard of the MuseumsQuartier, a concrete enclosure lies buried at a depth of about two and a half meters: Bruce Nauman’s Audio-Video Underground Chamber. You can watch the live transmission from this chamber in the main room of the third act.

Gerahmtes Reliefbild an einer intensiv blauen Wand, bestehend aus einer hellen, unregelmäßig geformten Struktur mit sichtbaren Materialschichten und feinen Linien auf grünlich-beigem Grund. / Framed relief work mounted on a vivid blue wall, featuring a light-colored irregular form with visible material layers and fine lines against a greenish-beige background.

Jean Fautrier

The more intimate spaces of the three booths contain Jean Fautrier’s Tête d’otages (Hostage Heads). These works were created in the final years of World War II, during the Nazi occupation of France.

Gerahmte Bildarbeit aus mehreren vertikalen Segmenten, die kreisförmige Formen, metallisch wirkende Flächen und den Ausschnitt einer Hand vor dunklem Hintergrund kombiniert. / Framed work composed of several vertical sections combining circular forms, metallic-looking surfaces, and a partial view of a hand against a dark background.

Christine Gironcoli

The Austrian artist Christine Gironcoli initially worked as a painting restorer. She integrates materials from this work into her art, giving them a new lease of life.

Neun kleinformatige Farbfotografien sind in drei Gruppen zu je vier Bildern auf einer weißen Ausstellungswand präsentiert; die Aufnahmen zeigen abstrakte Farbflächen, Lichtreflexe und unscharfe Detailansichten. / Nine small color photographs are presented on a white gallery wall in three groups of four images; the photographs show abstract fields of color, light reflections, and blurred close-up views.

Heimrad Bäcker

Heimrad Bäcker’s photographs show the relics of the infrastructure of the Mauthausen concentration and extermination camp. Without commentary or explanation, Bäcker draws our attention to seemingly inconspicuous details of this site.

Fünf gerahmte Schwarz-Weiß-Fotografien sind in einer Reihe auf einer blauen Ausstellungswand angeordnet; die Fotografien zeigen eine sitzende Person in unterschiedlichen Innenraumsituationen. / Five framed black-and-white photographs are arranged in a row on a blue gallery wall; the photographs depict a seated person in various interior settings.

Cora Pongracz

On the wall of the long corridor, you will see the photo series Ernst Jandl by the Austrian photographer Cora Pongracz. It is part of a body of work in which Pongracz questions the classic portrait.

Yukio Nakagawa

You are now in the right-hand aisle of Act 3. The photographs by the Japanese artist Yukio Nakagawa show wilting flowers and plant stems, which he arranged into unusual forms.

Sechs kleinformatige Farbfotografien in weißen Rahmen hängen in gleichmäßigen Abständen an einer weißen Wand; die Aufnahmen zeigen Ausschnitte von Innenräumen, Gegenständen und Alltagsdetails. / Six small color photographs in white frames are evenly spaced across a white wall; the images depict fragments of interiors, objects, and everyday details.

Annie Ernaux & Marc Marie

The photographs opposite the passage to the large exhibition space tell of the affair between the writer Annie Ernaux and the photographer Marc Marie.