Could a sculpture be a connection? That’s what the artist Manfred Wakolbinger wants you to consider. We are standing before Die Zukunft einer Vision Sculpture. It is an artwork that invites us to reflect on our place in the world.
Manfred Wakolbinger is an Austrian artist born in 1952. He works with photography and sculpture in his studio in Vienna. Wakolbinger’s art often features organically curved objects. These objects sometimes resemble beings from another world. The artist places them in real or virtual spaces. He intervenes in landscapes and architectural settings. He gives them a new focus. He redefines and reshapes them completely. Irony is a constant companion in his work.
Wakolbinger develops his large stainless steel sculptures on the computer first. Then the artist realizes them physically. For the Kunstprojekt Salzburg, he chose a spot on the Rudolfskai. It sits between the old city wall and the Salzach river. Wakolbinger said that this place has an intimate feel. He also felt a generous spirit because of the river’s width. He sees this location as a stage for his sculpture. The sculpture creates a connection to Salzburg’s cultural identity.
Wakolbinger titled his sculpture “Connection”. It highlights the relationship between inner and outer worlds. In this case, the “outer” is Salzburg’s old town. Its cultural and historical substance has been established over centuries. It possesses an almost museum-like quality. The “inner” refers to the people who live in the city. They work, vacation, and fill it with life.
Wakolbinger transfers this connection to his sculpture. It is about eleven meters long. It ends in two vessel-like openings that serve as entrances and exits. Is it just a simple transit station where nothing sticks around? Do we just go in and out? Or can the outer and inner worlds, art and life, be combined? This is precisely what Wakolbinger is aiming for. He wants to fill urban and cultural spaces with life. The mirrored, sparkling, and fractured interior of the sculpture symbolizes this life.
The viewer completes the work. Wakolbinger says the hermetic surface on the outside and the reflection on the inside create a contrast. This contrast dissolves when viewers become part of the sculpture through their reflection. Since 2013, the Wurth Group has owned this artwork. It is available to the public and the city of Salzburg as a loan. The Salzburg Foundation helps coordinate this. Die Zukunft einer Vision Sculpture is not just an object. It is a dynamic interaction between space, culture, and people.