COMMON GROUNDS

The project Common Grounds, realized by the artist duo Irena Eden & Stijn Lernout, posed questions about social coexistence in the urban context and negotiated them—discursively and performatively—in public space. Each location, each evening addressed a concept: RESISTANCE, NEARNESS, FEAR, CHANGE, FRAGILITY, SOLIDARITY, COOPERATION, SPACE / LIVING and BEING ON THE MOVE. 25 stackable stools and a mobile cookshop served as the setting. The events traced a path through the nine outer districts of Vienna, each taking up residence in a public place for one evening: The evening opened with artistic or scientific contributions to the above-mentioned terms, followed by a simple meal from the cookshop. The project created a framework in which the active intertwining of different fields set in motion a process of exchange. Art, science and society found each other in a non-hierarchical dialog. In addition to documenting the individual events with their artistic and scientific contributions, the publication includes an introduction by Anne Faucheret to the topic and the artistic practice of the duo.

Cooperations with Thomas Arzt, Miriam Bajtala, Hanna Binder, Virginie Canoine, Iris Dittler, Christiane Feuerstein and Simon Andreas Güntner, Niki Kubaczek, Elisabeth Oberzaucher as well as the collective Weiter (Alexandra Pâzgu, Florian Kmet, Roman Blumenschein).