Wolfgang Weileder

is best known for his large-scale temporary site-specific architectural installations and sculpture, although his research also includes photography, film, sound installation and performance.

Primarily concerned with the examination and critical deconstruction of architecture, public spaces and the interactions we have with the urban environment, Weileder’s work investigates the relationship between time and space and the interface between reality and virtuality in order to question our understanding of the public sphere.

Wolfgang Weileder

Replica

In ‘Replica’, Weileder used contemporary construction processes to engage directly with the historical and spatial parameters of two European city squares: Piazza Oberdan in Milan (Italy) and Martelarenplein in Leuven (Belgium).

The project consisted of two temporary time-based site-specific architectural scale installations and associated long-exposure photographs that referred to largely forgotten historical buildings located in or beneath public squares.

Slapende Meermin recreated the façade of a four-story house situated at the northern end of Martelarenplein in Leuven, Belgium (2008 (below left) Le Terme, developed from Diurno Venezea, a derelict 1920s subterranean public bathhouse, was realised at Piazza Oberdan, Milan (2008) (below right).

Both works raised questions about the relationship between contemporary public art and historical architecture, the uses of public spaces, and the interaction between artist, participant and audience.

To do this, Weileder and his collaborators turned and/or mirrored the existing architecture, and reconstructed it as a temporary installation in the centre of the public square e.g. the facade of the Leuven building was rotated 90⁰ so as to appear like physical manifestations of its shadow (below left). The 8 meter long and 5 meter high subterranean structure of the Milan bathhouse, meanwhile, was mirrored to the surface and rebuilt on the piazza above, appearing like physical reflection of itself (below right).

The allusion to the shadow/mirror image within the permanent and prominent context of the squares highlighted the tension between temporality and the presumed permanence of architectural structures. Through a performative and temporary gesture, the construction of the monumental became an event, an experience in flux that encouraged the public to engage with the architectural heritage of their cities.

Both events were recorded using long exposure analogue photography and an innovative digital image recording technology developed by Weileder. The resulting ‘time-lapse’ images were exhibited as large-scale prints in two series: one black and white, the other colour. In the second series, special digital cameras took one-pixel wide recordings in regular intervals during the project, then conflated these ‘slice-recordings’ into single photographs, with time progressing from left to right.

Wolfgang Weileder, Projects 2002-2008, (solo show), ASSAB One, Milan, 2008; Le Terme e La Sirena, (solo show), Ciocca Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 2009; To The Demon King’s Castle, of course, (solo show with M+M), Workplace Gallery, Gateshead, UK, 2009.

Slapende Meermin, was commissioned by STUK Kunstencentrum and realised by Weileder in collaboration with R.Bau Ltd (South Tyneside), Newcastle College UK, and Wonen en Werken, Leuven. Slapende Meermin was presented as part of the STUKSTART festival in Martelarenplein, Leuven, Belgium, in 2008.

Le terme, was co-funded by Galleria Ciocca Arte Contemporanea and Arts Council England and exhibited in Piazza Oberdan, Milan in 2008. Collaborators here included Politecnico di Milano, ASSAB-One Milan and Spazio Oberdan and the construction of the work was sponsored by UK and Italian construction companies (r.Bau Ltd, Layher and Gasbeton).

Suspended Space

The Atlas Project

Res Publica

‘Res Publica’ was a temporary installation that sought to explore dialogues between privilege and deprivation through a number of site-specific interventions, commissioned for the ‘5x5’ Washington DC (USA) public art festival in 2012.

Extending Weileder’s previous research, which interrogated formal and temporal aspects of urban architectural space, ‘Res Publica’ directly engaged in complex and pressing societal issues around the social function of architecture and public space.

It comprised of three distinct elements: a stainless steel leaflet dispenser, printed plans for making a 1:50 scale architectural cardboard model of the Supreme Court (PDF copies of the printed plan were also downloadable from the ‘5x5’ website), and four cardboard versions of the model installed at various sites around the city, constructed with the help of students at Washington’s Corcoran College of Art and Design.

In referring to diametrically opposed forms and concepts of architecture - e.g. the monumental, neo-classical, Palladian-style architecture of the Supreme Court and the temporary shelter of a homeless person made from found material - ‘Res Publica’ provided a framework through which notions of public and private space are questioned in unexpected and provoking ways. Site-specificity was integral here. For example, the four initial cardboard models were installed at locations selected for their associations with privilege and homelessness, including the Washington DC Jewish Community Centre, the Cosmos Club parking lot and the TechWorld Plaza. This strategic placement provided the contextual framing of the installation.

Originally commissioned for the ‘5x5 Public Art Festival’ in Washington DC, USA, 20th March – 27th April 2012, parts of ‘Res Publica’ have also been shown in ‘Magnificent Distance’ at the Globe Gallery, Newcastle (August 2012). This group exhibition was accompanied by the catalogue, Magnificent The free distribution of the construction manuals further proposed a direct interaction with the general public and encouraged the audience to take actively part in the work. Potentially, additional cardboard models could have appeared at unexpected locations throughout the city centre of Washington DC.

Current Work

Current projects include the AHRC funded Jetty project, developed as a collaboration between Weileder and urbanist Simon Guy (Director of the Architecture Research Centre at the University of Manchester) with additional project partners from the arts, heritage, education and business community. The project will create a temporary large-scale architectural artwork integrated within the impressive wooden structure of Dunston Staithes, a landmark Scheduled Monument and Grade II structure on the south bank of the River Tyne in NewcastleGateshead. Throughout its development and exhibition the Jetty artwork will be utilised as a catalyst for research and debate into local and professional meanings, interpretations and understandings of sustainability.

Further Information

For more information on Weileder’s work, visit:

His work is also discussed in Continuum, a monograph on Weileder published internationally by Kerber Verlag (Bielefeld/Berlin): https://www.kerberverlag.com/en/detailview/controller/Shop/action/show/product/2901.html

Le Terme also featured prominently on Ultra Fragola Web TV Channel: http://www.ultrafragola.com/it/03280/1111/la-vita-nuova-del-diurno-venezia.html