On 27 August 2015 a truck was abandoned at a nondescript section of motorway near the town of Parndorf, east of Vienna, Austria. Horrifically the truck was found to contain the corpses of seventy one hidden migrants from Iran, Iraq and Syria, who had smothered in the vehicle, from which the driver subsequently fled. On Saturday, 29 August 2015 John Gerrard travelled to the site, using news images as guides he trespassed the highway verge to first find and then produce a detailed photographic survey of the location where a truck had been abandoned two days earlier.
Untitled (near Parndorf, Austria) 2018 creates a detailed virtual portrait of the highway scene as it was on that day, focusing on the painted police markings which recorded the truck and tyre locations. In documenting this marked void and site of loss the work hopes to rescue this specific tragedy from a river of news that flows through society every day and is mostly forgotten. The work unfolds over an annual solar orbit of a year which includes night, day and seasonal light changes alongside a slowly turning camera which looks upon the site.
Commission supported by Phileas, A Fund for Contemporary Art, Vienna.
Team:
Artwork Producer: Werner Poetzelberger
Programmer: Helmut Bressler
3D Modeler: Max Loegler
Installation Development: Jakob Illera / Inseq, Vienna
Game Engine: Unigine
Manifesta – European’s Nomadic Biennial
Palermo, Sicily
A new commission for Manifesta by John Gerrard Untitled (near Parndorf, Austria) 2018 will be installed alongside Farm (Council Bluffs, Iowa) 2015.
Creative mediators: Bregtje van der Haak, Andrés Jaque, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Mirjam Varadinis
Read more: www.m12.manifesta.org
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Imdahl, Georg: 'Im planetarischen Wundergarten der Kultur', 29 Jun 2018
nytimes.com
Bradley, Kimberly: 'A City at the Crossroads Examines Migration, Through Art', 22 Jun 2018
theguardian.com
Searle, Adrian: 'Manifesta 12 review – plant sex, puppets and a dial-a-spy booth', 20 Jun 2018
frieze.com
Moffitt, Evan: 'Manifesta 12: The Dark Heart of the Biennial Shows Human Suffering Out of Control', 19 Jun 2018
diepresse.com
Spiegler, Almuth: 'Die Leerstelle des Todes von Parndorf', 16 Jun 2018
derstandard.at
'Erinnerung an die Flüchtlingstragödie von Parndorf bei Manifesta 12', 15 Jun 2018
wienerzeitung.at
'Parndorf in Palermo', 15 Jun 2018
sn.at
'Manifesta 12: Erinnerung an Flüchtlingstragödie von Parndorf', 15 Jun 2018
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