Franz Wassermann
Franz Wassermann (*born in 1963 in Hall in Tirol) is an Austrian sculptor. Wassermann´s political sculptures deal with structures of power in examining tabooed issues like sexual abuse, National Socialism and culture of remembrance, migration and the role of the media in our society. To work free from censorship Wassermann realizes many of his projects in public space. His art pieces are exhibited internationally, for example at Museumsquartier Vienna and the International Art Biennal Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The photographer Robert Fleischanderl characterizes Wassermann´s work as follows: “Franz Wassermann is constantly examining the ever-shifting relationship between the individual and the collective. The behaviour of a majority towards a minority, or a collective toward a single person, suggests a power game that is never simple or clear, a struggle that throws into high relief the illogical logic of how supremacy is maintained. Since the powerful are most often the writers of human history, such unpopular chapters usually never see the light of day. Wassermann's projects are testaments to his insistence that neglected narratives must be seen and heard, and when taken as a whole attest to his oeuvre's unerring accuracy in conceptualizing and visualizing such cultural silences."
LIFE
Franz Wassermann was born in 1963 in the Tyrol as the eldest son of three siblings. After his graduation at a polytechnic high school he worked in several social institutions (including work with teenagers, elderly people and people suffering from HIV) and as a museum attendant till he started working as an artist in 1989. Since then he exhibits internationally as a sculptor; his art pieces have been shown at Kunsthaus Hamburg, Museumsquartier Vienna, EXPO Lisbon, SWAB Barcelona and many other cultural institutions. Franz Wassermann lives and works in Vienna.
WORK (SELECTION)
In BARBIE+KEN=HIV+ (1996) Franz Wassermann addresses the stigmatisation of people who are HIV-positive or suffer from Aids. The artist asks people concerned to gift him personal objects to work with. He collects these objects in bags of clear film and combines them with calls for devotion like e.g.: "love me", "hit me", "despise me". Furthermore, Wassermann adds a green dot which was used in his hometown Innsbruck to mark the files of HIV-positive people in hospitals or jails. When presenting his work online Wassermann was threatened with legal action by the toy manufacturer Mattel. Nevertheless, BARBIE+KEN=HIV+ was continued in London, Munich and Burghausen.
For the art project ICONS (1998) Franz Wassermann bought works of artists who have been declared icons of modern and contemporary art e.g. Angelica Kauffmann, Joseph Beuys and Arnulf Rainer. Wassermann sunk these artworks in Plexiglas containers where they decompose and vanish bit by bit.
In the four-part project ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION OF ASYLUM SEEKERS (2001) Wassermann addressed the criminalization of asylum seekers and refugees. The artist visited people who were kept in administrative detention and organized a performative demonstration in the public space of Innsbruck where he used flight reasons rephrased as reasons for detention, e.g. "I am in administrative detention because I am Christian." or "I am in administrative detention because I was tortured and raped." In the following, the artist occupied the inner courtyard of the gallery Taxispalais that is situated right next to the Tyrolean statehouse. During the 24-hours occupation, Wassermann played audio files on which asylum seekers and refugees tell their stories. Thereby, the officials who pass and enforce laws across the courtyard had to listen. In the last phase of the project Franz Wassermann transformed a camping van into a mobile church by consecrating it. In the following, he drove refugees from Italy to Germany. In BREATH (2003) Franz Wassermann provides insight in the decease of his father Franz Wassermann. The video shows the open mouth of the dying man which breaths in and out in an insisting manner but already with difficulties.
In TEMPORARY MONUMENT (2004) Franz Wassermann commemorated 360 patients of the psychiatric hospital in Hall in Tirol who have been murdered in course of the national socialistic euthanasia. The artist created a living monument for them which consists of five artistic interventions like for example asking the local government of the former villages of the victims to name one street after them. In SCARS (2008) Wassermann addressed sexual abuse of children and young adults. In three project phases, the artist made this topic visible in the public space of Innsbruck. To start the project the artist published posters which asked people concerned to gift him objects that were connected to their history of abuse.
For the participatory sculpture WE ME (2014) Wassermann created 16 aluminum cubes which can be re-arranged by the visitors to build e.g. a desk, a winner´s podium or a catwalk. These platforms can be re-organized and used in galleries as well as in public space.
In the performance HELDENPLATZ / ANARCHY (2015) Franz Wassermann and 49 other flag bearers were traversing the Heldenplatz in Vienna. The design of the flags, which were especially created for the performance, refers to National Socialism. But in the historic version, one would find the Hakenkreuz in the center of the flags. By contrast, Franz Wassermann showed the names of powerful companies and brands on this spot.
For the year-long art project #DailySocialTransfer (2017) Franz Wassermann bought a newspaper every day. With translucent tape he extracted image and text fragments from the newspaper and re-collaged them on blank A4 sized paper. In doing so Wassermann created one original art piece per day which is put up for sale online on his blog www.dailysocialtransfer.com.
EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)
2016 ME, MYSELF AND I, performance in public space, Saskatoon / CAN
2015 HELDENPLATZ / ANARCHY, performance at Heldenplatz, Vienna / AUT
2014 MAKE YOURSELF VISIBLE., solo show, Museumsquartier – Yellow Box, Vienna / AUT
2013 CRUX, group show, Diözesanmuseum, Brixen / AUT
2012 LIVING ROOM – I THE COLLECTIVE, solo show, Widmer+Theodoridis gallery, Zurich / CH
2009 TEMPORARY MONUMENT, solo show, Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck / AUT
2008 SCARS, art project in public space, Innsbruck / AUT
2007 FIVE FROM ÔSTERLANT, group show, Galuzin gallery TAFKAG, Oslo / NOR
2006 DOCUMENTA X I I, solo show, art society Rosenheim, Rosenheim / DE
2005 ICONS , performance at Künstlerhaus, Vienna / AUT
2 0 0 5 TRIENNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY, group show, Kunsthaus Hamburg / DE
2004 ALBERTINA, solo show, gallery AREA 53, Vienna / AUT
2003 6. INT . BIENNIAL SHARJAH / VAE
2002 FRANZ WASSERMANN , gallery 5020, Salzburg / AUT
2001 MONEYLUST : MODELBANKING, Kunsthalle Tirol, Hall in Tirol / AUT
2000 BARBIE AND KEN ARE HIV - POSITIV, art project in public space, Munich / DE
1998 ICONS, start at EXPO 98, Lisbon / PT
1997 IT WAS A T–BONE STEAK, exhibition at parliament Vienna, concentration camp Mauthausen and Jesuit´s church Innsbruck / AUT
AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS (SELECTION)
2013 TYROLEAN MUSEUM AWARD 2011 1. PRICE STAGEWALL SCHWAZ 2010 1. PRICE ANNI AND HEINRICH SUSSMANN SCHOLARSHIP 2007 ARTIST´S AWARD FOR FINE ARTS, TYROL 2004 AWARD FOR THE VIDEO I FILMFESTIVAL TAGLIA CORTO FLORENZ 2003 AWARD FOR INTEGRATION AND CIVIL COURAGE FOR THE ART PROJECT ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION OF ASYLUM SEEKERS 2001 SCHOLARSHIP OF THE STATE OF AUSTRIA 1996 SCHOLARSHIP OF MINISTRY OF ART, CULTURE AND EDUCATION, AUSTRIA 1994 TREND ART AWARD
References[edit]
BOOKS BY OR ON FRANZ WASSERMANN
Sommerauer, Andrea / Wassermann, Franz (2009): Temporäres Denkmal: Prozesse der Erinnerung. Innsbruck: StudienVerlag. ISBN 978-3-7065-4375-0 Search this book on 
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Moser, Anita / Wassermann, Franz (2011): NARBEN: Kunstprojekt zu sexueller Gewalt. Innsbruck: StudienVerlag. ISBN 978-3-7065-4945-5 Search this book on .
Wassermann, Franz (2002): Schubhaft. Innsbruck: Eigenverlag. ISBN 3-00-009841-0 Search this book on .
Wassermann, Franz (1997): Franz Wassermann. Innsbruck: Eigenverlag.
Sandbichler, Heidrun / Wassermann, Franz / Weinberger, Lois (1999): Austrieb der Schweine zur Eichelmast. Innsbruck: Institut für Kunstgeschichte der Universität Innsbruck.
Lewis, Peter (2003): Sharjah International Biennial 6. Sharjah: Eigenverlag. ISBN 9948-04-766-4 Search this book on .
Moser, Anita (2011): Die Kunst der Grenzüberschreitung. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8376-1663-7 Search this book on . Wassermann, Franz (2006): DOCUMENTA 12. Rosenheim: Kunstverein Rosenheim. ISBN 978-3-939446-01-9 Search this book on . Bertsch, Christoph (1997): Kunst in Tirol, 20.Jhdt. Innsbruck: Institut für Kunstgeschichte der Universität Innsbruck.
EXTERNAL SOURCES
Homepage of Franz Wassermann: [http://www.mylivingroom.org/en www.mylivingroom.org Blog oft he art project #DailySocialTransfer: www.dailysocialtransfer.com Art pieces by Franz Wassermann collected by the Ursula Blickle Video Archive: Ursula Blickle Video Archive
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