Vienna and the hunt for magical doors continues…
Perola and I wander down another hundred streets in search of portal locations for our next interactive public art installation which will take place here in Vienna next fall. We weave through the 1st district, through grand courtyards, down mysterious corridors, into back alleyways… And still there are no portal spots in sight. Finally we venture outside of the 1st district in the center of the city and only then discover the gritty Vienna, the graffitied Vienna with abandoned buildings and colorful murals. We find all the forsaken doorways we were looking for. But there is something so quaint and lost-in-time about the 1st district. It’s so classic and there is so much beauty condensed within such small area. So we discuss the possibility of installing free-standing portals in the middle of courtyards and corridors in the 1st district. This seems right. And upon making the decision we trace back over our steps with new eyes, looking for this new kind of spot. We find them all and we document the spaces with photo and video and then go in search of augmented reality locations.
A beautiful church in the 7th District
A charming corridor in the 7th District
Graffitied doors down by the Wien River
A colorful corridor in the Museum Quartier
Feeling hungry and accomplished after a long day of walking, we head to the legendary Sacher Hotel for a Sachertorte, a delicious chocolate cake with apricot filling. The Sacher hotel was founded in 1876 and was known for being a place where aristocrats and diplomats would meet. Now I think it’s most known for the cake.
They wouldn’t allow me to take a photo of the kitchen… but I snuck one for you anyways. They’ve got nothing to hide… It’s damn cute… n’ the Sacher torte is damn tasty.
Inside the kitchen at the Sacher Hotel, Vienna
The dining room
and the torte
Along with all of the beauty and delights I’ve been taking in here in Vienna~ it’s valuable to know the bad along with the good.
Tomorrow we are going to visit Mauthausen, the site of
one of the largest Nazi controlled concentration camps in Europe. I am bracing myself…
More soon~