Friday, August 31, 2007

disgression concerning a noteworthy custom


In Styria - especially in the Southwest - summer weekends are readily dedicated to pilgrimages up a serpentine path; the destination of the travel being a so-called Buschenschank.

The term Buschenschank is composed of a) the Busch; meaning "bush" or "scrub", and b) Schank/Schenke; meaning "tavern" or "bar": in old times, a pine twig was attached above the door to indicate the bar was open. The drinks served, though, have nothing to do with pines, but with far more delicate plants: vines, of course.

Another famous term for Buschenschank, namely Heuriger (more typical for Vienna, Lower Austria and the Burgenland) renders more precisely the actual noteworthiness of the entire institution: heurig meaning "of this year" tells us that the wine served in a Heuriger is "young"; made during the last year. And, most importantly, a Buschenschank/Heuriger is allowed to serve only its own wine, must etc. Food is usually locally produced as well.


Despite the clarification of all this it remains rather difficult to render the pilgrim's bliss when sitting amidst the vine, the late summer sun in his face and a glass of some "noble drop" in his hand. Due to this dizzying kind of bliss the way home down the serpentine can actually prove to be quite adventurous, yet, faithful and loyal to Bacchus, the pilgrim humbly accepts all occurring hardships...

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Old People's Home

Peng Yu & Sun Yuang: Old People's Home

Picture: Nicolas Lackner, Landesmuseum Joanneum

It was a cynical, eerie and saddeningly comical sight:

13 wheelchairbound wax dodderers dancing a hopelessly disorganized and clumsy ballet in some sort of arena inside the museum (Kunsthaus Graz).

Rolling towards the visitors with senile determination, stopping in time just to bump into each other and get stuck for good...

An old man looking like Arafat, fast asleep and drooping backwards, did not notice that he got pushed around in circles by some other semi-concious wheelchair driver, until visitors took pity on them and disentangled the tragicomic spectacle.

With white hair, age spots and wrinkles, these old men looked alarmingly real - you'd expect them to snore, or cough, or startle up. But - nothing. Still, the inanimate handicapped stirred up much puzzlement, compassion as well as reservation. Despite the inanimatedness of the mobile exhibits, visitors and museum staff involuntarily found themselves in the role of nurses and caretakers in the Old People's Home.

(One of the countless China-exhibitions at the moment: China Welcomes You, Kunsthaus Graz, until the 2nd of September)