D-A-S-H-E-D
SPATIAL MEMORY – RÄUMLICHES GEDÄCHTNIS
media installation by Annja Krautgasser, 2004
The present work shows a room-sociological study about memory room. 13 subjective room memories or rather room perceptions
are documented with interviews and cartographically relocated.
13 ROOMS
01 / Hohlraum an der Wollzeile / 1010 Wien > Paul Petritsch
02 / Schwedenplatz / 1010 Wien> Axel Fussi
03 / Festsaal – Akad. Gymnasium / Beethovenplatz 1 / 1010 Wien > Rainer Mandl
04 / Hotel Modul / Peter Jordan-Strasse 78 / 1190 Wien > Nikola Winkler
05 / Kanalisation / Pilgramgasse / 1040 Wien > Norbert Pfaffenbichler
06 / 20er Haus / Schweizergarten / 1020 Wien > Lisa Holzer
07 / Heldenplatz / 1010 Wien > Marc Ries
08 / Kleines Cafe / Kirchengasse / 1070 Wien > Jeanette Pacher
09 / Fabrikshalle / 1160 Wien > Timo Novotny
10 / Glas-Cafe / Europaplatz 1 / 1150 Wien > Dariusz Krzeczek
11 / Südbahnhof / Wiedner Gürtel 1 / 1100 Wien > Margit Brünner
12 / Stadtbibliothek / Urban-Loritz-Platz 2a / 1070 Wien > Burgi Weiss
13 / American Bar / Kärntner Strasse 10 / 1010 Wien > Dijana Arapovic
Mental Maps / Landschaften im Kopf
“You can’t measure Mental Maps, in any case, not with the methods of astronomy or trigonometry. Therefore, they aren’t less
precise, or less real. They are made of a different material, composed of pictures, memories, odors, but because of that, not
less impressive. They are memorized that much, even time -to which normally everything falls victim to- can’t harm them. Those
images can temporarily, maybe even for a long time, take a back seat. But suddenly, in a second of shock, they can return, fresh
like the first day. They aren’t printed down anywhere, you can’t refer to paper, but they have memorized, and are un-deletable
for the person who is concerned. The one who wants to get close to this mental maps, has to make the people talk, listen to
their stories. (But after all, they only make an impact, or generally show their existence, in silence.) They exist, naturally.
They only reveal themselves on demand.[…]
The Mental Maps allegorize the world, everyone carries with, the storage and image supply. From the outset, Mental Maps
don’t speak about a room, but of many rooms. Talking of Mental Maps implicates as many rooms, as there are perceptions, ways of
cognitions and experiences. At its heart, Mental Maps are the end of imaginating a room, a radical subjectivation of imaginating
rooms.
Karl Schlögel / Im Raume lesen wir die Zeit – Über Zivilisationsgeschichte und Geopolitik. S.243 Carl Hanser Verlag München Wien 2003
