Touch!

Touching is expressly encouraged! This exhibition transforms art into a sensory experience. Sculptures, objects, and installations invite hands-on exploration—normally something off limits. How do Tone Fink’s seemingly fragile yet powerful paper sculptures actually feel? What happens when visitors interact with one of Cornelius Kolig’s mechanically powered objects? The exhibition demonstrates how art touches us emotionally, intellectually, and physically.

Beginning with Austrian art from the 1960s and 1970s, the exhibition traces a trajectory to current artistic positions. During the 1960s, art moved away from traditional forms of painting and sculpture, exploring new modes of body-centered expression. Viennese Actionism was essential in shaping this transformation: art became physical.

In Adolf Frohner’s actionist works, the physical process of creation plays a central role. He tore, slashed, and deformed materials that were previously foreign to art. The artist’s physical exertion is inscribed in the object itself. Frohner’s work “AMVX” (1963) combines wood, a mattress, and iron, forging a link between everyday objects and artistic reflection on the human body and its perception.

The 1960s saw the emergence of so-called tactile art, in which experiencing artworks through touch and direct interaction became central. A prominent figure in this movement was Cornelius Kolig. In his work, he explores, among other things, the boundaries between tactile perception and mechanical movement. Contact between moving parts—such as rapidly rotating elements—triggers immediate bodily sensations, opening up an additional sensory dimension for the viewer.