{"id":34657,"date":"2021-06-28T05:02:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T04:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=34657"},"modified":"2026-03-17T12:44:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:44:03","slug":"mq-art-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/mq-art-box\/","title":{"rendered":"The MQ Art Box"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><a href=\"#tickets\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/artboxtickets.jpg\" alt=\"Part of a museum sign\" class=\"wp-image-80164\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Consider the Art Box a bonus contemporary art treat in the giant chocolate box that is the MuseumsQuartier complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Transparent outdoor container housing a series of art installations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Main focus is on young Austrian or Austria-based artists<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Free to view<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Current\/next installation:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>TBA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/vienna-museums\/mq\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"4030\">MuseumsQuartier overview<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/#modernart\">Contemporary art exhibitions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Art for all, 24\/7<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mqartboxbirkegorm.jpg\" alt=\"Installation made of natural materials\" class=\"wp-image-77150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mqartboxbirkegorm.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mqartboxbirkegorm-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Birke Gorm&#8217;s 2024 installation \u00a9 Birke Gorm | MuseumsQuartier Wien; press photo by Simon Veres)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The days when art was only ever enjoyed in hushed silence in tall-ceilinged galleries while clutching an expensive entrance ticket are long gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MuseumsQuartier, for example, might be described as a holistic art experience, where fresh ideas seems to wander casually through the courtyards, cocktail in one hand\u2026brush, pen, knife and chisel clutched in the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MQ certainly has institutions aplenty, but also provides open-air experiences for those just enjoying the atmosphere or seeking an alternative to the old masters and priceless historical artefacts in the nearby <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/overview\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1446\">Kunsthistorisches Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One such experience is the MQ Art Box, a transparent container outdoors in the main courtyard. The location provides a home for a series of contemporary art installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Art Box primarily focuses on works by young Austrian artists, with the occasional established star thrown into the mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the great Daniel Spoerri contributed an installation for the 2015\/2016 holiday season. And Jakob Gasteiger&#8217;s sculptural talent appeared within some four years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-content-type=\"product\" data-content-ids=\"974356,974465\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_Leopold\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The installations so presented might use light, sound, colour, shape and\/or movement to catch the eye of the observer, often integrating with a theme prevalent elsewhere in the complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On one visit you might spot a moving sculpture made of strands of latex, on another view an allegory for our collective obsession with the pendulum of weight gain and loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Latest Art Box installation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>TBA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recent installations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Anita Fuchs&#8217; <em>Wiesenst\u00fcck<\/em> turned the dried harvest from her meadow in front of the MQ into a sculptural installation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Christian Schwarzwald&#8217;s <em>AIDIOTS in C<\/em>: an allegorical installation based on the artist&#8217;s drawings. Perhaps a wry commentary on the alleged realism of AI-generated images<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Stephanie Winter &amp; SALON HYBRID&#8217;s <em>Roots of Resistance \u2013 Fictions of Survival<\/em> featured an orange cave-like environment&#8230;a springboard for stories and a giver of voice to those deserving more attention<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fabian Seiz&#8217;s <em>Speechless Signs<\/em> used everyday and discarded objects to create sculptures offering implicit perspectives on such topics as time, transience, and material lifecycles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sofia Goscinski&#8217;s <em>Desert Plants<\/em> featured her vertical iron rods handwrought in concrete and bronze around iron<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Birke Gorm&#8217;s <em>terms and conditions<\/em> used simple natural materials, rural materials, discarded metal and similar to create the impression of historical clothing (see, also, the 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/birke-gorm-exhibition\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"56560\">exhibition at the MAK<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Herbert De Colle&#8217;s <em>Emotion<\/em> presented a cloud formation of papier m\u00e2ch\u00e9 smileys made by hand, each unique in its own way, thereby inviting us to interpret the expressions. Part of the artist&#8217;s EMOTION series but crafted specifically for the Art Box<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sasha Auerbakh&#8217;s <em>LUX<\/em> featured sculptures inspired by the spiritual objects of different cultures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>CROSSLUCID &amp; Nat\u00e1lia S\u00fdkorov\u00e1&#8217;s multimedia <em>Dwellers in the Waters. Folding<\/em> combined sculptures with sequences from a film to take us into the realms of AI and alternative realities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gabriele Edlbauer and Julia S. Goodman&#8217;s <em>The Customer Is Always Right<\/em> had five large, slightly dark &amp; perhaps dystopian figures. We could see inside the back of their heads, the contents revealed as quirky shop window displays<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Anna Schachinger&#8217;s <em>Wachstumsfuge<\/em> presented a frieze-like and colourful mix of animal and human forms whose extremities touched, suggesting a level playing field in terms of contact and communication. A painting of an abstract human form also hung inside the box<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lea Fr\u00f6hlinger &amp; Cosma Kremser&#8217;s <em>ENZA<\/em> suggested you might be viewing a floating sculptural version of the famous MQ summer furniture, but all was hidden<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Alfredo Barsuglia&#8217;s <em>The last human habitat<\/em> featured a small house built by recycling materials from elsewhere. Like many Art Box installations, the interpretation depended on your perspective. Historical exhibit? Prognosis? A musing on transience? The possibilities were endless.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/MQartbox.jpg\" alt=\"LUMEN by Johannes Rass; photo by Fabian Gasperl; \u00a9 Bildrecht, Wien 2020\" class=\"wp-image-34660\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/MQartbox.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/MQartbox-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The MQ Art Box installation <em>LUMEN<\/em> by Johannes Rass; photo by Fabian Gasperl; \u00a9 Bildrecht, Wien 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Marina Sula&#8217;s <em>You May Never Know What&#8217;s Causing All the Traffic<\/em> was an installation by the Vienna-based Albanian-Italian artist. Sula typically combines objects and imagery from commercial and industrial settings with those from more intimate and original contexts&#8230;with all the implications, tensions and ambiguities that arise from such a juxtaposition<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sarah Bogner&#8217;s <em>Parade<\/em> had two large (new) paintings by this Munich-born artist, featuring her slightly playful, slightly abstract horses and other anthropomorphic imaginings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Maureen K\u00e4gi&#8217;s <em>Listening Towards the Sun<\/em> presented works on canvas that drew on the characteristics of a folding screen. The presentation interacted with the Art Box itself, alluding to different types of glassed display areas and playing with our perception<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Oliver Ressler&#8217;s <em>The Desert Lives<\/em> concerned the former protest camp at Hausfeldstra\u00dfe subway station (part of a campaign against construction of a new urban motorway). Ressler&#8217;s photo installation showed how the &#8220;barren&#8221; environment around the station might look if its design better reflected the ethos of climate activists<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Philipp Timischl&#8217;s <em>An abstract and a site-specific painting walk outside a museum<\/em> featured two paintings converted into multimedia installations. Screens displayed a never-ending dialogue between the two works with no clear conversational payoff<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Eva Petri\u010d&#8217;s <em>Can You Swim?<\/em> installation combined recycled lace in implied organic structures that give visual representation to the similarities and interconnection between, for example, humans and bacteria<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The group installation with the title <em>Im Vestib\u00fclchen<\/em> (English: in the little vestibule) used transparency to explore the gaps between public and private, reflecting the semi-public space that is a foyer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>C\u00e9line Struger&#8217;s <em>GOOD BYE HORSES<\/em> installation explored our ability to take a small amount of information, then extrapolate and imagine our way from that to the invention of whole worlds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tickets\">Tickets &amp; visitor tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Tickets? We don&#8217;t need no tickets. The MQ courtyards are free to walk through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vienna has a rich selection of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/contemporary-art\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"25652\">contemporary art<\/a> for visitors to enjoy, either in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/#modernart\">exhibitions<\/a> or adding flair to public spaces. But just walk across from the Art Box and see what the current <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/mumok\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"4046\">MUMOK<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/kunsthalle\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"22730\">Kunsthalle<\/a> exhibitions have to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equally, explore the MuseumsQuartier on foot to find further surprises, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/mq-libelle\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"26801\">Libelle<\/a> viewing platform and art installation or the passageways between courtyards (the so-called micro museums) that feature art in various forms: street art, audio, literature, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to the Art Box<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Find your way to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/vienna-museums\/mq\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"4030\">MuseumsQuartier<\/a>. The Art Box sits on the southern side of the main courtyard, sandwiched between the Leopold Museum and the Quartier21 exhibition tract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1i9IZX6LeUKth_5sm2EOO-SqQl8s\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Consider the Art Box a bonus contemporary art treat in the giant chocolate box that is the MuseumsQuartier complex. Art for all, 24\/7 (Birke Gorm&#8217;s 2024 installation \u00a9 Birke Gorm | MuseumsQuartier Wien; press photo by Simon Veres) The days when art was only ever enjoyed in hushed silence in tall-ceilinged galleries while clutching an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34657"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89269,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34657\/revisions\/89269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}