What do the traces of gastronomy – starting from the horse-drawn train between Linz and České Budějovice to the later Summerauerbahn railway – tell us about the social junctions and changes in public spaces?
The audio installation Endstation explored these questions at listening stations in the setting of a regulars’ table, based on the history of the inn Stadt Budweis. Up until the early 1970s it could be found in Urfahr along the tracks of the horse-drawn railway and did not only offer beer and events, but also rooms for travelers. In the 21st century, railway stations are no longer inviting places, but are characterized by cameras and security personnel, as there are some travelers who are more welcome than others. There is no longer an inn with regulars, instead strangers meet each other for just a short moment.
This was also the case for the audio installation in the Bierkanzlei pub in the main station in Linz, where the collective NGGB created a dialogue between the Stadt Budweis inn and the current final station of the Summerauerbahn railway line.
Concept and Production:
Renée Winter, Gudrun Rath, Nils Olger (NGGB)
Voices: Rosa Danner, Paul Maercker, Markus Tumeltshammer, Bianca Zaininger, Axel Schacht, Veronika Brandt, Pete Prison IV, Katarina Csanyiova
Special thanks to: Luisa Bauer, Margit Kain, Hana Oprešnik, Paula Pfoser, Ulrike Schaumann, Chris Veigl
Impressions
Impressions – esel.at opening
Nils Olger-Webside
CV
Nils Olger, Gudrun Rath und Renée Winter make up the NGGB, a collective with varying members encompassing journalists, artists, scientists, and educators with a focus on policies of remembrance.
One of the first works by NGGB was the ghost train project Graus der Geschichte, that took place in the Prater in Vienna and was awarded the Outstanding Artist Award in 2016. In 2019, the collective conjured the ghost of the victim of a car crash in Geisterfahrer unterwegs. Eine Ausfahrt in collaboration with irreality.tv and the Brut Wien. The project Kalter Hauch that was realised within the framework of a conference at the Art University Linz and dealt with the history of the Grottenbahn in Linz during the time of National Socialism. Most recently the NGGB gifted the Museum of Military History Vienna a new aura on the occasion of an imaginary hearing in 2022 in the form of the project HTM.