unfinished business

Under the title unfinished business, the students of the Institute of Language Arts transform Oskar Kokoschka Square into a site of linguistic exploration, investigating what is missing: Who speaks to whom? Who remains unheard? What worlds inhabit this square? And where is there still urgent work to be done? Collective texts by the students are displayed on scaffolding structures, hung on lines, heard throughout the square — sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly, sometimes in a chorus. Twice a day, a live radio show fills the space with sound, accompanied by short audio plays. At ad hoc writing stations, authors — not machines — create commissioned texts for visitors, while the Librologists prescribe books for every imaginable life situation. Texts take place, condense, move through space, and linger. In this way, the square becomes a place made of language and speaking. The texts displayed on the scaffolding have been created collectively and explore questions of the invisible, the unseen, and of what is absent. Within the towers, durational loops unfold, giving voice to the unfinished in multiple registers and perspectives. Radio Festivale broadcasts daily from the square, reporting on the festival, interviewing visitors, keeping track of the weather, events, art, and styles. Visitors can bring their wishes, concerns, and problems to the Librologists, who prescribe literary reading as a remedy. At the Ad Hoc Writing Stations, authors—not machines—write the texts that visitors have always wanted to read but never found. Texts on Line can be contemplated or ignored — unfinished texts suspended in space and available to take away. In Unfinished Businesses, a series of short audio plays, the square is immersed in a collective soundscape and sinks into everything that has not yet been completed. The Language Choir officially surveys the urban space: Which places are being erased? And where can spaces of commoning still be found? At the guided tour "VON 3.5 AUF 135°: TREFF PUNKT LUEGER STURZ" the monument will more than just tilt off balance.