Ausstellung, Ulrichsberg

Dietrich Killer on the exhibition “Ursprung”, 2011, Jazzatelier Ulrichsberg

As a socio-cultural archaeologist in search of the “Homo Austriacus”

Freely inspired by the inscription on the temple of Apollo in Delphi “gnothi seauton”, i.e. “know thyself”, Petra has set out to search for her roots.

However, given the realization that we ourselves are also shaped and co-determined by the constant reflection of our environment, it is necessary to limit this sphere of influence if we want to get to the heart of the matter and define criteria for this cognitive process.
Especially in the age of globalization, the permanent expansion and networking of our field of perception, it is becoming increasingly difficult to take a “standpoint”.

Petra, who grew up in a small town in a rural area, goes here in this case and makes use of traditional identification schemes.
Terms such as home, tradition or nationality may seem outdated nowadays – but as the most direct, most immediate influences on the self, the mother tongue, the geographical location and the history of our ancestral habitat must be given a high priority.

Not only have we ourselves grown up from this environment, but the outside world also perceives us first and foremost as part of the population of, in this specific case, (Upper) Austria.

But how much do we ourselves know about our homeland – let alone about the clichéd ideas of the “others” about us?
Even when we look back, just before the much-vaunted “catastrophe” of National Socialism, our knowledge usually wears thin quite quickly.
Sure, Mozart, Maria Theresa, Ostarrichi, even perhaps Hallstatt and its Celtic culture have stuck with many of us.
Andreas Hofer, Marie Antoinette, Klimt and Schiele, each of us then quickly scrapes together a bit more.
Seen from the outside, it’s similar: Mozart, Empress Sissi, Sigmund Freud, Anton Bruckner – thank God most people think Adolf Hitler was German – Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Trapp family…

On the other hand, it is a fact that Austria is one of the oldest still existing states in Europe, has over 1000 years of history and was one of the largest empires in Central Europe until around a hundred years ago.

You are the homeland of great sons (and daughters, of course!): Bertha von Suttner, Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Erwin Schrödinger, Kurt Gödel, Nikola Tesla, Otto Wagner, Billy Wilder, Franz Kafka, Karl Popper,
the Venus of Willendorf, Valie Export, Ingeborg Bachmann and Elfriede Jelinek… to name but a few…

And then there are the usual clichés: alpenglow, baroque charm, gothic cathedral, waltzes,
the beautiful “blue” Danube and right on its banks – magnificent vineyards, the accompanying wine tavern and its sentimental Viennese charm. Skiing in Kitz, opera in Salzburg, motorboating on Lake Wörthersee.

And from the inside, and much closer – brown past, red swamp and blue wonders, xenophobia and island mentality.

So let’s show ourselves as present and future citizens of the world in a different light.

In order to get to the bottom of this self-image, Petra has juxtaposed fragments of her self-discovery in her “Ursprung” series, which she is presenting to us today for the first time in this form.
Almost randomly, then again strictly composed, she combines moods and associations in her subjects, which at first glance appear almost harmless.
However, Dr. Freud’s gaze, which is both inward-looking and questioningly directed at the viewer, instantly etched itself into my consciousness.
Moreover, on closer inspection, one realizes that no ready-made answers are presented here – on the contrary, spaces of thought are opened up here that everyone can fill with their own personal interpretations – and thus not only gain insights into Petra’s “home” picture, but also add their own reflections to her construct.
After all, as Plato said: I get the decisive answer as to who I actually am when I see my reflection in the eye of the other.