Sci-fi is understood here as an accentuated way of reading the present rather than a projection into the future. Stone carries its own sense of time and historicity, shaped both by its material structure and by the processes involved in working with it. The question is how these temporalities can be considered together, and what role stone can take within contemporary sculptural practice. Working directly in the Untersberg marble quarry near Salzburg, the course focuses on practical engagement with stone while examining its possibilities and relevance in art today. How do we address the persistent romantic expectations attached to this material?
Alongside the hands-on sessions, we will look at ways to integrate other materials without hierarchy, including newer forms of making such as 3D sketching, printing, milling, and animation. We will also discuss the conditions of white-cube versus outdoor sculpture, and approaches to material research and storytelling, linking the physical work in the quarry to broader questions of context and production.
Please note:
As part of this course, participants and teaching artists will live and work on site in the former workhouses for three weeks. The students themselves will organise everyday life in the quarry (cooking, cleaning, etc.). From Sunday, 19 July, simple accommodation in a dormitory on the quarry site will be available for €11 per night. The invoice for this will be issued in advance.
key data
- Venue
- Steinbruch Untersberg
- Date
- 19. 7. – 8. 8. 26
- Teaching language
- English (German possible)
- Participation fee
- 890 Euro (reduced 635 Euro)
- Requirements
- There should be a general interest in working with stone and an openness toward using traditional or contemporary tools for working with stone.
- What to bring
- The most important tools for stone and steel working, as well as a small amount of stone, will be provided. You must bring your own safety equipment (safety goggles, work gloves, ear protectors, dust mask, sturdy work shoes) as well as weatherproof clothing, sunscreen and swimwear. If possible, bring a laptop, smartphone, basic tools, pens and material from the student archives.
- Maximum number of participants
- 12
- Co-teacher
- Leon Hölzl
Benjamin Hirte
Benjamin Hirte’s work engages with cultural history and the construction of realities. Drawing on standardized elements from infrastructure and design, as well as canonized forms from art history, he creates new sculptural settings. In his recent figurative works, Hirte has taken up recurring motifs from art history as both formal and metaphorical elements. Through his choice of material and scale, he alters their meaning, suggesting functional details without assigning them a specific use. Moving between body and device, ornament and utility, his objects appear like relics of a possible future that feels both familiar and estranged.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
2024 Phantasia, Kornhäuschen und Arkadenhof der Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche, Aschaffenburg (DE).
Edge of Town, Layr, Vienna.
2023 Solo Presentation, Art Cologne, Cologne (DE).
Favoriten, Niloufar Emamifar & Benjamin Hirte, Kevin Space, Vienna.
True Sculpture, Christian Andersen, Copenhagen.
2021 Benjamin Hirte, Nancy Lupo, MAK Center, Los Angeles, CA (US).
2020 First Houses, Galerie Layr, Vienna.
The Jurist, Anna Sophie Berger & Benjamin Hirte, CICCIO, New York, NY (US).
2019 Trust, Sydney, Sydney (AU).
2018 Huntington Beach, Galerie Layr hosted by JTT Gallery, New York, NY.
2017 Benjamin Hirte, Chadwick Rantanen, Museo Canonica, Rome.
2015 Jürgen Ponto-Stiftung, Zollamt – MMK Frankfurt (DE).
2012 the classic mob ballet, MAK, Vienna.
2011 Grazer Kunstverein, with Lone Haugaard Madsen, Graz (AT).
Group exhibitions
2024 Time and Again – Particolare, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna.
Pauli Preis, Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen (DE).
Borrowed Scenery, Lantz Sculpture Park, Düsseldorf (DE).
2023 Our Porcelain Thoughts, Drei, Cologne.
2022 Vienna Biennale for Change, MAK, Vienna.
Life and Limbs, Swiss Institute, New York, NY.
2019 Poetiken des Materials, Leopold Museum, Vienna.
2018 Face to Face, Ernesto Esposito Collection, Palazzo Fuscione, Salerno (IT).
2013 A wavy line is drawn across the middle of the original plans, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne.
Publications
Modest Homes, Benjamin Hirte (ed.), Mousse Publishing, Milan, 2023.
Die Räuber, Benjamin Hirte, Saxpublishers, Vienna, 2020.
