Magdalena Augustin

Doktorarbeit

Social and Artistic Manifestations through self-managed Building Activities in Techno Clubs using the Vienna Scene as Example. (working title)

The research project focuses on urban meeting places that combine architectural particularities, collective experiences and electronic music. Through the gaze of both art-historical and ethnographic lenses the fascination of techno clubs and especially the construction process of these spaces is investigated.

A Viennese case study gives insights to aesthetic and spatial expressions of the current underground electronic music scene in German-speaking countries. The relation between the creatively active players and the designed spaces is the main interest of the thesis project, looking at the processes and practices appearing in the production phase.  Methodologically interviews will accompany the participatory observation and the visual documentation of the place and its former history. The emphasis lies on the practical and action-based study and experience, still the research is embedded in theories related to (cultural) history and societal change, connected with scientific analysis about (craft)work, alienation or otium and finally further developed with the link to concepts like group dynamics, transformation design and urban practice. Another focus lies on the documentation and the attempted classification of the created designs, known from historian approaches to art and culture.

In times of societal division and multiple global crisis the research project aims to enlighten the importance of cultural activism from below that is connected to the built environment in urban areas. 
The transformation of old buildings for the specific use of a club challenges creativity, craft skills and cooperation. The fusion of arts and ideas in connection with scene-inherent traditions can lead to massive productive outcomes. Such a construction site potentially enables people to engage with physical and creative work for a community space, where not-normative practices can be experimented and boundaries can be crossed. In this context experiences of empowerment, freedom and autonomy can arise. At the same time the collective labour brings organizational, financial and social challenges to surface that require elaborated management skills and often provoke complex group dynamics.

The thesis should provide a critical understanding about the role of urban cultural spaces and their self-managed production processes by teasing out the potentials and limits to foster emancipation, community building and creative design solutions in the context of collective construction work.

Relevant Conference Contributions:

Kontakt:

leni@gassenauszucker.at

Foto Credits: Sophie Menegaldo