START POINT PRIZE – Prize for emerging artists

The name of the project, sculptures by Noële Ody, a graduate of textual sculpture under Heimo Zobernig, is Crystal Kitchen. The room, a functioning kitchen, is conceived as a permanent group exhibition (or a permanent exhibit – though this is in contradiction with what the name evokes, as this particular exhibit is meant to be used and the intrinsic dynamics of use are connected with this). Each appliance is an original as it was created by one of the twenty sculptors who participated in the project. The project was initiated due to the fact that the Akademie der bildenden Künste building in Vienna that houses the sculpture studios was not outfitted with appliances such as the ones in the Crystal Kitchen. Each participant was to create one specific kitchen appliance. The sole condition was that it must be a working appliance, otherwise all of the artistic decisions were completely left up to the individual artists. The project is participatory in every aspect, with strong emphasis on the community-building and social impact of the work – not only because it is based on a collaborative effort among twenty artists who each contributed their own, personal expression to the project (though the result is a harmonious, timeless unit which seems to have been the product of a perfectly-coordinated design team), but due to its functionality. With its fully operational features for preparing, and subsequently consuming, fresh meals, it creates a platform for further social interaction. A playful, unencumbered, intelligent way that also pleases the eye. (Lucia Gavulová)