Bernd Fasching facts for kids
Bernd Fasching (born on July 18, 1955, in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian artist. He is known for his paintings and sculptures. Bernd Fasching lives and works in Vienna.
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Discovering Bernd Fasching's Art
Bernd Fasching is a unique artist who often creates his artworks right in front of people. This means you can watch him work! He believes that art should be a conversation between the artist and the audience.
Art Projects You Can See
In 2000, Fasching started a big project called Westwerk. He showed his sculptures and paintings inside the famous St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. This church is over 800 years old!
Creating Art in Front of an Audience
One of Fasching's most famous projects is called 12 Days 12 Nights. Between 1987 and 2006, he did this project seven times in different cities around the world. Imagine an artist living and working in a gallery for 12 days and 12 nights straight!
During this time, he didn't leave the gallery. Visitors could watch him paint and even talk to him. He created 12 paintings during each session, and his ideas often came from the conversations he had with the people who visited. For each project, special music was played for the entire 288 hours.
The cities where he did 12 Days 12 Nights were:
- Vienna, Austria (1987 and 2006)
- Amsterdam, Netherlands (1990)
- Cologne, Germany (1991)
- Zurich, Switzerland (1992)
- Jerusalem, Israel (1994)
- New York, USA (1997)
Sculptures You Can Walk Inside
Bernd Fasching also creates sculptures that are so big, you can actually walk inside them!
Thor's Hammer Sculpture
In 1990, he made a sculpture called Der Hammer des Thors (Thor's Hammer). He created this huge artwork in the entrance hall of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna. Just like with his paintings, museum visitors could watch him build it step by step.
Terra Nova in the Dominican Republic
Another amazing walk-in sculpture is Terra Nova. Fasching created this in the Dominican Republic between 1996 and 1997. This artwork shows the place where Christopher Columbus landed on the island. It makes people think about the long history of the American continents.
Art from Everyday Tools
Fasching also has a series of artworks called Tools. For this project, he made sculptures of the different tools an artist uses to create large monuments.
One of these tool sculptures, a bronze spade, was later used to create the Diva Award. This is a special Austrian prize given every year since 2002 for amazing building projects. Bernd Fasching is even one of the judges for this award!
Selected Art Projects
Here are some of Bernd Fasching's notable art projects:
- Westwerk – A special art display in the Vienna St. Stephan’s Cathedral, Austria (2000)
- 12 Days 12 Nights – Art performances in various cities worldwide (1987-2006)
- Der Hammer des Thors/Thor’s Hammer – A walk-in sculpture at the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), Vienna, Austria (1990)
- Kopf-Bahnhöfe/Railheads - Vienna, Austria (1993)
- Die Energie-Frage/The Energy-Question - Stuttgart, Germany (1994)
- Terra Nova. Una Formacion Americana – A walk-in sculpture in Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic (1996/97)
- The Vienna Pillows
- Heads
- Women/Men Series
- Tools
- Herz Hirten
- Vienna Mirror – A project in Vienna, Austria (Phase 1 in 2003)
