Wachauer Nase
Description
The nose can be found in the middle of the Wachau at the ferry landing stage in St. Lorenz.
It looks as if a giant has been buried lying down with only its nose sticking out of the ground. The nostrils are so large that people can walk on them upright.
The nose is quite large, proud and breathes mud. It rests flat and breathes shallowly at the edge of the bank, because the person underneath is buried up to their nose. Sometimes, at high tide, the water is up to her nose, and sometimes the nasal cavities even fill up. Like a bridge pier, the ridge then stands in the stream.
The nose is a beautiful nose, and it also smells quite nice.
In summer, when it is hot and it is not yet completely dry, its breath smells like swamp water. Small flies buzz in and out through the nostrils. When her nose smells the ripening grapes on the surrounding slopes, she would love to bend over the valley to fully take in the fine scent.
In winter it is quite odorless. After a folk festival, it can sometimes smell a little of wine, vomit and urine. Thankfully, the rain soon washes it clean again. After a few years, small squat bushes and grasses grow in the nostrils, peeking out of the holes like nose hairs.
The weather side of the nose also turns greenish and tufts of grass sprout from the pores. If you are not afraid of heights, you can climb up the ridge and sit on its top like a big beetle and let your gaze glide over the Danube.
She likes to be looked at and photographed and likes it when you lean against her or enjoy a picnic in her shade. She is happy in her spot. There she breathes the Danube, the apricots and the wine.
It is a true landmark of the Wachau.
Gelitin consists of four artists. They met as children at a summer camp in 1978. They have been playing and working together ever since. Around 1993, they formed a professional group of artists and their work has since been shown in numerous national and international exhibitions (including the Moscow Biennale, Gwangju Biennale, Center Pompidou, TBA21, Kunsthaus Bregenz, 21er Haus). In 2001 they exhibited at the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Information: http://www.gelitin.net
