On 10 September 2021, Thomas Feuerstein and Toni Schmale won BIG’s invited artistic competition for the campus of the Medical University of Vienna.
The jury provided the following reasons for its decision:
Metabolische Landschaft (Metabolic Landscape) – Thomas Feuerstein:
“The concept on which Thomas Feuerstein’s piece is grounded is strong and multi-layered, both in terms of meaning and artistically, and forms an interface between intellectual and associative thinking. The work encourages communication about research topics while creating an inviting atmosphere. The content quality and graphic quality complement each other; research and art blend to form a lively symbiosis whose linguistic irritation and irony never cease to surprise.”
Handgriffe (Manual manoeuvres) – Toni Schmale:
“Handgriffe is an emotive piece that shines a spotlight on care as one of the fundamental objectives of the medical profession and appeals to both teachers and students. Toni Schmale draws inspiration from the fragmentary aspect of classic sculptures, which she transfers into the present day, thereby also successfully depicting the meeting of old and new structures. At the same time, the installation illustrates how the history of the human body and its depiction is inextricably linked with the history of medicine. The forms are representations (3D scans) of actual bodies that do not correspond with the standard ideal of beauty but rather depict reality. The placement of the forms allows a variety of perspectives, which it also connects with aspects of construction, deconstruction and representation of the human body.”