title: und da saßen sie beisammen
material: Holz, Metall, Kunststoff
measurements: 1.6m x 2.4m
year: 2025
material: Holz, Metall, Kunststoff
measurements: 1.6m x 2.4m
year: 2025
With “und da saßen sie beisammen” (engl: and there they sat together), Lorenz Wanker presents a sculptural installation centered around an old dining set: a dark wooden corner bench, a table, and a ceiling lamp that once lit up his great-grandmother’s living room. Through subtle but pointed material interventions, this familiar ensemble is transformed into a contemporary, multilayered spatial work.
The bench cushions, originally covered in colorful fabric, are now wrapped in a milky, matte plastic film. The covering creates a sense of preservation – as if time had stopped in this room. At the same time, sharp Plexiglas spikes pierce through the surfaces of the bench, table, and lamp. These forms echo the aesthetics of modern industrial materials and create a sense of quiet tension. The furniture feels both familiar and distant – a place one must navigate carefully, physically and emotionally.
The piece treats the dining room as an archetypal site of family life, especially in rural areas – a place of daily rituals, unspoken rules, and emotional overwhelm. What feels like home is also a stage for collective memory: of childhood, of assigned roles, of generational silence.
At the core is the experience of returning to a place one once left – driven by a need for independence or distance. This return, often triggered by duty or illness, isn’t a homecoming in the classic sense, but a confrontation with a system that was never fully questioned yet continues to resonate.
“and there they sat together” presents an image of supposed stability that, upon closer inspection, reveals itself as fragile. The sharp interventions stand for the suppressed tensions simmering beneath the surface of a functioning family routine. What was once a place of protection becomes a silent stage for inner conflict – preserved, charged, unmoving.
“und da saßen sie beisammen” was presented 2/07/2025 – 12/07/2025 at Kunstverein Kärnten for the Carinthia Art Award 2025.
The bench cushions, originally covered in colorful fabric, are now wrapped in a milky, matte plastic film. The covering creates a sense of preservation – as if time had stopped in this room. At the same time, sharp Plexiglas spikes pierce through the surfaces of the bench, table, and lamp. These forms echo the aesthetics of modern industrial materials and create a sense of quiet tension. The furniture feels both familiar and distant – a place one must navigate carefully, physically and emotionally.
The piece treats the dining room as an archetypal site of family life, especially in rural areas – a place of daily rituals, unspoken rules, and emotional overwhelm. What feels like home is also a stage for collective memory: of childhood, of assigned roles, of generational silence.
At the core is the experience of returning to a place one once left – driven by a need for independence or distance. This return, often triggered by duty or illness, isn’t a homecoming in the classic sense, but a confrontation with a system that was never fully questioned yet continues to resonate.
“and there they sat together” presents an image of supposed stability that, upon closer inspection, reveals itself as fragile. The sharp interventions stand for the suppressed tensions simmering beneath the surface of a functioning family routine. What was once a place of protection becomes a silent stage for inner conflict – preserved, charged, unmoving.
“und da saßen sie beisammen” was presented 2/07/2025 – 12/07/2025 at Kunstverein Kärnten for the Carinthia Art Award 2025.