Nicht Jugendstil sondern Kunst Neubau

Not Art Nouveau, but Art Neubau

Thus far in our sojourn we've not yet spent much time doing the sorts of things one might do when visiting a city such as Vienna.  Instead, we've wandered, mostly on foot, just looking around.  Since our wanderings all begin and end at our flat in Neubau, we have grown, not surprisingly, most familiar with our own neighborhood.  That isn't to say that familiarity has resulted in our being blasé about our surroundings - quite the contrary. Our familiarity with Neubau has broadened our view of it, and because it is a diverse and vibrant area, there is always something new to see...or something old that we simply did not see before.

Not all of the art in Wien is locked away in the Albertina, the Secession, or the Leopold Museum; art is everywhere.  Almost every store front is a canvas.  Why have a plain grey steel security door protecting your BonBon shop window, when you can use it for spray paint art (despite the fact that, since it is only pulled down at night, its visibility is significantly limited).  Or why throw away your old hair dryers when you can use them as window art to decorate your friseur studio?  

In the realm of performance art, we cite two local examples. Cars get towed all the time in any city.  What made the pictured event so remarkable, was the efficiency with which it was executed.  Within four minutes (yes, we timed it) of pulling alongside the recalcitrant vehicle, the pictured boom truck secured and lifted the SUV straight up from the pavement, swung it onto the flatbed, and drove off...without ever coming close to even grazing parked or moving cars, motorcycles, bikes, busses, streetcars, or gawking onlookers.   Next, clearly the two ladies pictured here are artfully proclaiming their solidarity through textiles - or maybe there was a great sale at a boutique down the street.  

And finally, art in architecture.  We walked by this building at least a dozen times before we finally looked up and noticed that, it was decorated with surreal boobed dragons.  Who would have guessed these buxom creatures would adorn such an otherwise stoic facade?