Urbanautica – Klaus Pichler, Middleclass Utopia
May 12, 2011 by Manfrotto
Filed under Experience
The words and images proposed by Urbanautica, are taken from the series Middleclass Utopia recently featured on the interview with Austrian photographer Klaus Pichler.
«In the case of the garden colonies (called ‘Schrebergarten’, named after their inventor Moritz Schreber, 1808- 1861) portrayed in the Middle Class Utopia- series, the absence of the outside world definitely is stronger. The example of these colonies for sure is an extreme one, since life in these colonies is synonymous with an escapist concept of living – there even is a phrase in german language called ‘Schrebergartenmentalität’ (Schrebergarten mentality) which describes a narrow-minded, disinterested and ignorant approach towards the rest of the world.
«The isolationist life in the garden colonies is, to a certain amount, definitely self-chosen – the inhabitants of the gardens describe it as a big advantage to live in the middle of a city without being annoyed by urban life. And they don’t want to get disturbed in their idyls, neither by people from the outside nor by vermin and, most of all, not by burglars. Nature itself is friend and foe for them at the same time: one the one hand they enjoy living in an idyl with bushes, trees, flowers and trimmed lawn.»
«On the other hand the growth of every plant is declared as enemy that has to be fought with the help of trimmers, lawnmowers, scissors and saws. This leads to a grotesque and sometimes mannerist look of the gardens, consisting of green elements in a perfect shape.»
