Alfredo Barsuglia has installed a small house with a red gabled roof, assembled from fragments of old demolition sites. Weathered wood, windows, a gutter, a chimney pipe, lamps, and other such items are the materials he has repurposed and staged as a house module—much like a museum display—in the public space of the MuseumsQuartier Vienna. From the outside, the house appears rough and old, but the interior, painted light blue, looks clean, almost sterile. The house glows from within; a door that is far too small stands slightly ajar, giving the impression that it is inhabited, yet it is abandoned.
Alfredo Barsuglia scatters numerous clues throughout dystopian narratives that act as triggers but cannot be unambiguously deciphered. For instance, he places an overflowing mailbox on the building’s facade, from which leaflets on climate change and other materials spill out; he uses a dog bowl to allude to dogs’ role as guardians of the home; and he positions a houseplant and a pistol inside the room. The scenario oscillates between threat, uncertainty, and eeriness—what has happened, where are the house’s residents? An apocalyptic mood hangs in the air.
Alfredo Barsuglia’s installation evokes both a museum exhibit preserved in a glass display case and a theatrical set. Through the numerous details, props, and inconsistencies, he invites viewers to find their own associations. Past, present, and future are condensed in this recycled building, which tells stories of all kinds—through materials and objects—that straddle the line between reality and fiction. “The Last House” seems to have outlived the last human.
Alfredo Barsuglia Born in 1980 in Graz, lives and works in Vienna.
Barsuglia has received numerous awards and grants, including the Monsignor Otto Mauer Prize (2019), the State Scholarship for Fine Arts (2017), the City of Vienna Art Promotion Award (2015), the Theodor Körner Prize (2013), the City of Graz Art Promotion Award (2007), and the MAK-Schindler Scholarship in Los Angeles (2006).
His works have been exhibited at venues including the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2022), the Kunsthaus Graz (2021), the Museum of Estonian Architecture in Tallinn, Estonia (2021), the Kunsthalle Esch, Luxembourg (2020), the Kunstforum Wien (solo, 2019), at the MMKK Museum of Modern Art Carinthia, Klagenfurt (2018), at the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna (solo, 2015), at the MACRO – Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Roma / Testaccio (2014), at the ARTPLAY Design and Architecture Center, Moscow (2011), and at the mumok Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation, Vienna (2010).
In numerous projects in public spaces, such as “Social Pool” in the Mojave Desert, “Mariainsel” in Fürstenfeld, or “Abriss” in Graz, he explores social values and the boundaries and transitions between the public and the private.
Since fall 2022, he has held a teaching position at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna for “Public Space and Media.”
Thanks to Simon Reitmann and the University of Applied Arts / Department of Wood Technology
Curated by Elisabeth Hajek
MQ Art Box
