TransArts

In the framework of the exhibition „Element: Metal“ at , including positions from seven of our students, the first excursion of this semester lead to Schloss Hollenegg in styria.

For the first stop of the excursion, our students visited Absteige zur Bärtigen Therese (), Austria’s first q***r Hotel 1000 meters above see level. There they got an input about their program and how it works to combine hotel, restaurant and a space for arts and culture as a q***r space in the countryside.

After a joined lunch at Absteige zur Bärtigen Therese, our students were given a tour of Schloss Hollenegg‘s premises and the current Exhibition „Element: Metal“. Curated by Alice Stori Liechtenstein (), the exhibition combines positions from different designers and contemporary artists, who approached the topic of metal in their very own and diverse ways.

Element: Metal

Exhibition views from the show „Element: Metal“ at Schloss Hollenegg (), curated by Alice Stori Liechtenstein ().

The exhibition „Element: Metal“ at Schloss Hollenegg combines positions from 18 designers and contemporary artists, including 7 students from the TransArts class. Coming from different starting points, disciplines and media, all positions form their very own approach towards the element metal. Combining conceptual thoughts, techniques and starting from a site specific confrontation with the castle and it’s history, the works mirror the diversity of the exhibited artists and the element metal.

slide 1 Jordi Albers, You Can’t Pour From an Empty Cup, 2026

slide 2 Elena Riener, Still At Work, 2026

slide 3 Lea Liebl, 46°48’51.7“N 15°12’44.7“E I 104 Minuten, 2026

slide 4 Klemens Hegen, Mind The Gap, 2026

slide 5 Luise Lutz & Michel Strümpfe, -Um Etwas-, 2026

slide 6 Lorenzo Zerbini, An Echo is The Whisper of an Absence, 2026

Special thanks to Barbis Ruder () for the project lead. Further thanks to Judith Fegerl ()and for supporting the production of the works.

Photos by Julius Hirtzberger ()

Yuqi Zhou BA graduation winter‘26

„REAL“
installation
2026

The hand stirring in a popcorn machine – a mundane action for humans, yet an utterly incomprehensible scene for AI: complex occlusions, chaotic textures, repetitive yet semantically void motions, and ambiguous causality. It must be guessed again, in nearly every frame whether this is indeed a hand.
The more fundamental and repetitive the action, the more it represents humanity’s stable, perceptual structure of the world.
If we knew the ground would be soft, we might touch with light, attempting to comprehend the AI’s vision – fuzzy probabilities, fractured time, causeless space.

Thesis supervision: Roman Pfeffer (), Patricia Grzonka

Photos: Vincent Forstenlechner

Gabriel Zinganel BA graduation winter‘26

„Only Down“
Video Game
2025

Descend into a world in crisis; your only way is down. The vein-like tethers that had held this world together, unable to bear the weight of this crisis, gave in and cracked it open. These tethers, now visible, transformed into connections between small chunks of the world. Connect the player to them to traverse long distances, solve puzzles and clear obstacles. Experience a world progressively more decimated as you make your way down. Meet iconic characters like My Landlord, … and explore their rich personalities.
The player’s viewing distance is controlled by the amount of people watching you play. The more eyes are on you, the more you can see. Viewers can watch the player’s progress and see what’s ahead from a spectator’s perspective. Collaborate and make your way down.

Thesis supervision: Stephan Hilge, Patricia Grzonka

Photos: Vincent Forstenlechner

Leo Trotsenko BA graduation winter‘26

„A certain type of violence related to the sound“
Mixed-media-sculpture, video
2026

A certain type of sound, associated with the experience of others, unfolds like a bouquet in the sky and, crashing to the ground, leaves traces or sculptures on the earth in the form of large and small craters and pits. The variety of sounds and different textual options of explosions in pop culture (“THRUUMPH!”,“VRRANGT!”, “KRACK-A-BOOM!”) and the representation of real ones (“BOOM!”, “BANG!”, “CRACK!”), more or less firmly fixed in reality, are the focus of this project.
To what extent is the group of words responsible for fictional explosions stable in its meaning, definition, and usage? Does it intertwine and flow in use with that other constellation of words and signs that formally mark and attribute to themselves the characteristics of ‘documentary’ and the reality of the war experience?

Thesis supervision: Roswitha Schuller (), Patricia Grzonka

Photos: Vincent Forstenlechner