Portal

Spotlight
from Idea to Artwork

Portal was already shown several years ago. Does the work still feel just as relevant today?
Yes, I actually think it has lost none of its relevance. The themes of tolerance, longing and the search for another, perhaps better world have accompanied humanity for as long as we can remember. You could say that people have always been searching for the treasure at the end of the rainbow. We often wish to escape reality or to find something beyond our everyday lives. Perhaps that is also a characteristic of our society – that we are often not entirely satisfied with what we have.

Was that the starting point for the development of Portal?
The starting point was actually a contradiction: a rainbow glowing at night. A rainbow is something you would not normally be able to see in the dark. I am very interested in opposites like this. I am drawn to the idea of making something visible that should actually be invisible.
Today, the rainbow is also a powerful symbol of diversity, openness and tolerance. I was fascinated by the idea that this symbol could possess such radiance that it might even illuminate the darkness.
At the same time, I wanted to free the rainbow from its usual inaccessibility. Normally, you can never really approach it – it always remains in the distance. In Portal, you can suddenly walk through it, almost touch it. There is something fairy-tale-like about that. In many stories, crossing a rainbow leads you into another world. Here, that metaphor becomes real for a brief moment.

The installation consists not only of light, but also of a sound work. What role does it play?
The rainbow represents something dreamlike and fairy-tale-like. Alongside its contemporary symbolism of diversity and openness, I also wanted to make this poetic dimension tangible.
That is why there is a story that can only be heard when you approach the rainbow and walk through it. From a distance, you hear nothing. Only when you engage with the work does this second layer begin to open up. For me, that is also a beautiful metaphor: at first, you simply see something fascinating. Only when you come closer do you begin to understand what it is really about.
The fairy tale tells the story of a fish and a land tortoise – two creatures from completely different worlds. For a brief moment, they meet and fall in love. The fish, however, realises that it cannot survive on land and has to return to its own world. It is an absurd love story, but precisely this absurdity says something about the diversity of life and about the fact that encounters are possible even when two worlds initially seem incompatible.

Portal forms the entrance to the route through the Schwarzenberg Garden at the Belvedere. Does this location suit the work particularly well?
Yes, I think it is very fitting. In reality, you can never walk through a rainbow. It is something you only ever see from a distance. That is exactly why passing through it has something fairy-tale-like about it. For a moment, you enter another reality – or perhaps the realm of your own wishes and longings, which people have always projected onto the rainbow.
The Baroque garden reinforces this idea even further. It was itself a place of staging, full of surprises, sightlines, labyrinths and hidden spaces. Interestingly, ground-level fireworks also played an important role in the Baroque period. Fire and light effects were part of major celebrations and fitted perfectly into these garden settings. In that sense, a light installation such as Portal fits very naturally into this historical context.

How would you like visitors to experience your work?
I hope they recognise the rainbow from a distance and become curious. Perhaps at first they think: I have never seen a rainbow like this before. Then they approach it and discover, to their surprise, that a story suddenly becomes audible beneath the arch.
The story is spoken by a female and a male voice. The voices blend together so strongly, however, that it is often no longer possible to tell who is speaking at any given moment. The sound itself also moves along the shape of the rainbow – like a wave travelling from one side to the other.
I hope people pause for a moment, listen and allow themselves to engage with this unexpected encounter. And perhaps this small love story will stay with them for a little while as they continue their journey through the park.

Biography

Alfredo Barsuglia, born in Graz in 1980, lives and works in Vienna.

Barsuglia has received numerous awards and grants, including the Monsignore Otto Mauer Prize (2019), the Austrian 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 shown at, among others, Lentos in Linz (2023); the Dominican Church, Museum Krems and donaufestival (2023); the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (2022); Kunsthaus Graz (2021); the Museum of Estonian Architecture in Tallinn, Estonia (2021); Kunsthalle Esch, Luxembourg (2020); Kunstforum Wien (2019); MMKK Museum of Modern Art Carinthia in Klagenfurt (2018); MAK – Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (2015); MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma / Testaccio (2014); the ARTPLAY Design and Architecture Center in Moscow (2011); and mumok – Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna (2010).

In numerous public-space projects, such as Social Pool (2014) in the Mojave Desert, Mariainsel (2018) in Fürstenfeld, Abriss (2021) in Graz, and Back to Now, a project for the European Capital of Culture 2024 in the Salzkammergut region, he explores social values as well as the boundaries and transitions between public and private space.

Credits

Installation:
Alfredo Barsuglia

Sound Design and Sound Engineer:
Stefan Voglsinger

Voices:
Luisa Schwab and Željko Marović, members of the Schauspielhaus Graz ensemble