In Vienna's Stadtpark, the gilded bronze statue of Johann Strauss has stood for over a century, remaining one of the city's most photographed monuments. To mark the Waltz King's 200th anniversary, LichtStrauss by Victoria Coeln transforms the park into a radiant landscape painting.
Specially crafted glass elements project floral motifs, colour fields, and abstract lines onto the noctur-nal landscape, subtly reshaping perception. Coeln's Chromotopes transform the park into a stage for encounters, drawing the viewer's eye and forging new spatial connections. Named by the artist herself, these luminous compositions invite a fresh perspective on space and movement.
Beyond its luminous spectacle, LichtStrauss rethinks the monument itself. In collaboration with the Artificial Museum, augmented reality expands the space: visitors encounter, via smartphone, seven female performers - an homage to the overlooked women of Strauss's operettas. Their digital presence inhabits floral-patterned habitats, magnified and projected across the park.
At three entrances, visitors receive a "LichtStrauss" bouquet, a 3D object unlocking a newly arranged Frühlingsstimmen-waltz. Composer Matthias Leboucher deconstructs Strauss's works, merging them with the performers' voices to create seven original pieces.
Light, the core of Coeln's practice, transcends and reshapes boundaries. In LichtStrauss, Stadtpark becomes an open stage where analogue and digital, past and present, monument and movement merge into a singular, immersive experience.