"Red Stage"

1984 

The "Red Stage" was a temporary construction made up of coated wooden boards, red sailcloth, vaulting poles and aluminum scaffold poles. It was set up on the occasion of the "Steirischer Herbst" ("Styrian Autumn"), an international festival of avant-garde art and annual event in the town of Graz.
Twelve six-meter vaulting poles were interconnected to form a frame, 12 m high and 6 m wide, upon which a sail of the same size was fastened. The sail was anchored onto the actual stage construction. The stage itself, a wooden pedestal accessed by high steps and backed by a rear wall higher than 2 m, was located off-center on the "Schlossbergplatz" square, in front of the entrance to a mine passageway, the "Schlossbergstollen", and next to an ascending footpath, the "Schlossbergstiege", leading to the Clock Tower and on to the casemates. The sail was held with supporting rope, anchored in the bedrock and in the square, and moved with stays. It could be pulled far over the stage, as an acoustic umbrella protecting against bad weather, and fixed in any position.
All linking and connecting details, ropes, snap links, turnbuckles, role blocks and sail hooks originate in sailmaking or are in use among mountaineers. The vaulting poles were supplied by the University's Sports Institute.
The Stage testifies to the fact that a highly technical construction can indeed be convincing in its simplicity, effectiveness and architecture.